Thought this had strong writing and the character development wasn't bad at all, but the whole video being leaked plot did just feel like a lesson in privacy with a side of anti-sexualisation? Not sure.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

After an explicit video is spread of Vanessa Murphy with her latest fling, Harrison, Vanessa is out for revenge. She doesn't do relationships, and is very sex positive, but having her private images leaked is a betrayal, and when Kai appears, and seems to have his own vendetta against Harrison, Vanessa is ready to team up. But as the stakes hot up, and their petty actions turn into real crimes, will Vanessa regret meeting Kai?

I've read most of Estelle's books now, and though I enjoyed The Wrong Side of Kai, it definitely was not my favourite of hers. Vanessa was quite an immature character at times. She lost her mother when she was younger, and her father is absent most of the time, so she seeks out attention in different ways, including with finding a new partner regularly. She's very body positive and confident, but I felt like there were definite times in the book when she acted very young, and made easily resolved mistakes. I did like the chemistry between her and Kai, but think it should've been less of an instant attraction, and taken a little longer for them to fall for one another. This definitely isn't a lighthearted book though. It covers very important and hard hitting topics, particularly around slut shaming, online harassment, and grief, and I think it would be a great read for anyone.

This was a great read that is definitely something I will be recommending to my students. It covered a number of important topics such as grief and I think they can learn a lot from it. I was expecting a nice easy read and was quickly dragged into Vanessa's story.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in this genre. In the past year my reading taste has changed a lot and I no longer enjoy YA contemporary unless it's from a few select authors. Because of this I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not read and review this book as someone who is already disinterested in the genre, and instead let the reviews of people who do like this genre speak for the book instead. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

The Wrong Side of Kai is a book of two halves for me, as the two main characters divided my thoughts entirely. I found Vanessa a hard character to like at first. She seems a bit conceited and self-centred, thinking she can get any guy she wants and that everyone likes her. Her attitude to her dad’s grief seems harsh and although I understand that she is acting out because of her own grief, she seems to use losing her mum as an excuse for sleeping around. In contrast I totally adored Kai right from the start with his quirky humour and warm, slightly strange family.

The Wrong Side of Kai covers a lot of issues that are important to the YA community, but does so in an accessible manner. This is the first of Estelle Maskame’s books that I have read, but I suspect it won’t be the last.

The Wrong Side of Kai is Estelle Maskame's best book yet. I absolutely loved Vanessa and Kai's story, and how it developed from a revenge plot to a genuine romance - they saw each other in ways that nobody else had, and that understanding between them was a delight to read. It was the perfect amount of hijinks and just desserts, while also having an awareness of the repercussions of their actions against Harrison. Morally, you knew where they stood, and so I never had any trouble rooting for them in his take down.

I love how with Estelle's stories there's always more to it than you first think. She captures both loud and quiet moments, so you become quickly endeared to the characters. Fun and fast paced, The Wrong Side of Kai deserves the same Netflix treatment as The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys.

I thought this book sounded like a good read but once I got half way in it just flopped. The characters werent great, bit silly & no real interest. The story didnt have much happening in it and it ended up being a bad ending. Not a great read

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. I found it to be a bit too immature, so I couldn’t finish it.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book! It was captivating and I love love loved the characters! I will definitely be recommending this to my friends!

This a book that I need right now. My brain is fried with work and what you need in times like that is a good romantic book and who better than the author of the DIMILY series.

Ever since her mom died, Vanessa has just been living each day as it comes. She’s been looking after her sister Kennedy, whilst her Dad has just become a recluse. She lives in the home of her best friend to get away from the defending silence and the loneliness of her own home. Vanessa doesn’t do relationships, she does flings, having a bit of fun, anything serious go flying out the door and she just can’t deal. When her former fling, Harrison asks to a ski trip as a girlfriend, she has to dump him. It turns ugly and he posts a video of her across the whole town. Vanessa meets Kai Washington who teams up with her and to seek revenge.

While Vanessa plays at being the strong lead character, there is more to her than meets the eye. The death of her mum and the shell of her father eats away at her and that is why she is the way she is. She says she doesn’t care when deep down she cares so much, that’s why falling in love is just too painful for her. Vanessa has a lot of layers and throughout the story you really got to know her better. So when she partners with Kai, I feel she is very much in the unknown. Her feelings and how she is around him is confusing, I felt confused as I’m still trying to understand what she is like and getting to know her as a reader.

One of my favourite characters in the book has to be Chyna, their friendship is special. Together they support each other, their are like family and Chyna’s really supports Vanessa’s character. And Kai, whilst Harrison is the douchebag of the book, I really liked how Kai took a step back, almost in a protective way. I really liked how Estelle entwined the grief that can take over a family, vulnerability of both Vanessa and Kai, the integrity how people should be treated in the story. Whilst also falling in love. What I would say is that I wish I knew a bit more about Kai. I would love his own story, his own perspective as I know Estelle’s writes flawlessly in different POVs.

The Wrong Side of Kai is another swoon-worthy romance that I adored reading. While it will never top The DIMILY series in my book, its still another adorable and addictive YA romance. You just simply cant get enough of Estelle’s writing.

Thank you to Ink Road Books for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

An addictive read that keeps you gripped and steers clearly through the murky waters of teenage and first love and how it can be consuming, but ultimately what it teaches you about yourself and others.

Vanessa is a teenage girl who enjoys hooking up with boys and isn't ashamed of it. After ending things with her latest hook-up, Harrison, a sex tape of her is leaked to her whole school and now Vanessa is furious. Kai enters her life at just the right time, telling Vanessa that he has a reason to hate Harrison too and they should team-up against their mutual enemy to get revenge.

