Moonbeam Heart and Sunshine Smiles — ‘A Thousand Boy Kisses’
So, recently I read a Young Adult romance by Tillie Cole, ‘A Thousand Boy Kisses’. I am an ardent book reader and the best from all genres excites me the most. Set in a dreamy plot, this tearjerker let me travel from the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia to Oslo, Norway forbidding me to return to my warm space in my bedroom. I lived a whole new life through the 325 pages of beautifully articulated words, fell in love with my future someone a bit more and lost myself in a puddle of tears while sending a silent prayer up above “Bless me with my moonbeam heart and sunshine smiles!”
The story revolves around two teenagers; one a quirky, lively and joyful girl who does not let herself miss out on a single adventure that life offers (Poppy Litchfield) and the other a Norwegian boy who loves to cocoon himself in the comfort of self company (Rune Kristiansen). When life pulls the strings of their fate together, the two set themselves on their biggest adventures: life and love, a life full of love.
Five year old Poppy, ran to her favorite place in the world, the blossom grove clutching her final adventure that her mamaw (grandmother) gave her, wondering that it would take her a lifetime to reach its end. A jar full of 1000 pink paper hearts each to be filled when she gets kissed by the love of her life, not just kissed but kissed as her heart almost bursts. It was in the blossom grove that day itself that she got kissed by her best friend Rune. Not just kissed, kissed as such that both of them knew this is for infinity. Poppy and Rune, forever always.
Life isn’t a fairytale. We all know it. When Rune moved to Oslo for a period, he was devastated, cross atlantic from his Poppy Min. The only thing that kept them going was knowing that they had each other through calls, texts, mails and letters. But it stopped, abrupt and out of nowhere Rune found himself struggling against him wondering if he pushed too much. If he ruined it with the only girl who held his heart and soul together, who had his lips forever. Life came to a cruel halt when truth hit hard. The journey from the promise of infinite kisses to striving for 1000 kisses in this life, the two lost and found each other, lived a bit more, loved harder and found peace with their infinity. Two sets of feet while walking hand in hand on the sand and a single foot when one carries the other. Why wait for a counted number of days to live life to the fullest, when each day can be lived as if there is no tomorrow!
Every once in a while you read a book that completely turns your world upside down. It happens every so often, and when it does, your heart is so full you feel like it could burst. I wish I could express how much this book impacted me, how much I felt while I read it, but the words to convey just how wonderful it was aren’t going to be enough. I guess I could quote Tillie herself and say that this book is ‘as special as special can be’. It’s one of those rare books that will remain on the top shelves of my heart, an undoubtedly must read! I loved it so much.
