Diary of a Mall Girl by Luisa Plaja

For Review: Curious Fox
Publihsed: 14 March 2013

From Goodreads: The mall is the heart of the fifteen-year-old Molly's suburban town. Most teens hang around with friends there, get their first job there, and experience their first kiss there. And Molly? She actually lives there, in the complex's residential wing, where she navigates the dramas of teenage life, falling out with her friends and falling for the dark, mysterious boy-next-door.

But is living in a massive shopping centre as much fun as it sounds? Well, yes... and no. Find out the whole truth in Molly's private diary!

I was really excited to hear Curious Fox were publishing this.  I remembered it from Fiction Express - a website for stories written as weekly instalments where the readers can vote on the direction of the story - and being a massive fan of Luisa Plaja's previous books I couldn't wait to get reading!

I loved Molly. Honestly, from the moment the book began I didn't want to put it down. She's so funny - sweet, nice, a bit sassy, but also kind of awkward (in an endearing and relatable way!) and just has the ability to really make you laugh out loud!   In fact I loved all the characters - her brother Jamie, his friend Adam, Jewel and Jasper (REALLY loved Jasper!). I didn't warm quite as quickly to Wendy and Ameera but I did come to like them both by the end of the story.

I loved the romance element of the book - Luisa Plaja always does a brilliant job there! I always seem to love her boy characters! Plus there's lots of other stuff going on with all the characters -  making it a fun and gripping read.  I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen and how it would all pan out.

Full of Luisa Plaja charm! It had everything I have come to expect from one of her novels - loved it!

For more information about the stories origins check out Lusia Plaja's website and this guest post over at Girl Hearts Books.

Kiss Date Love Hate by Luisa Plaja

For Review: Random House
Published: 2 February 2012

From Goodreads: What if you could change your friends' lives and loves through the settings of a computer game...?

Lex Murphy's group of friends have all dated, hated, ignored and lusted after each other for the last few years. If only there was a way of matching people perfectly to avoid all the unrequited love, dumping and drama! Then Lex's friend George is given a mysterious Sims-like game by his software-testing dad which involves building character profiles in the categories of Life, Looks and Love. Lex and George populate the game with avatars for all their mates, making a few 'wishful thinking' adjustments to the settings - and find that the next day these tinkerings have come true! But how long can this new calm, loved-up atmosphere continue?

Another brilliant, funny, sweet and magical story from Luisa Plaja. I completely fell in love with it!

When Lex and her best friend George test one of his father's games and decide to base all the characters on themselves and their friends, they find their settings actually change in real life! Can George use it to capture the heart of his long time love, and will Lex be able to get Matt back? But what about the gorgeous Drew...

OMG! How much did I love Lex? She is just absolutely adorable! She made me laugh (and cry...) and I love that she is so forthcoming. She can be a bit down on herself - and we realise exactly why in the end - but over the course of the story we really see her grow and accept herself for who she is.

I also loved George and the relationship between him and Lex. The way she keeps referring to him as almost her brother because of the relationship history between their parents - and the banter they have with each other. They are obviously close and very good friends - they both had me laughing out loud.

And as for Drew... HELLO GORGEOUS SCOTTISH BOY! I could definitely see what Lex saw in him and I had to shout at her every time she decided she liked Matt more (who in my opinion really was a word rhyming with his name!) I loved how the relationship between her and Drew plays out - how good they are together and how he really sees her. Super, super sweet!

I also really enjoyed the magical element of the story - in this case the game. I love how it's entwined in the story in a way that isn't gimmicky but really adds to it. It's fun but it also puts the characters in a position where they can evolve and learn something about themselves which is very interesting and touching to read. The scene toward the end with Lex, Martin and her mother is especially poignant.

A clever concept - it has more going on than you first realise -  and it really made me stop and think.  Luisa Plaja is really great a creating characters you love spending time with - I enjoyed every minute of this book and I am really looking forward to whatever she writes next.

I Wish I Was Lex Murphy by Luisa Plaja (Guest Post)

I am really pleased to present a guest post by Luisa Plaja - the author of Extreme Kissing, Split by a Kiss, Swapped by a Kiss and Kiss Date Love Hate.  I shall hand you over...
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I Wish I Was Lex Murphy
guest post by Luisa Plaja, author of Kiss Date Love Hate – www.luisaplaja.com/

The novel that's now Kiss Date Love Hate started its first-draft life many years ago with the title I Wish I Was Lex Murphy.

