The Kiss Bet, Vol. 1

The Kiss Bet #1

by Ingrid Ochoa (Creator)

In this adorable coming-of-age comic for fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Faith Erin Hicks and Rainbow Rowell’s Pumpkinheads, Sara Lin has decided now is the time: she’s going to make her first kiss, something special and magical, happen.

In this adorable coming-of-age comic for fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Faith Erin Hicks and Rainbow Rowell’s Pumpkinheads, Sara Lin has decided now is the time: she’s going to make her first kiss, something special and magical, happen.

It’s senior year and Sara Lin just turned eighteen. She’s got great friends, a cool dad (or so he thinks), and a whole lot ahead of her. The last thing she needs is to worry about having her first kiss.

But that’s all about to change because her good pal Patrick just challenged her to a bet that will either lead to love, heartbreak, or embarrassment…or maybe all three.

Sara Lin understands that her first kiss is a rite of passage, one that she takes very seriously, even if everyone around her doesn’t. She wants it to be special–true love’s kiss–and wants to fall for someone she really cares about, not just get it over with.

Along the way, as Sarah explores her relationship options with three different boys...she discovers that life isn't a fairytale and romance is inherently complex. It's messy and complicated, but boy, it sure can be fun.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Romance, Young Adult, Manga, Comics, Contemporary, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2025

About the author

Ingrid Ochoa is a Mexican writer, illustrator, cat owner, and full time WEBTOON creator. Her most famous work is the number one WEBTOON series in the universe (of her mom’s heart) called The Kiss Bet.

Reviews

[Fairuz ᥫ᭡.]

4 Stars! 🌟 A huge thanks to Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and NetGalley for the ARC! 💌

Okay, so this was my first time diving into The Kiss Bet graphic novel, and I totally loved it! 😁 Volume One covers episodes 1-18, and let me tell you, I had a blast! At first, I was all about Sara & Patrick ending up together, but now? I’m totally team either Patrick or Oliver! The characters might seem a bit immature, but hey, that’s the charm of high school drama, right? 😂 It reminds me of all those cute moments from K-Dramas that make me wanna cry and laugh at the same time. 💫

The art style? Ugh, so good! 🎨 I was honestly blown away. It’s got that webtoon feel, but even better—the colors and details are just gorgeous! 😍 And I’m officially hooked. 😜 I’m definitely gonna continue the manga on Webtoon now, because patience is not my virtue... 😂

Sara Lin is such a relatable character, trying to figure out love and life while also dealing with high school pressures. She’s awkward, funny, and so endearing! 💕 Her first kiss is this huge thing for her, and I get it! Everyone’s got an idea of what they want it to be like. But then comes the twist with her friendship with Patrick, and I’m here for the drama! 🌟

At first, I was super intrigued by the whole Kiss Bet thing, but after a while, it kinda felt like the story went in other directions (don’t get me wrong, still fun, but I did want more of that bet). Also, gotta say, I’m not mad about the love triangle! There’s Patrick, Oliver, and Joe—oh, the drama! I love a good messy romance. 💕

There are a few moments where I felt secondhand embarrassment (classic teen stuff!), and sometimes I wished the plot moved faster, but hey, I’m in for the ride. This manga is all about those sweet, awkward moments of discovering crushes, navigating friendships, and yeah... a little bit of love drama. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here! 🌻

So, if you're into cute, hilarious, coming-of-age stories with a dash of romance and high school chaos, this one’s definitely worth checking out! 💖

[Esme]

3.5⭐

The art style is beautiful, I personally really loved the way it was drawn and the colors that were chosen were just so good. I will say I do think this read a bit like younger YA the way the characters were acting felt very young. Some characters were a little insufferable. The plot itself was fine, not my favorite though. The plot felt a little slow and repetitive. I'll continue in the series if given the opportunity though since I'm excited to see how the story will progress and to see the author grow more into their art style.

thank you Netgalley and Webtoon Unscrolled for an ARC copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own

[destiny :)]

Volume one started off strong. Our main characters are likeable and humorous though they act a little immature for their age. I’m interested to see where the story will go from here so therefore i will be continuing the series. This was a quick,fun read as well.

Thank you NetGalley & WEBTOON for allowing me access to read this early.

[M. J. Pereira]

★★★★★
5 stars bc I wish I had the other 3 in my hands rn.🫲😭🫱
Hehe, this is the goofiest thing ever.

Read if you like:
♡Clean romance
♥︎Comedic relief
♡Secretly multiple love interests
♥︎Cute moments
♡Immature FMC (SHE KINDA IS THO)
♥︎Fast reads

I love it smmmm~~
SOMEONE GIVE ME THE OTHERS PLEASEEEEEEE😭🙏

[abi ୨୧]

Reading manga for 24 hours (or until I get sick of it) book 4.

