[Review: Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez]

"Kiss Kill Vanish"
Author: Jessica Martinez
Series: None
Pages: 423
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Thriller
Date Published: October 7th, 2014
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format Read: eARC provided by publisher (via Edelweiss) for honest review

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Summary:

Valentina Cruz no longer exists.

One moment, she was wrapped in Emilio’s arms, melting into his kiss. The next, she was witnessing the unthinkable: a murder in cold blood, ordered by her father and carried out by her boyfriend. When Emilio pulled the trigger, Valentina disappeared. She made a split-second decision to shed her identity and flee her life of privilege, leaving the glittering parties and sultry nightlife of Miami far behind.

She doesn’t know how to explain to herself what she saw. All she knows now is that nothing she believed about her family, her heart, or Emilio’s love, was real.

She can change her name and deny her past, but Valentina can’t run from the truth. The lines between right and wrong, and trust and betrayal, will be blurred beyond recognition as she untangles the deceptions of the two men she once loved and races to find her own truth.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Kiss Kill Vanish,

So, you were fun and I liked you a lot. On the flip side, I found some of the elements inside of your pages to be extremely unrealistic. Sure, you are a work of fiction, but I would have liked you more if your believability factor would have been higher. That being said, I did enjoy the mystery within your pages and I didn't managed to call all of your twists, so that was good!

-The White Unicorn

Kiss Kill Vanish is one of those books that was almost wonderful, but in the end, just ended up being okay. Martinez gives us a unique story and some interesting story building, but in the end I couldn't believe all the happenings that surrounded the story. Luckily I felt like her characters were strong, even if some of the circumstances of their stories were weak. This is one of those books were nothing is as it seems and it kept my attention because I needed to know what was going on.

Val is an interesting character. She's running away from the one place she's ever known and she's forced into living in a room that is more like a closet in Canada. She's used to the lavish things in life, but after she witnesses her boyfriend murdering someone for her father she runs away. I loved that she sees something terrible happen and actually tries to get herself out of the situation. It would have been easy for Val to turn a blind eye and continue living her life, but she gets out. On the other hand she then starts to fall apart as a character. She falls into this pit of whinny self doubt and starts running into the arms of all the boys. She could have been so strong and she could have proved to be an awesome female lead, but her need for male attention gets in the way and it kind of drove me nutty.

The males involved are very different, though they both seem to be older than Val. Which, truth be told, I found to be very interesting. Emilio is 23, which technically makes their involvement illegal. That being said it works for the story. I have to be honest when I say that I didn't really like the guy and I'm not sure what Val felt for him. Marcel is the other man in Val's life and I have to say that I kind of adored him. But then again, Martinez actually has time to build a solid relationship between the two. I was glad that their isn't a weird insta-love thing to this part of the story, because I'm not sure what I would have done had that been the case.

The actual mystery of the book is one that is both predictable and shocking at the same time. I think if Val would have been a little bit more on the smarter side of things it wouldn't have been as good. This brings up an issue with the story because I wanted Val to be smarter and I would have settled for a smaller pay off mystery wise if she would have been, but as you can see that didn't end up happening.

In the end, I'll tell you that this is a fun book and that there is a lot going for it, but sadly the execution fell flat for me and ended up not having the effect that I would have preferred. If you're looking for a semi-fluffy, slightly gory, thriller then this might be the perfect book for you!

Rating:

3 Unicorns = I liked it, but it had it's issues!