April 6, 2009

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Levithan, Cohn

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
Date Started: April 3, 2009 Date Finished: April 6, 2009
Summary: Nick is a poor schmuck getting over his insanely hot girlfriend. Norah is virtually taking care of her sister at a night club. The adventure starts when Nick sees his ex girlfriend and asks Norah to be his five minute girl friend. Instead of going insane on this kid for asking such a strange question, Norah responds by kissing him. This sets off a night of heartbreak, heartache, and a song written on Ludlow street.
Likes: I love the references to New York. I can almost picture the streets, the subway, the feeling of the town. It was a really nice read. There was a point in time where I was thinking, I am I reading this book? I'm clearly a couple years older and than the characters and feel a little awkward not knowing what was going on most of the time in terms of conversation and dialogue (the bands were lost on me) but in the end, the story reminded me of why I enjoy reading Young Adult fiction so much. Nick and Norah isn't hung up on beautiful phrases or artsy fartsy writer-y type things. It just is. The characters are themselves and don't hide it. They make mistakes, they own up to those mistakes, and move on. There's something sweet and simple in this novel, just two teens having an adventure one night. It's reminiscent of just hanging with two friends. It's kind of like being a part of a group where you know two of your friends like each other, but they aren't admiting it. This is a story where some things go right, some things go wrong, and somethings just don't go at all (Jessie!Yugo). It reminds me why I love young adult fiction. It doesn't spend time on the hang ups of language, it's simple and easy to read, but also has many complex layers.
Dislikes: I'm not really into the rock scene so a lot of the band humor is lost on me. I kind of feel like I'm reading an inside joke that everyone is laughing at and I get it, but it's not really funny because I'm not apart of the scene. There was a lot of unnecessary cussing. At some point in the middle of the book, I was hoping that it would be over, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it had a rewarding ending.
Overall: I liked this book. Rock isn't really my scene so some of the references were lost on me. As a reader, you can tell that Cohn and Levithan have good writing chemistry together and aren't afraid to let people in on their inside jokes. It's pretty cool to see authors collaborating. I can't wait to read their next book and to read the collaboration between John Green and David Levithan.

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