The art style and design of this story and the characters is fantastic! But the characters themselves? Almost all trash. Sarah Lin is like, the worst. I can’t actually believe this girl is 18. Girl can’t get her homework done on time, does not give a shit about her friends, takes on commitments when she doesn’t have time. She’s incredibly flaky and self-absorbed. Again, she’s like, the worst. Her boy best friend is nonchalant final-boss, and definitely the type of guy to ask, “Where my hug at Sarah Lin??😝” The other love interest, Joe, is incredibly boring. Oliver, hopefully the endgame lover interest, is the only decent character in this entire fucking graphic novel. He has common sense, and does not let Sarah Lin get away with her bullshit, which I deeply appreciated. Too many people in this girls life encouraged her selfish attitude.

I found the storyline cute, even though it read a little young. I could see myself really enjoying Sarah and Oliver as a couple in the future. They had good set up and interactions in here. I also liked to see a blond grump MMC (Oliver). Usually the blond ones are the sunshines, so I appreciated how this author broke the stereotype. And again, the art is stunning. I think that’s what saved this story for me. But the characters kind of ruined this. I think I will continue on, and give the second volume a chance to see if I’m interested in continuing or just DNF’ing. Idk we shall see.

[emmasdeaf]

im actually not done yet, and i normally dont add webtoons a lot to my goodreads but ive been reading this one non stop since yeaterday and im alrdy 4 seasons in now🙂‍↕️

eventho im not done i know and i want her to and up with oliver OBV
but her friendship with patrick (relationship) was so so so well done, and im sooooo happy they kept being friends because i would be fr sad if all of that ruined what they had. (i need to be honest- at some points i rlly wished patrick wouldve been the one for sara lin)
also patrick and rose is so much more intresting than him and tammy (i do feel bad for her tho… but whatever)
andddd joe and vicky are so cute and that whole thing between joe and sara lin was just a lesson to learn from ig🤗

[Dolefully]