This book is an incredibly easy read that you don't need to think too hard to enjoy. Maskame has written an engaging tale where you find yourself routing for Vanessa and Kai as they carry out crazier and crazier forms of revenge. It is refreshing to have a female character who is unshamed in her desires.

This book took me back to my early teen years, but sadly not in a wholly positive way. I used to read many books about troublesome teens who acted out, so many in fact that I'm sure I've read everything that happened in The Other Side of Kai before.
I would have preferred more diversity in this novel, it was a very mundane all the girls and guys hook up together scene. There were no LGBTQ+ characters mentioned at all, even in passing.
The novel was enjoyable at times and I'm sure my younger self would have perhaps loved the drama, but I do think teens deserve books with a bit more substance to them these days.
I read the DIMILY series also by this author and definitely preferred those books. The Other Side of Kai isn't a bad book, more of a 'Its all been done before storyline unfortunately.

The Wrong Side of Kai tackles some difficult topics and makes you question the morality of revenge in a way very few YA contemporaries do.
Estelle Maskame is a new author to me, and managed to grasp my attention from start to end, encouraging me as a reader to question the motives and reasoning behind the two characters revenge tactics.

Both Kai and Vanessa have reason to hate Harrison, and that is explored throughout the book, leading to a nice redemption arc for Vanessa, who is possibly pushed too far in her attempts to bring Harrison down. Ultimately, it is a fast-paced, easy read, and I enjoyed it. My only fault was the ease with which Vanessa fell for Kai, even though she repeatedly spoke about not being able to trust anyone enough to leave herself vulnerable, making it almost insta-love-esque.

3.5🌟
I was so excited to delve into this book after being accepted to read it from netgalley but it didn't quite get me as excited as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong it's an easy enjoyable read but it just didn't wow me. I would have liked it to have gone into a but more around Vanessa's family aspect of the storyline and a bit more around Kai's heartbreak to really get behind what the 2 were feeling and going through. Will definatley look for more books by this author as I've seen alot of reviews saying her previous books were more enjoyable and I liked how the story was written

I was intrigued to read this, I'd received and ARC of the Exact Opposite of Okay which deals with a similar situation to this and had high hopes for this! Luckily for me it was just as good!

However this time around there was an element of revenge which was kind of an added bonus for me.

It was a super easy read which is an added bonus!

Another great read from Estelle. I really liked the main character, Vanessa, and how she stands up to her family difficulties and the slut-shaming / revenge porn she is subjected to. I enjoyed the relationships and friendships in this book. This was another super-cute romance story from a master of the genre.

The Wrong Side of Kai explored grief and how different people cope with it and carry on with their lives. Vanessa’s Dad is struggling immensely with a recent loss in the family and while he is physically around, Vanessa feels that mentally he has checked out. Because of this, Vanessa feels like she hasn’t had time to deal with her own grief, craving more structure as she rebels against her father.

As well as grief, this book also looked at sex, relationships and sexism. After a video of Vanessa and Harrison is circulated around the school, Vanessa is the student that is singled out and ‘slut shamed’ by the rest of the school. Does anyone even bat an eyelid at Harrison, even though he was clearly there? No. Double standards is something that Estelle addresses in the book and I was happy to see. At the same time it was refreshing to read a book with a positive view of sex in terms of how the main character views herself and her sex life.

One of the first things that struck me about this book was the inclusion of strong and positive female friendships. The relationship between Vanessa and Chyna was so just so wholesome! They made such a great team, with Chyna not being afraid to tell Vanessa that she doesn’t agree with her actions whilst still showing how much she loves and cares for her.

This story featured a very realistic portrayal of teenage relationships, in my opinion, with a slow burn and believable romance that felt very appropriate alongside the narrative. I really enjoyed Kai as both a character and a love interest. He was cheeky and playful, but caring and serious at the same time. Both traits were balanced perfectly and I found him to be a great partner for Vanessa, both in seeking revenge and in love!

There is no explicit smut, though obviously there are nods to sex, and it is definitely a suitable young adult novel (NA being classed as YA is a whole other discussion but isn’t the case here).

Despite this being a ‘revenge novel’, I definitely appreciated how Vanessa realised that revenge is not always the answer. She recognises their mistakes, and there are consequences to their actions which is something we don’t always see.

The Wrong Side of Kai is fast paced and I raced through the story over three days. However, this doesn’t mean that it is a light read. As I mentioned, Estelle’s latest novel deals with grief, sexism, revenge porn and bullying both online and in person with a strong thread of feminism running through it.

With a more mature writing style than her previous novels, Estelle is going from strength to strength with her works. The Wrong Side of Kai by Estelle Maskame was just the book for me in the moment I picked it up; it swept me out of my reading slump and made me excited to read again! The perfect YA contemporary read. 4/5 stars.

“Captain Washington and Nessie versus the world.” The story of Kai and Vanessa beautifully summed up in one sentence.

I adored this book from start to finish! When Vanessa has a fling with one of the schools most popular jocks, she would never have thought the unthinkable would happen and that he would share a private video around the whole school. She is heartbroken, and what’s the best way to react? Get revenge. Vanessa recruits new student Kai Washington to help her get back at her ex.

This story is filled with the trials and tribulations that all teenage girls would unfortunately be familiar with in the school environment. Breakups, fights and boy drama. These are all integrated into the novel really well and are explored in quite a brutal but realistic way. The relationships between Vanessa and her friends/family are explored and you watch them grow throughout which is great to read as the character development in this is SO IMPORTANT!

I’m so glad that I read this book and it’s really opened my eyes to how people would possibly react to being put in an inescapable position. A wonderfully written book.