It wasn't exactly the book you'll be able to read now, but it also wasn't a million miles away. There was magic. There were game settings and adjustments to profiles that came true in real life and caused all kinds of relationship mayhem.

There was Lex, a girl who wished she could be someone else. (Anyone spotted a common theme in all my novels?!) And George, a kind and generous boy who was never seen as boyfriend material by anyone, much to his misery. There was Matt, the perfect ex that Lex dumped but never quite got over. And Drew: mysterious, misunderstood and always kind of smouldering. Gemma was an ex-friend. George fancied Jess and Jess didn’t notice. The cast were already, in Lex’s words, “all in a love chain made of broken links”.

Also present from the outset was the film theme. In fact, this is how Kiss Date Love Hate really started; not from the premise of a girl who controls her friends' lives and loves from the settings of a computer game, but from the idea of a film-loving girl who was named after a movie character, and who wished she could be more like that character - in Lex Murphy's case, a capable computer whizz who saves the day after people start meddling with the forces of nature. (In Kiss Date Love Hate, though, Lex is one of the people who does the meddling.)

Here are two film versions of Lex with quotes from Kiss Date Love Hate:

Lex Murphy as Lex Murphy from Jurassic Park (played by Ariana Richards) - how Lex wishes she was...

"I’ve always been into films. I’m named after a film character, after all. Mum was watching the dinosaur movie Jurassic Park when she went into labour, and she thought it was funny that the child characters had the same surname as us, so she gave me the same first name as the ‘clever blonde girl, Lex Murphy’. And she ended up with me: the Improver bald-patch girl, Lex Murphy. It says ‘Alexa’ on my birth certificate, though, because my nan thought it was a more sensible name and talked Mum into it. But I’ve always been Lex, except when I’m in trouble."

Lex Murphy as Arwen Evenstar from The Lord of the Rings (played by Liv Tyler) – Lex as seen by George (who wishes he was a film-star, too – ‘a very young George Clooney’)

I peer at the screen. It’s a skinny girl who looks like an elf with medium-length brown hair. And . . . a clumpy bald patch! Oh my God! ‘That’s me! Well, me crossed with that girl-elf from Lord of the Rings.’ I turn to face him.
‘You said I should try some other girls.’
‘Ugh! George! I didn’t mean me! That truly is pervy! You’ve made me look like one of your elf crushes.’
‘You do look a bit like Arwen Evenstar,’ he says nerdishly. ‘In real life, I mean. And I do not have elf crushes. Though you should say “elven” crushes, and Arwen is actually only half elven.’

Of course, Lex isn’t really anything like either of these characters. You can see her start to work out and accept who she really is in the course of Kiss Date Love Hate...
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Thanks Luisa!

You can find Luisa on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

Author Interview: Luisa Plaja

Luisa Plaja is the author of Extreme Kissing, Split by a Kiss and Swapped by a Kiss. She also runs the fabulous website Chicklish. She kindly took the time to answer a few questions....

What inspired you to write Swapped by a Kiss?
I found I had a lot more to say about Rachel after I finished writing Split by a Kiss. Many aspects of Rachel's erratic behaviour are unexplained in Split by a Kiss because they're not relevant to Jo's story (yet?!). I really wanted to show where Rachel was coming from, and to tell her story. The body swap was an obvious follow-on from Split , too, with Freaky Friday being one of Jo's favourite films, and with Jo and Rachel so clearly misunderstanding each other right up to the final word of the first book - and beyond.

Do you have a favourite scene in the book?
In Swapped by a Kiss? Well, some of the more potentially embarrassing scenes are loosely based on real-life experiences so... not those. Hee. I think the final scene before the epilogue is my favourite, but the night-time scenes of high tension between Rachel and a certain boy come a close second.

I really love your characters (especially Zac and Albie *sighs*) Do you base them on people you know? And do you have a favourite?
Thank you, and thank you for loving Zac and Albie! No, I don't usually base my characters on people I know, but some are based on people *I think* I know but I've actually never even met. This is ideal as it gives me a starting point and limitless scope for development. It's very difficult to pick a favourite character. I get hopelessly obsessed with all of them.

