Title: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books
Pub. Date: May 23, 2006
Length: 183 Pages
Summary (from goodreads):
It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.
This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be—and where the next great band is playing.
Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.
This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be—and where the next great band is playing.
Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.
My Thoughts: I thought this book would be completely different. That being said, I probably would not have read it if I knew what the content of the book really was. I thought it would be a sweet book, but if I had seen the movie or even read a review (!), I might not have even read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. As for the rating, I had a hard time deciding what to give it. I considered giving it a rating somewhere between a one and three. In the end, I decided to give it a two point five, because I did like it, just not very much.
So. The characters. I figured I would get this out of the way first. Nick's POV was much easier to read and understand than Norah's. There where times when I loved the characters, but more often than not, I got tired of both, because between Nick mourning over his ex and Norah coming out of no where complaining for pages at a time, I found it hard to get through the book. That's not saying I didn't enjoyed their journey, I did (it even lingered in my mind days after I had read it), but that wasn't enough to pull the book out of the hole it was in.
Finally, what was a real set back was the language. I have no problem with people cussing as exclamations or when they're angry, but I don't like it when the word is over used. In this case it was the f-bomb, used by both Nick and Norah many, many, many, many times. And there comes a point when the word loses it's kick and becomes annoying, as well as distracting from the book. In the long run, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist had potential to be really great (I have to mention again that the story idea was fantastic!), but it just didn't do it for me.
So. The characters. I figured I would get this out of the way first. Nick's POV was much easier to read and understand than Norah's. There where times when I loved the characters, but more often than not, I got tired of both, because between Nick mourning over his ex and Norah coming out of no where complaining for pages at a time, I found it hard to get through the book. That's not saying I didn't enjoyed their journey, I did (it even lingered in my mind days after I had read it), but that wasn't enough to pull the book out of the hole it was in.
Finally, what was a real set back was the language. I have no problem with people cussing as exclamations or when they're angry, but I don't like it when the word is over used. In this case it was the f-bomb, used by both Nick and Norah many, many, many, many times. And there comes a point when the word loses it's kick and becomes annoying, as well as distracting from the book. In the long run, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist had potential to be really great (I have to mention again that the story idea was fantastic!), but it just didn't do it for me.
Rating:
 |
| 2.5 Moons |
I agree with your review. I read this book because I wanted to see the movie (which I didn't really like), and I just didn't enjoy the book that much. It started off strong, but then faded. Great review though :)
ReplyDeleteI did see the movie, although haven't read the book, so I can't really compare the two. Although from what I remember the movie was not what I expected, though I did think overall it was a cute movie.
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie a few months ago. it was pretty cute, quirky, and funny (the gum thing was gross but so funny!). I completely agree about the f-bomb. that's annoying after a while. I also found the book to troublesome overall
ReplyDeleteI know! the searing in this was INSANE and normally I don;t really notice or care about stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI didn;t really like this :(
fab review!