A powerful story of two people who spend years denying their scientifically-proven chemistry.
Penny spends her afternoons sitting outside a sandwich shop, surrounded by ghosts. Fourteen years ago, this shop was her childhood dance studio... Now she’s a suburban housewife, dreading the moment her son departs for MIT, leaving her with an impeccably decorated McMansion and a failing marriage. She had her chance at wild, stars-in-her-eyes happiness, but that was a lifetime ago. After The Kiss. Before The Decision.
The Kiss was soulful. Magical. Earth-shattering, and it was all for a free gift card. Asked to participate in a psych study that posed the question, “Can you have sexual chemistry without knowing what the other person looks like?” Penny agreed to be blindfolded, make polite conversation with a total stranger, and kiss him. She never expected The Kiss to change her life forever and introduce her to Gavin: tattooed, gorgeous, and spontaneous enough to ask her out seconds after the blindfolds came off.
For a year, they danced between friendship and romance—until Penny made The Decision that forced them to settle for friendship. Now, fourteen years later, both of their lives are about to radically change—and it’s his turn to decide what will become of their once-in-a-lifetime connection."
Source: advance copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
How do I rate a book that had me equal parts distressed and riveted? My first attempt at reading this had me setting it aside after the first chapter because it was intense. Penny came off as unhinged and there wasn't enough context yet to put her behaviour in perspective. I picked it up a couple of weeks later and with a clearer head on my part, I found a page-turning, heartbreaking story about so many "should have beens" between two people who for some reason or another just couldn't get it together.
The story is split between the present and 14 years ago when Penny and Gavin first meet in the psych study where they kiss as strangers. It's an instant attraction that has Gavin fawning over her and Penny, who's focused on dance and her future, flattered and overwhelmed by his attention. She offers a compromise that they should just be friends. Gavin reluctantly agrees though is hopeful that he can change her mind. Thus begins this complicated relationship that while they're not "together" together, the reality is that there's no room for anyone else to get close to them either. The hold they have over each other is so strong that it becomes problematic because of the lack of typical boundaries between friends. And it's confusing to anyone else they might try to date.
I can't say that Penny or Gavin's decisions made sense half the time because their actions would often contradict their words. She absolutely refused to get serious with Gavin either due to fear or that he wasn't what she needed at that moment. She hated labels and didn't want anyone to put her in a category or control her. Yet I found her to be the controlling one most of the time. To be fair they were there for each other through some of the toughest moments of their lives. That commitment just emphasizes the fact that they should have been together from the get go and in doing so, they would have avoided drawing other people into their drama.
Intense is the best way to describe Blind Kiss as it does require some emotional stamina. I'm glad I stuck with it because Renée Carlino is one hell of a writer. I know that the themes in this book may not appeal to everyone so my recommendation is that when you read it, make sure you're feeling up to it.
~ Bel
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