(Reread) so glad to finally have this physical book! The art style is so cute and the characters are so likable. Perfect YA graphic novel.

~~~~~~~~
I love love love this webcomic and I am so excited to reread when it’s published!

[Morgan]

I enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to! It was so cute and the characters were a lot of fun! I’m rooting for Sara Lyn! I can’t wait for the next one in August!

[Jen]

I REALLY enjoyed this one. Despite the lack of communication going on between the MCs, it makes sense, since they are in high school. The drama is silly, but not too OTT for me, which is saying something, as I don't have a high threshold for drama and silly.

This book easily stays on the unannoying side of the fence when it comes to the silly and the drama. It's light, fluffy and funny. About 87% of the way into the book, there is a panel that had me ROLLING. The artwork in this is just amazing with the emotions that are being shown on the characters faces and I am SO into it.

Also, not going to lie, I kind of am shipping Joe and Patrick, lol.

I didn't think I was going to do this, but I will. Writing this review made me re-consider my four stars. I enjoyed the book, and writing about it, THAT much.

5, I am here for this bring on the next volume, stars!

My thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Unscrolled for an eARC of this book to read and review.

[D.T. Henderson]

This was lighthearted and cute. Sara wants a meaningful, amazing first kiss but the trials to getting to that are silly. It seems like 3 potential boys are/will be interested in her (obviously one's super cold to her right now, but we all know he'll defrost soon).

While Sara is immature, Oliver's prickly attitude was getting old. It's like he wants to bite her head off for everything.

One point for having someone react realistically with a random trying to kiss them

[Reading_ Tamishly]

Guess this one is too young for me.

[Norita Moreno]

Al principio estuvo muy bien, pero cuanto más alargan la historia más desesperante se vuelven los protas

[⋆Aree⋆]

Escritora mexicana? Amoooo, la historia esta interesante, y entretenida, todos los amigos son un caos🤣 el dibujo también esta lindo, no se si será un triangulo amoroso pero ya veremos

[Amanda Mercedes]

Cute and I’m intrigued to see how it continues!! I think it’s very of its age in that the mindset and actions of the characters are very high school— but that’s what they are! Sara is boy focused and her academics are slacking, which leads her right to the source of her problems, subwayboy Oliver. Then there’s the fun twist with Joe. And of course there’s her friend who’s starting to get jealous.
Whoever will she choose!!!

Thank you Wattpad Webtoon Unscrolled for providing me a copy for review!

[Mark]

Of all the webtoons I have read, there are two that I have felt compelled to read again and (hopefully) in collected book form. This is, in fact, one of them. The second one, Roots of the Heart, doesn’t have a release yet, but deserves one.

Okay, preamble out of the way, I really like this story and, when I first started it, was devouring its individual episodes at rapid speed, binge style. It’s compellingly good material that has shifted to a more traditional format very well.

If you have ever liked an Archie comic or wished for a version of Saved by the Bell that was actually good (look, I watched the crap out of that show, don’t at me, it was awful), this really slides into that teenage romance slot with style.

What makes a rehashed setting and premise like ‘strangers to enemies to lovers’ (maybe) into something readable is down to the execution. And Ingrid Ochoa knows how to make this work.

The secret weapon is probably Sara Lin herself, who is a fantastic main character. Yeah, there’s a robust supporting cast here as well, but she’s why this works half as well as it does. Even when she’s messing up, she’s so easy to root for.

Sara has turned eighteen and has yet to be kissed. Her stubborn bravado leads to her trying to ask a random boy at the subway stop if she can kiss him on a bet, see: title, which goes as well as you’d expect.

There are no points awarded for thinking that this boy, Oliver, will show up suddenly in Sara’s orbit. Although her sights end up set on Oliver’s attractive brother, Joe, instead. Teenage dramatics then ensue. This is classic young adult stuff through and through, done to a high standard.

The way Sara is fumbling her way through life in this volume is perfectly relatable for anybody who thought that high school was an emotional rollercoaster and everything was the worst and every day was a chance to cause yourself more stress .

I love the way she just gets frustrated and tries to deal with all the crap that comes her way; it’s all so believable. Including her pride leading to her falling for her friend Patrick’s ridiculous bets over and over again. And the bets themselves are not ridiculous, Sara just can’t bring herself to get herself out of trouble. She’s pretty avoidant as we start this series.

Toss in some rivals, a ridiculous mystic, a lovely art style (the redrawn opening chapters are so, so much better here), and some gags and you have a pretty palatable stew. Special shout-out to Sara’s dad, who quickly becomes a scene-stealing joke machine after his first appearance.

I suppose I should mention the boys, but mostly the focus is on Oliver. Joe’s too nice and Patrick has self-imposed himself to the friend zone, which lets Oliver come to the fore more. He’s almost as smart as he thinks he is, almost, and he and Sara go at it hammer and tongs several times. There’s a solid pairing there.

Am I going to complain about the cadence feeling a little off in the transition? Yes, yes I am. Does it matter here? No, it doesn’t. I can see the seams because I know the source material well, but the stitching job is very well done.

4 stars - it might not be new, but it takes a reliable mainstay of romance comics and makes it fresh with good writing. Having it all in colour doesn’t hurt either.

[Nohemibook]

En esta historia conocemos a Sara Lin quien acaba de cumplir los 18 años, tiene grandes amigos, un papá muy cool (o eso dice él) y muchos proyectos, así que lo ultimo que le preocupa es dar su primer beso pero después de una apuesta con su mejor amigo que parece una locura descubrirá que el amor es mas complicado de lo que cree pero también que puede ser muy divertido.

En esta novela gráfica la autora nos lleva a una encantadora historia donde chicos y chicas están adentrándose en las relaciones románticas, sin duda esta hecha para que lectores jóvenes se sientan mas identificados con los personajes pues si se comportan en su mayor parte como adolescentes que van apenas a entrar en la adultez y creo que eso a sido muy bien construido.

En cuanto a la trama es entretenido ver como van aprendiendo y sorteando lo que son los problemas comunes a esa edad que sacuden su mundo porque a esa edad ese era nuestro mundo y me gustó que en parte rememore esa etapa de la vida.

