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.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty darn good book, overall.

I'll start with what I disliked the book (that being the shorter list):
1. The excessive swearing. Yes, yes, I know the arguments both ways. I've heard one of the authors explain his side of it himself, even. But it's still kind of obnoxious at times.
2. The whole instant-love thing. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Highly enjoyable, and by the end was completely explained, but throughout the early-middle stars were dropping like flies as some nagging impression my parents have left upon me said How irresponsible can these people be?.

Now that that's over with...

Re-iterating: Pretty darn good book. One night, 180-some pages. Fast-paced and wholly enjoyable. Nick and Norah seem to represent the people that pretty much all teenagers, at least in the backs of their minds, want to be. They're not the popular kids--they're the kids who have friends and honestly are happy just like that.

Which, though I'd hate to disagree all of the wonderful, mature adults who have commented on the book, makes it undeniably the opposite of what many people want to say the book is. It isn't a bad influence. The main characters aren't bad people. They don't smoke or drink. And they don't expect everyone to be their friend. It's not like every teenager on the planet is going to have their mind infected with the book and go make out with some random person after reading it.
(For more on this opinion, I must turn yet again to another author, who makes the point about his own book in this YouTube video.)

The musical current throughout the book is fantastic. I love music. I am a music nerd. The amount of music in this book (pretty typical of David Levithan, as I am discovering more and more) makes me happy. If you are a music nerd, it will make you happy too. But, yeah, read the book even if you're not. Because it isn't essential to be a music nerd or to know a lot about New York City to get the book.

Final summary: It's like a trashy novel but for intelligent people, particularly the musical type. Very good novel.