If you had the chance for one of your books to be made into a movie which would you choose and who would you cast in the roles?
This is a tough and brilliant question! Well, Swapped and Split by a Kiss are more obviously filmic, I think, and you'd only need one actress for the main roles in both of those, so listen up, Hollywood! ;) But I think Extreme Kissing would make a better quirky European art-house film, so... I don't know! As for the cast, I'm going to cheat even more and throw this open to anyone reading this! Any thoughts, anyone?!

Did you always intend on becoming a writer?
Intend on, no. Dream of, yes. I've always worked with words, though. I've been a dictionary editor, a television subtitler and a linguistic software developer. Words are yummy and I eat them for breakfast, sprinkled on my muesli.

Was it a conscious decision to write for teens?
No, not really. It's the kind of fiction I love most, though, and writing it feels natural to me.

If you could only save 3 books from your bookshelf what would they be?
Heaven forefend! In what atrocious dystopia does this barbaric dictat become a necessity? I would escape from this fearful regime by fleeing to the local library and boarding up the doors with pile upon pile of meaty books, which would then sustain me for the remainder of my long, happy, word-filled life, muesli be damned! (Um, qui-iick - next question!)

What’s next for you? Are you working on another book?
Phew! Yes, I am. It should be out next spring and it's another standalone teen novel about life, love and self-image, with a premise that I've already caught myself wishing was entirely realistic.

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Thanks Luisa! I am still picturing the boarded up library... lol

Swapped by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

Review copy: Corgi (Random House) Available now.
From Goodreads: When Rachel's on/off boyfriend David goes to a music festival in England, she jumps on a plane to surprise him - but she gets a shock of her own. Not only does she find David kissing someone else, but it's their friend Jo! Super-lovely, super-loved, all-round-perfect Jo.

Rachel runs away, wishing she could leave her life behind - and she suddenly finds herself in Jo's body! Can she keep this swap a secret? Can she unravel what's really going on? Can she get to grips with Jo's out-of-control curly hair?

And if she discovers that being in someone else's shoes isn't all it's cracked up to be, can she ever be herself again?

I was so excited to read this book. I loved Spilt by a Kiss and could not wait to revisit the characters - and I can tell you that I loved it! Not only is it completely hilarious but it is also incredibly romantic and Luisa has the marvelous ability to completely floor you. There was one thing in particular that I did not see coming!

Many of the characters return from Spilt by a Kiss and it was great to see Jo again - I loved hearing her side of events through her 'diary' entries. We also have David who, in this book, completely won my affections! As for Rachel, I absolutely adored her. I loved her sass and snarky comments but it was also lovely to get to know the 'real' her as opposed to the one she pretends to be. Being a character who is not afraid to speak her mind I loved the way we got to see what she was really thinking! It was also really good fun to see Tori again, and it was really interesting seeing her through Rachel's eyes.

I thought the 'swapped' thing was done brilliantly and I loved how both characters also alluded to events from the first book. Again the book was rich in storylines - with so much going on I found myself completely gripped - really not wanting it to end. Both Jo and Rachel had really good storylines and I was equally interested in both. I loved Jo's interactions with Rachel's mother and I really enjoyed watching Rachel get to see life from someone else's point of view.

As I said before - it really is funny! There were so many times I found myself laughing out loud and there is one scene involving 'quicksand' that had me laughing so hard I have still been sniggering to myself all day! It is definitely a novel that will bring a big goofy smile to your face. But it is also more than than. The characters felt real and honestly depicted. The romance is really sweet and you can feel a true connection between the couples. I don't know what else to say really except I Loved it, Loved it, Loved it!

Webchat with Luisa Plaja: Fiercebook Wednesday 5pm

Just a quick post to remind everyone that Lusia Plaja (author of Split by a Kiss, Extreme Kissing and Swapped by a Kiss) has a webchat over at Fiercebook tomorrow at 5pm, for approximately 1 hour. I've been told to 'expect chatter about books, writing, romance and body swapping…' Sounds fab!

