‘Going the Distance’: More Cute “Kissing Booth” Romance

STORY | Since their bittersweet goodbye at the end of a glorious summer, Rochelle “Elle” Evans has made every good effort to make long-distance with her boyfriend, Noah Flynn, work. Not only this, she wants it to work. But when she sees a social media photo of Noah and a gorgeous blonde, she questions everything. Does Noah still love her? Who is this Amanda?

NETFLIX REVIEW | The Kissing Booth – A Netflix Original That Will Make You Smile

From their conversations to the limited time they talk, all seems wrong, until Noah surprises her with a visit. Can their love survive the challenges of the rocky ups and downs?

Going the Distance by Beth Reekles | Book Review

REVIEW | When you pick up a novel like this, one anticipates a light, easy, and sweet read. This is precisely what Going the Distance is. I love that, like its synopsis and cover, what you see, is what you get, and it’s all kinds of cute. We meet up again with Elle and Noah, along with Elle’s bestie, Lee and a host of their friends. Only this go-round, the focus is less on Noah (or perhaps better said is with Noah) and more only Elle. This is both annoying, and “good” in some other ways.

Though I did not read The Kissing Booth, this is one I did want to read given the sequel Netflix dropped, and I’m glad I did. Imperfect though this is, it has all the sunshine qualities of a fun novel, and I’m going to be honest, I like it. For once, the love triangle (if it can be called such?) is what it should be. For all her flaws, I feel as though in the POV that is Elle is finally a character who isn’t wishy-washy. She knows who she loves even is she isn’t sure what she wants, and I respect this, plus it makes the end all the more authentic and good.

In short, this book is quite the delightful little read. It makes me smile, and I love the end (clearly I’m origin team in the romance department), which makes me hope that the eventual third film (from Netflix) will not wreck this happy end.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

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Author: Beth Reekles
Publisher: Ember
Source: Bought
Publication Date: 2020
Find the Review Elsewhere: Amazon ǀ Goodreads
Find the Book Elsewhere: Amazon ǀ Goodreads
Genre: Fiction; YA, Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5*

*Judge my bookish tastes if you must; I enjoyed this one. *smile*

Content: There’s some profanity and suggestive content (teen sex), but overall this is a cleaner secular YA read.