En general una historia entretenida, divertida y sin duda es perfecta para adolescentes y adultos jóvenes o para los ya no tan jóvenes (que estamos en nuestra segunda adolescencia 🤭) si quieren una lectura ligera y divertida para recordar la época de instituto además de que las ilustraciones son preciosas y me encantaron, espero ansiosa leer la siguiente parte.

[Kenidi (Didi)]

I zoomed through this!! It’s so cute!! I relate to you so much sara lin, I too am an awkward ginger obsessed with boys🙏🏻 (unfortunately I do not have 3 love interests🥀)

Definitely not team Joe (but he’s so nice!) BUT OLIVER!!! I love you subway boy💋 (love a good tutor trope with a side of banter and loathing) but also Patrick??? Best friend trope??? Idk guys I’m conflicted I love them both😭 just throuple idek

[CiCi | bookameme]

This is a cute story perfect for the middle grade/ YA crowd. It’s set in highschool with age appropriate challenges and a unique art style compared to other WebToon comics. I’ve been reading it on the app for a while, but grabbed a physical copy when it became available. If you like light and fluffy comics this is a good one.

[Christine Reads]

This is a cute WEBTOON about a bet gone awry! Sara Lin make a bet to kiss a boy at the subway which he denies and ends up not only going to her school but also is her neighbor! But this is a love square so there are two more boys in her horizon that complicates things. Especially when one is subway boys brother and the other is her best friend who made the bet in the first place!

I love the art in this. It's so cute!

[Seren]

too young for me. i found the characters to be unbearably immature and obnoxious, sorry. also, after a point, the story just kept dragging on and on and on unnecessarily. i read up till chapter 170 and i’m really done.

[Shae]

Absolutely adorable! Will be continuing!

[Jayda 🍉]

I’ve already read all of the episodes on WEBTOON, so I’m just marking it here as well

[Kathyj]

the art is so cute and this was a little cheeky but i think they're saving all the juice for vol 2...

[Anna❀]

4⭐


Me he bebido el webtoon enterito en nada, no podía parar. Muy cute 🙂‍↕️🩷

[Bee]

First off- absolutely love the art style so cute! I also adored Sara Lin's father- he was hilarious! I didn't however love, or even really like Sara Lin- she's a bit self absorbed and kind of a bad friend, nor did I like Patrick- he was really unlikeable and a jerk. I did however really like Oliver- who reminded me so much of Tsukki from Haikyu- it was uncanny!

I thought the story was very okay, a quick and easy read, but I didn't like it enough to continue with this series.

[Marissa Burns]

I had high hopes based on the cover and description but this fell super flat for me. I thought the illustrations were a bit mediocre and the dialog was clunky at times. Since it's only the first volume, I hope to see it improvement going forward. Sara Lin's dad was fantastic though.

[Bailey]

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for a copy of this story!
I thought it was pretty cute, but the characters are not my style. I think they were acting too childish for me maybe. I would read more in the future though, because I am intrigued.

[Rach]

An adorable teenage comic with sweet, funny characters trying to figure out life, friendship, relationships, and calculus. Pretty much everyone in this comic is adorable. Sara Lin is such a cute goofball who’s shy around strangers (and cute boys) but who really opens up when she’s comfortable with someone (or provoked into anger). Her best guy friend, Patrick, clearly likes her, and she used to have a crush on him, too, but he drew those friendship boundaries so deep that she’s moved on to other crushes. Enter the new boys next door, brothers Joe (aka dimpled and friendly heartthrob classmate) and Oliver (aka standoffish tutor boy who she maaaaaybe propositioned in the subway one night after an ill-advised bet from bestie Patrick).

I know Joe is the one Sara has a crush on right now, but you can just tell that endgame is Oliver — unless it somehow becomes Patrick?? Sara’s cousin Vicky (and the third of her bestie group) is right that Patrick is getting awfully hot and bothered at losing Sara’s attention now that Joe is around. Did Patrick fumble his chance with Sara for good, or can he swoop back in, confess his real feelings, and get his girl back? It’s hilarious that everyone in their school already thinks they are dating, so clearly they are giving off that vibe already. But Oliver so clearly fits the grumpy/sunshine combo, and I could see him actually falling for Sara if they do end up spending a lot of time together, between tutoring, the newspaper, and living next door. (Also Oliver is into the same classic metal that Sara’s dad keeps playing loudly — is that going to be a thing?)

In addition to the cute characters and story, I love the art and character design in this comic! I love when characters are expressive and when they are draw smaller or larger to exaggerate their moods and reactions, and the author does this so well. Also, all of the characters stand apart distinctly from one another, which can be hard to do with comics sometimes. And LULU. So is so funny and amazing. 😆 I can’t wait to keep reading this!

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin)]

ARC was given by NetGalley & WEBTOON Unscrolled.

✨ Read for free HERE! ✨


This isn't my first time reading this graphic novel. The first time I read it was on Webtoons and really enjoyed it! I think this series really appeal to those who love reading series that have love triangles or multiple love interests and enjoy seeing the chaos of first loves while navigating high school setting. However, I don't think this will be for every readers. There were a few times where I got second-hand embarrassment or found myself frustrated with the heroine's choices and had to keep reminding myself that this story involves high schoolers. Overall, it was a quick, funny, and charming read! I definitely recommend giving it a try if you're looking for something fast with bits of romance and comedy sprinkled throughout.


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.

Instagram|Ko-fi|Throne

[☽｡⋆ Naidah ₊˚ෆ]

4 ⭐️

I enjoyed this surprisingly. The art was beautiful and the story seemed to progress pretty well, though I’m not sure if the arc had skipped a few pages cause I got lost and the pages jumped a few times.

Anyways, this was funny and cute but maybe “The Kiss Bet” is a name that shouldn’t have been chosen if it was only gonna be used once in the beginning and left completely altogether. Maybe in the next volumes it’ll circle around again but it was weird that it just started with that but then didn’t go back. I’d definitely want to see where this comic goes though.

Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad Webtoon Book Group for the arc in exchange for a review. Hope to see more from this author