Also, I've just finished 'Swapped by a Kiss' and I have to say it is now my favourite by a mile - I just loved it. I should (hopefully) have a review for you tomorrow:) In the meantime, if you fancy reading an extract check out the widget on my sidebar:)

Spilt by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

REVIEW COPY: Luisa Plaja
From Amazon: Jo has just moved to America with her mum. She's always been a fairly average girl - not a nerd but certainly never one of the popular kids. But on her first day in her new school, she seems to be adopted by the It girls - and is invited to one of their parties. There, she meets Jake Matthews, officially the hottest boy in school, and when they begin to play the kissing-in-the-closet game, Seven Minutes in Heaven, amazingly Jake picks Jo join him in the closet! She can't believe her luck. But the reality of being kissed and groped by Jake is not quite as great as the fantasy...Jo has a choice to make: should she carry on, kiss Jake and secure her position in the It crowd - or should she tell him where to get off and risk relegation back to the land of the ordinary ...? At this moment - Jo splits. She's Josie the Cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the It crowd. She's also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It crowd, single ...Will her two halves ever come back together again? Is Jake the guy she's meant to be with or could some of the other people she meets along her journey - Rachel the scary goth, David the misfit or Albie the rocker - be the answer? A fabulously inventive, heartwarming and funny take on the Sliding Doors idea, for teen readers.


I really, really loved this! I didn’t want to put it down – I loved the story and the characters were brilliant, especially our main character Jo/Josie. I found her funny and sweet and really enjoyed spending time with her. The other characters were great too. I really loved Tori and her brother Albie, as well as David and Rachel.

The premise was excellent. I was a bit nervous about how it would work and whether it would be confusing but it wasn’t at all. I instantly knew if it was Josie or Jo, not just because of the font change and picture but also because Jo and Josie’s ‘voice’ was different enough to keep them separate but still believable as the same character. I enjoyed both scenarios (although I would have been Jo the Nerd and slapped him one!) and I loved how the different paths were really dissimilar to begin with but as time went on started to have more and more similarities. I really liked the parallels in the stories – how some choices were the same but with different people and I loved how things seemed ‘fated’. I adored the ending – I was definitely rooting for that one!

I also loved that the story was set in the US. It really reminded me of my school exchange trip when I was 14. I completely identified with the differences in sayings – how often did I get a packet of crisps when I had been dying for chips!. And there’s nothing quiet as mortifying as realising I really should have asked for an eraser and not a rubber if the stunned silence was anything to go by... I would have so loved to have had the opportunity to live there for a year like Jo – so it was great to live it vicariously through her.

Also, any book that has references to Buffy will get my vote – although I would have to agree with Ablie and say I loved season 2 the best:)

Overall - aaah-some!

Extreme Kissing by Luisa Plaja

REVIEW COPY: Luisa Plaja
From Amazon: Carlota and Bethany are best friends. Bethany is the sensible one with a long-term boyfriend, Carlota is the crazy one with a wild past and rebellious nature. All is fine in their world - apart from Carlota hating her stepdad and longing for a old flame. And apart from Bethany thinking her boyfriend is about to dump her and that her period is late...Carlota comes up with a plan to put all their troubles behind them and go on a girls-only wild day out, with only their favourite magazine to guide them through the day. If they open it on a fashion page they have to get hold of a fabulous new outfit and pretend to be models. If they open it to a page on snogging, they have to find a boy to snog. The magazine will take them everywhere they need to go - but will it help them to reveal the secrets they are keeping from each other?

This really exceeded my expectations. I had a good idea that I’d like it as it’s my kind of book but it had much more depth than I was expecting. It was really witty and good fun – I’m really taken by the whole extreme travelling and am tempted to try it myself – but in addition to that we also get some brilliant characterisation. I connected to Bets straight away and she is the kind of girl I could see myself being friends with. Carlota took a longer for me to warm to but I have the feeling that was intentional – it wasn’t until we are introduced to Yves and Zac that I really felt as if I was ‘seeing’ the real Carlota – something I felt was brilliantly executed by the author . I also have to add that I REALLY loved the character of Zac and the moments between him and Bets are some of my favourites.

The main reason I loved this book though is that it covers so many different things and you don’t even realise it. I loved getting to see Carlota’s relationship with her parents unfold, to see the girls realised that although they share a strong bond they don’t know everything about each other and to see Bets finally realise what has been going on. Which brings me nicely to the ending. I did not see it coming and it was brilliant! I won't say anymore because I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else as it was such a great moment for me.

In other reviews I have seen comparisons to Louise Rennison and liz Retting and I agree with these completely, but I would also compare it to Meg Cabot for the fun factor and to Sara Zarr for the brilliantly created characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am really looking forward to reading Split by a Kiss :)