I Kissed Alice (Paperback)
"Rivals-to-lovers, mistaken identity, and slow, slow burn... A loving homage to fandom and queer girls."
—Victoria Lee, author of The Fever King
For fans of Leah on the Offbeat and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Anna Birch's I Kissed Alice is a romantic comedy about enemies, lovers, and everything in between.
Rhodes and Iliana couldn't be more different, but that's not why they hate each other.
Rhodes, a gifted artist, has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts (until she’s hit with a secret bout of creator’s block), while Iliana, a transfer student, tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.
They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a webcomic. And despite being worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other... a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other's future?
An Imprint Book
"The swoony queer romcom of my heart... Pitch-perfect."
—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times-bestselling author of Prince Charming and Her Royal Highness
Victoria Ying is an author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books, which eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels. She loves Japanese curry, putting things in her shopping cart online and taking them out again, and hanging out with her dopey dog. Her film credits include Frozen, Moana, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, and Paperman. She is the illustrator of the DC Comics graphic novel Diana: Princess of the Amazons and the author and illustrator of her original graphic novels City of Secrets and Hungry Ghost.
"With beauty on both a sentence and conceptual level, Birch expertly guides us through a world that makes clear the fact that we are all so much more than we present upfront." —Bitch Media
"I Kissed Alice has everything you could want in a summer YA book—romance, competition, complex friendships, discussions of class dynamics, and even beautiful illustrations" —Culturess
"The swoony queer romcom of my heart... A pitch-perfect ode to the creative process and the special magic that happens when you find someone who loves what you love. I adored it."
—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times-bestselling author of Prince Charming and Her Royal Highness
"The characters create a dynamic and compelling chemical reaction... bound to be a hit with fans of Cherie Priest's I Am Princess X and Nina LaCour’s Everything Leads to You." —Booklist, starred review
"The protagonists are alive with emotions and flaws, and their chemistry as both enemies and allies crackles off the pages... Come for the rivalry, stay for the romance." —Kirkus Reviews
"Birch keeps the tension high, presenting everything—love, hate, class differences, scheming mothers, backstabbing friends—at a fever pitch... Roller-coaster reading." —Publishers Weekly
"A delightfully fun and devastatingly romantic story with all your favorite fanfic tropes: rivals-to-lovers, mistaken identity, and slow, slow burn... A loving homage to fandom and queer girls and artistic identity."
—Victoria Lee, author of The Fever King
"Romantic and intense, I Kissed Alice explores the complicated line between love and hate and the life-altering power of changing one’s perspective. A sparkling, thought-provoking debut!"
—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Girl Made of Stars and How to Make a Wish
"If you've been on the hunt for a true enemies-to-lovers queer YA that will make your heart race and your happiness increase, then you need I Kissed Alice immediately. This book is imbued with so much to love—geeky collaboration, friendship politics, competition, secret identities—and Birch pulls it all together with a deft hand, launching herself into the YA sphere as an author to watch."
—Rachel Strolle, Teen Services Coordinator, Glenside Public Library District