Review: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Title: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List
Author: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release date: August 28th 2007
Pages: 230
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon | Goodreads


Goodreads description:

NAOMI AND ELY ARE BEST FRIENDS. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi, but prefers to be in love with boys. So they create their "No Kiss List" of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. And this works fine - until Bruce. Bruce is Naomi's boyfriend, so there's no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce even though he is boring. The result: a rift of universal proportions and the potential end of "Naomi and Ely: the institution." Can these best friends come back together again?

First sentence:

I lie all the time.

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars


I loved Nick & Norah and Dash & Lily, so I had high hopes for Naomi & Ely. And while the style and plot are similar to Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's other collaborations, I just didn't like it as much as those two.


The way that Naomi & Ely is written is something I haven't read before - instead of some words, there are symbols. I don't know how to explain it - there's a picture of a heart when they want to say love, there are smileys, there are pictures of walls, trees, lots of things. Not, like, big pictures, just a little symbol right in the middle of the sentence. On the first five pages or so, I loved that idea, and though it was cute, but that didn't last long. It got annoying really quickly. Luckily, they only used those pictures in Naomi's chapters and not in the whole novel.


The previous Cohn/Levithan-collaborations I've read have been written from alternating perspectives of the two main characters. In this book, however, we don't only get to read from the main characters' points-of-view, but from lots of secondary characters, too - Bruce the First, a guy who has a crush on Naomi; Bruce the Second, Naomi's boyfriend who then starts going out with Ely; girl-Robin and guy-Robin, two friends of Naomi and Ely's; Gabriel the doorman who has a thing for Naomi; Kellie, Bruce the First's sister; and those are just the ones I can think of right now. For me, those are just too many different points-of-view - since there's so many, the authors couldn't give each of them a distinctive voice, it was hard to distinguish whom you were reading about, and it got confusing, especially because there's two Bruces and two Robins. I like the idea of showing so many different kinds of love, but the POVs were just too many for me.


What made it so hard for me to enjoy this novel is that I couldn't connect with the characters. It's partly that there's so many of them, but it's also the characters themselves - I just didn't like most of them. Naomi and Ely are both so full of themselves - I wanted to shake them and tell them to get over themselves and deal with their problems. I liked reading about their shared past, their families, and how close they were growing up - that part is adorable - but I couldn't stand the present Naomi and Ely. 


I liked girl-Robin and Kellie - those are the only somewhat sympathetic characters. The rest of the secondary characters are just as annoying as Naomi and Ely - Gabriel is cocky without really having anything to be cocky about; Bruce the First is plain pathetic; guy-Robin is a total ass; and Bruce the Second is okay for the most part but makes a stupid and injustified decision that made me dislike him, too.


Then there's the swearing. I had this problem with Nick & Norah, and I had it again with Naomi & Ely - there are way, way too many swear words. I don't have a problem with cursing in general, and it's not like I mind if a book uses a curse word every once in a while, but it's just too much in these books. They say 'fuck' on every page, for no apparent reason, so much so that it bothered me while reading, even though I'm not usually sensitive about that kind of thing.


Despite all of that, I actually did like the main story - it was nice to see how Naomi and Ely's relationship evolves over the course of the novel, and I liked seeing them figure out what role they play in the other one's life.


This book was really, really disappointing for me. Too many points-of-view and not very likeable characters made it hard for me to enjoy Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, which is sad, since I really did like the authors' other collaborations. If you haven't read anything by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, I'd recommend starting with Dash & Lily's Book of Dares or Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist instead of this one.


If you've read this book, what did you think?

Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Authors: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 272
Release date: October 26th 2010
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon | Goodreads


Goodreads description:

“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them... turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” 
Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a shelf in her favourite bookshop, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept them. But is Dash that right guy? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
From the authors of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist comes a warm and funny story that will leave you perusing bookshop shelves, looking for a red notebook of your own.

First sentence:

Imagine this: You're standing in your favorite bookstore, scanning the shelves.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Every year I need to read one Christmas-y book to get into a Christmas-y mood. And since I loved Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's first collaboration, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (review), and the cover of this one is adorable, I thought I'd give it a shot. And it definitely worked - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is the perfect book for the holidays!


I love the whole idea for this book. The idea of the notebook is adorable, and I love how it got them into such random, crazy, hilarious situations that are so much fun to read about. Yes, it's cheesy and not all that realistic, but the whole story is just so adorable. I also loved how bookish this book is. (And yes, I do realize how stupid that sounds.) All the bookish references are all really interesting to read about.


I have to say, though, I like the notebook part better than the part where the actual Dash and Lily meet, just because I think their notebook-versions have better chemistry. They're still cute together, but they're not all that special without the notebook-storyline. Some parts towards the end are kind of slow, and I was disappointed by the ending.


The characters are what make this book work. I loved Lily - she's easy to relate to, shy and awkward but totally lovable. Dash's a great character too, so smart and sweet and amazing... A little too amazing, even - I can't imagine anyone as perfect as Dash actually existing. Nevertheless, they're both quirky characters with honest and entertaining voices. The secondary characters are great, too - it's hilarious to read about how their entire extended families helped them, and Boomer is just plain awesome.


Dash & Lily's Book of Dares made me want to go to New York so bad - I wanted to check out all of the places the two of them visited, the Strand and Max Brenner, especially. Max Brenner sounds so cool - they have chocolate syringes! I googled Max Brenner and they really do sell chocolate syringes! Getting off topic here, but I so need to go there.


Anyways, back on topic... Another thing I appreciated about Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is that  there isn't as much swearing in this one as there is in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. The use of swear words is really overdone in Nick & Norah, in my opinion, and I'm glad it isn't like that in Dash & Lily.


One complaint I have, though, is the structure. The chapters are pretty long, and it goes back and forth between Dash and Lily's points of view. And since the chapters are longer, it'd sometimes be one day in this chapter and be the day before that in the next one, which got kind of confusing in parts.


Despite the problems I had with the structure and some slow parts towards the end, I definitely recommend it - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is an adorably bookish romance that will warm your heart in the cold winter time!

Review: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
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!