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Like the lead characters, this book is cute, but it's trying just a little too hard.
Book #23: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Authors: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Provenance: Received as a birthday present (and I finished it before my birthday... whoops) from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raphinou
I've read a number of David Levithan works lately, including his other collaboration with Rachel Cohn, and so it seemed only fitting that I get around to reading what's probably his most well-known book. This is a dual POV book, one each for Nick and Norah, one each for Levithan and Cohn, alternating chapters between the two, and it details the pair of them through a long night in New York City, from Nick's band's performance (he's the only straight guy in a queercore band) through another club, convenience stores, restaurants, subways, etc. There's lots of local color, and lots of cute references, and lots of good character moments, as the secondary characters weave in and out of the story, and you learn more about some of them.
I did enjoy this, and I felt it was a lot tighter than their other collaboration, which went overboard on the viewpoints, even if I liked the story there more. This is really a happy story, and there are little moments of worry and self-recrimination, but they tend to be washed away pretty fast. The characters here, because they have the focus all the time, feel pretty fleshed out and real, with real teenager moments and language and sometimes erratic thought patterns. All that was quite enjoyable, and I liked spending time with them, even if I would perhaps have liked a bit more time with some of the secondary characters, too. But the book is short and fast, and there might not have been room without making the plot feel contrived, so maybe it's for the best.
The thing is, in the end, that as much as I enjoyed it, it really did feel like they were trying too hard a lot of the time... even if I feel like that might have been real, and teenagers might well have been trying too hard, having it feel strained on the page some of the time is probably not ideal. But, since most of it works, it's forgivable.
I still wouldn't start here for Levithan, but it's a lot of fun, and you'll read it super fast, so why not give it a try?
Next up: Um... more Japanese, and probably Home, Away. Baseball, it's the time for it, after all.
Book #23: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Authors: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Provenance: Received as a birthday present (and I finished it before my birthday... whoops) from
raphinouI've read a number of David Levithan works lately, including his other collaboration with Rachel Cohn, and so it seemed only fitting that I get around to reading what's probably his most well-known book. This is a dual POV book, one each for Nick and Norah, one each for Levithan and Cohn, alternating chapters between the two, and it details the pair of them through a long night in New York City, from Nick's band's performance (he's the only straight guy in a queercore band) through another club, convenience stores, restaurants, subways, etc. There's lots of local color, and lots of cute references, and lots of good character moments, as the secondary characters weave in and out of the story, and you learn more about some of them.
I did enjoy this, and I felt it was a lot tighter than their other collaboration, which went overboard on the viewpoints, even if I liked the story there more. This is really a happy story, and there are little moments of worry and self-recrimination, but they tend to be washed away pretty fast. The characters here, because they have the focus all the time, feel pretty fleshed out and real, with real teenager moments and language and sometimes erratic thought patterns. All that was quite enjoyable, and I liked spending time with them, even if I would perhaps have liked a bit more time with some of the secondary characters, too. But the book is short and fast, and there might not have been room without making the plot feel contrived, so maybe it's for the best.
The thing is, in the end, that as much as I enjoyed it, it really did feel like they were trying too hard a lot of the time... even if I feel like that might have been real, and teenagers might well have been trying too hard, having it feel strained on the page some of the time is probably not ideal. But, since most of it works, it's forgivable.
I still wouldn't start here for Levithan, but it's a lot of fun, and you'll read it super fast, so why not give it a try?
Next up: Um... more Japanese, and probably Home, Away. Baseball, it's the time for it, after all.
