I Kissed Alice is a f/f enemies-to-lovers story about Rhodes and Iliana, two high school seniors who share a best friend, and who are competing against each other in an art competition for a coveted scholarship prize. Unbeknownst to both of them, they are falling in love with each other online as they anonymously work on an Alice in Wonderland fanfic comic together. This book is way heavy on the “enemy” part of this story trope, and the stakes are realistic, and high.

This is not the light, fluffy read I was expecting, but it was a good story. I enjoyed the pacing. I always wanted to keep reading more after the end of each chapter. Birch did a good job creating tension and believable conflict between our two main characters, although it could get REALLY negative and antagonistic at times. Even though every character has flaws I was still rooting for their success, ultimately. I also appreciated the depiction of Rhodes’ depression in the book. I identified with Rhodes’ mental and emotional struggles and feelings, and thought Birch did a great job with that aspect.

I did find the relationship with Sarah to be toxic, unhealthy, and manipulative, mostly due to the way Iliana treated her. The whole tone of the book sways more towards negative. I enjoy reading stories with unlikable characters, but to me, Iliana was just straight up not a good person and she didn’t seem to change much. Which is fine and may have been Birch’s intent. However, the parts where Iliana realizes “oh, this is happening because of me, it’s basically all my fault. Oh well, I’m still mad at [insert name]” just didn’t sit right with me. I ended up being more worried about how Rhodes would fare in a relationship with Iliana rather than being happy they ended up together.

*I received a free digital ARC from Imprint and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*