Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That's right, the dynamic duo are back--Rachel Cohn and David Levithan are at it again.

This time, the book encompasses more than a single night. This time, the characters have known each other their entire lives. (Don't worry, there's still music!)

Naomi is kind of in love with her best friend. Sucks that he's gay. But that's not a problem, right? Of course not. The sacred bond of Naomi & Ely will survive! And to help that, they've developed the No Kiss List™. Pretty simple: it's all of the people neither of them are allowed to kiss.
Naomi's boyfriend isn't on the list. Then again, it can't possibly be a good idea for Ely to kiss him--right?
Very, very, very right, as it turns out.
Now all bets are off--the jeans must all be returned. The key under Naomi's doormat (to Ely's apartment) is removed. The Starbucks are divvied up.
Will the sacred bond of Naomi & Ely be able to survive?

Pretty great book, as the first was. (There's even a brief allusion to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist!) Still a little bit... over-the-top. I almost dropped it a star, but then, as they always do, Maureen Johnson's words came back to me... Who am I to drop a star because the realistic fiction only COULD MAYBE happen? Who am I to decide that isn't enough to be realistic fiction?

It's a pretty great book. The differences between the characters' chapters were incredible and very enjoyable--I mean, you've got Naomi, who speaks in symbols part of the time, and then Robin (m), whose chapter is all one massive paragraph with no direct quotes, and then Gabriel, who speaks in mix tapes. Absolutely fantastic to read.

But honestly, the symbols in Naomi's chapters were so small it took staring to see what they were part of the time, and it's lacking a--can you hear the English teachers of the world draw their breaths?--strong theme. I can't give it five stars. I can't bring myself to do it. I'm sorry, die-hard fans. David, Rachel--you know I'm going to buy your next books anyway (or, well, check them out of the library as soon as they're available, or when I can score one on BookSwap like this one).

Recommended... but only as a casual read. Don't try and beat a weighty, profound statement out of this novel... it might hurt the book. And whatever you were beating it with.