Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 192
Release date: January 1st 2006
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads
Goodreads description:
So you're a guy; you're at a band show and your ex, the girl who dumped you, walks in with the new guy. Looking for a safe exit, you ask the girl you happen to sitting with to be your girlfriend for five minutes . You're a girl; you're at a get-together and your least favorite female strolls in. The stranger sitting next to you asks you to be his five-minute date. So what do you? You lock lips . Nick and Norah's instant connect begins a roller-coaster "first date" that takes them through Manhattan and into themselves.
First sentence:
The day begins in the middle of the night.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Why did I wait for such a long time to read Rachel Cohn/David Levithan book? I'd heard their books were great, but waited until now to read one, which I now know was a mistake - Nick & Norah's Infinte Playlist is amazing! At first I was discouraged by its short length, but that wasn´t a problem at all - it´s a short read, but I felt like I spent years in Nick and Norah´s world.
I loved both main characters. Norah is easy to relate to and feel for. She's a likable character and I got her from the beginning on. Nick... Oh, Nick. He's just adorable. He´s so perfect, I wanted to pull him out of the book into real-life to have him all for myself. I loved the whole tone of the book; Nick and Norah´s voices are sweet and real, with great humor. There´s just something about the style that had me laughing out loud. I also love how, despite the humor, a subtle message of acceptance shone through, without being preachy.
But my love for Nick and Norah as individual characters is nothing compared to my love for Nick-and-Norah as a couple. They have great chemistry and are positively swoonworthy. Somehow, even though the book only covers one night, it seems like their romance develops gradually and naturally. I loved the whole idea for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and the unique beginning and development of their relationship. I can´t even think about these two without smiling - this whole book just made me happy, made me want to hug somebody. I hate myself for not being able to explain this better - Nick and Norah are just so adorable!
Even though Nick and Norah are the only characters that play a really important role in this book, the secondary characters are great, too. I love how much we found out about Nick by reading about his relationship with his bandmates and Tris, and about Norah by reading about her relationship with Caroline, her parents and Tal. I didn`t quite get Norah's relationship with Tris, though. In the beginning, Tris is the girl Norah hates most in the world (it even says "least-favorite female" in the description), and then later, it turns out Norah, Caroline and Tris are actually sort of friends. I liked reading about Norah and Tris as almost-friends, but I didn´t get why in the beginning it seems like they're mortal enemies.
One thing that sort of annoyed me in this book, though, is the excessive use of swear words. Of course I don't mind that these characters swear - that's normal - but how often they swore seemed overdone to me, and that annoyed me after a while.
All in all, this is one heck of a book, despite its short length. Nick and Norah are a couple I'll continue to swoon about. This is the best romance I've read in a while, possibly all year. I'm looking forward to reading more by these two authors!
Posts
I don't think I've ever seen a negative review for this one. Well, except mine. :( Everyone seems to love this and I just couldn't connect to the characters. :( But I'm glad you liked it, though. Great review.
ReplyDeleteCarina @ Fictional Distraction
I watched the movie and I didn't like it and that ruined the book. Not that I have read this book but you know what I mean. When you mention Nick, I think of the actor that played him and he's not so cute. But I laughed when you said you wanted to keep him for yourself! Awesome! I love when there's a swoon worthy guy in books that you just want to take him out of the book and make him real.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this the same author as Dash and Lily's? I read a sample and I was liking it but the cursing was...yeah. Like you said, sometimes you can deal with it but sometimes it just too much and it seems the author is just using it just to fill the page.
Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDelete@Carina: Don't feel bad! There's plenty of books everyone seemed to love but where I couldn't connect to the characters. That's just something so personal; it's different for everybody!
@mfay2: Oh, I hate when movies ruin books. That's why I always try to read the book first, Yeah, that's written by the same author. I haven't read that one yet, but I'm planning on it, even though I hated the cursing. Cursing is fine when it's, like, a really bad situation or when it's supposed to characterize one of the characters, but here it's just used throughout. It's like that in a lot of books, though, sadly...
Carina, I don't like this book either!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you how you said there were too many swear words. There are so many good words out there, one's that won't interrupt the flow of the book, so why was it necessary to use those? I think I really couldn't relate to either of the characters, which is why I didn't enjoy it. To each her own, though, right? (: