Customer Reviews

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cohn and Levithan team up once more and hit the streets of New York with a new cast of tangible, expressive teens. Not as good as Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (but let's be honest, how can you get much better than Nick and Norah?), but still an amazing story in its own right, Naomi and Ely found an honored spot on my YA bookshelf.

Naomi and Ely thought they were totally safe with their No Kiss List. Naomi can ogle every hot guy she sees and still save herself for when Ely realizes they are meant to be together, and Ely can be the biggest flirt in gaydom as long as he doesn't lip lock with the guys Naomi likes to ogle. But they never thought to put Naomi's straight boyfriend on the list. So Naomi is crushed that they guy she loves and a guy she is totally in like with both leave her for each other.

Beware, this book is not for young readers--there is a maturity to the characters and the issues that is not appropriate for young teens. But the book is great fun to read with loads of laugh-out-load funny parts (i.e. when Robin-Boy asks his buddy what a girl who you want to spend time with, think is totally cute but don't want to sleep with is called, and his buddy introduces him to the term "friend"). The characters are amazingly relatable, and the message of loving and moving on is poignant.

Even if they do dis Bon Jovi, this book belongs on any college freshman's bookshelf and the songs on every iPod's playlist. Cohn and Levithan make one great writing team. (And their stand-alone books aren't bad either.)

Naomi & Ely are the best of friends. They've grown up as neighbors and have had some very happy and not so happy times (when Naomi's dad and one of Ely's mom's hooked up). They know everything about each other and refuse to do anything without the other. Naomi dreams of marrying, having kids and living happily ever after with Ely... even if he is gay.

Together they have come up with their No Kiss List. A list where they both list boys that are not to be kissed. They see this as a way of making sure a boy doesn't come between their friendship.... as if! So when Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce the First (he wasn't on that list - but only because it should be a given that he's a no-kisser), all hell breaks lose. They both begin to question their choices, their hopes, their dreams and where they are headed in their lives.... but even more important, should this come between their friendship?

Sadly, I can't say that I truly enjoyed this book. For starters the story is told through, well, pretty much everyone Naomi & Ely know. Firstly, of course, you hear from Naomi & Ely, Bruce the First (Naomi's boyfriend), Bruce the Second (lives in same apartment building Naomi & Ely do; has a thing for Naomi); Robin - girl (friend); Robin - boy (friend); Kelly (Bruce the Second's sister); Gabriel a/k/a The Archangel (hot security guard to Naomi & Ely's buiding and on the no-kiss list). Not only did I find it difficult to remember whose point of view we were reading at the time, but then a lot of them had similar names. There were two Bruce's and two Robin's.

Eventually, I did get past the whole confusion of who was who, but then I would also get annoyed at the Naomi chapters with all the little symbols. Meaning there were some words that were replaced by a symbol and I don't think I quite caught them all, so I was like.. "huh?"

To top it all off, I just didn't really fall for any of the characters. I just did not see any of them as someone I would hang out with in real life - so that was also a turn off to me. I tried to root for Naomi (because yes, girl power), but in the end I think I disliked her more than I liked her.

What I did like about the story was it's exploration of sexuality. I also liked that the characters were in their late teens - 19 and 20. I also really enjoyed Gabriel's chapters - because of all the music... loved that. And, of course, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's writing is phenomenal - they are so hip, witty, clever and humorous.... because of this alone, it is worth the read.

With that being said, I don't really think I can recommend this only because it wasn't a winner with me. As for being a teen novel, I think the f-word was used too much and sex was seen as a casual thing - which no matter how realistic this may be, I really don't think it sends the right message to the young and impressionable. To those who are fans of Nick & Norah's (I myself being one), I will end my review with this = it has the same sort of feel to it, but unlike Nick & Norah, this one is forgettable.

I really loved this author-duo's "Dash & Lily's Book of Dares" to which I gave five stars. This one -- not so much.

The two leading characters live in the same apartment building in Manhattan and both are victims of broken marriages. One of Ely's two moms had an affair with Naomi's dad -- who then walked out leaving her mother depressed and devastated. Ely's moms stayed together.

Naomi and Ely are closer than most siblings and Naomi has an immature fantasy that one day they will marry -- despite the fact that Ely is flamboyantly and unapologetically gay. When Ely is attracted to Naomi's current boyfriend -- one of two characters in the book named Bruce -- Naomi ends their friendship leaving them both miserable. The rest of the book consists of everyone learning to come to terms with who they really are and accepting others for who they are and learning to get along and love one another etc etc.

This book has its moments of wit. The authors' love of language once again comes through. But it's needlessly confusing with the multiple narrative voices and the characters struck me as a bit too knowing. At one point in the novel, someone makes the point that Manhattanites are different from the rest of the country -- and maybe the rest of the world -- in their knowing sophistication and premature world-weariness.

These kids, it struck me, had all grown up too fast, too soon. They were masquerading as characters in a sleek, sophisticated novel instead of having real lives. There was someone overly theatrical about the dilemmas they invented for themselves. While Dash and Lily had a wonderful, optimistic innocence about them and a thirst to discover the world, the characters of this book seemed to know it all -- before it had even happened.

As a fan of David Levithan (especially the fantastic Boy Meets Boy), I was excited to read this book, hoping once again to be plunged into one of Levithan's fantastic worlds. I was sorely disappointed.

In Naomi and Ely, we're introduced to two lifelong best friends; Ely, a smart and witty gay boy, and Naomi, a gorgeous and troublesome girl who just happens to be in love with Ely. Everything breaks down when Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend. Instead of this being a fun look at the drama that comes with the transition between high school and college, we are given a cast of whiny and melodramatic characters who lack the ability to self-reflect more than "how will this effect me?" Naomi is obsessive, short sighted, and annoying. Ely is more grounded but lacks depth. The cast is rounded out by characters who seem pretty pointless - even the ones important to the plot.

After Levithan and Cohn's last spectacular collaboration, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, I was hoping for much more from this novel, which unfortunately was not there.

Naomi loves Ely. And Ely loves Naomi...but not in that way. The two have been best friends since birth, their lives bounded together by sheer proximity because their families have lived across the hall from each other since the beginning.

The fact that Ely's Gay has never bothered Naomi, and why should it? Naomi has always known that Ely loves her more than anyone. Until, that is, Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend. What's worse is that Ely lies to Naomi about it, and proceeds to fall in love with her ex-boyfriend Bruce, digging the knife in as deep as it will go.

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List challenges the concept of friendship, and just how much is too much to forgive. Luckily for us (and Naomi and Ely) we still think that friends, truly great friends, can overcome most with each other by their sides.
-Reviewed by Jill MacKenzie

Naomi and Ely are the bestest of best friends- they've grown up together, been around each other all their lives, gone through parental drama. Everything seems to be going fine- the problem though is that Naomi is in love with Ely, and Ely doesn't feel the same way, as he loves boys. One stick of gum in the wrong place at the wrong time changes everything between them. Can they both work out their differences and become friends again, or is it just too late?

The second novel to come from the brilliant Cohn and Levithan team is, well, brilliant. Perhaps even better than their first novel together. The story is told from both Naomi and Ely's point of view, but every so often, the reader gets to hear from a different character's perspective. Filled with intelligent, but readable prose, as well as humor, page-turning drama, and engaging, relatable characters, this is one book you do not want to miss.

I adore this book... I really do. Cohn and Levithan write amazingly together... I loved Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and to be honest I'm not sure which of these two books I love more. They're just so... sarcastic and humorous and completely abnormal. This book was like nothing I've ever read before, to tell the truth. I could actually relate a bit to both the main characters, I think, even though I am probably about as similar to them as a dog is to a fish. Either way, this book just captivated me from the very first chapter, and it was hard to put down.

Of the three books written by these authors, I found this one to be the least satisfying. That being said, it is still a pretty good book. Their other books seemed to be books that either males or females would enjoy but this one put so much of an emphasis on the love story, and not nearly as much emphasis on music, adventure, or otherwise that I would say that is book came across as much more like chick lit then I thought it was meant to.

I have not said it yet so let me make it official and put it down in black and white...I love love love Rachel and David. Is it possible that I can be BFF's with both of you? I can always identify with the characters they are always so "real" to me. Naomi and Ely are no different, they are the best of friends and have been forever and ever amen! Naomi <3 Ely and Ely <3 Naomi only problem is that only Ely seems to acknowledge that he is gay. Naomi just will not hear of it. Oops...I see rough ~~~~ (seas) ahead. To make sure that they always stay the best of BFF's they've created a "No Kiss List"...this is what happens when that fails them.

If I could give this book more that 5 stars I would. Great music, Manhattan and Dairy Queens...EPIC!

That's right, the dynamic duo of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is back-Rachel Cohn and David Levithan are at it again.

This time, the book encompasses more than a single night. This time, the characters have known each other their entire lives. (Don't worry, there's still music!)

Naomi is kind of in love with her best friend. Sucks that he's gay. But that's not a problem, right? Of course not. The sacred bond of Naomi & Ely will survive! And to help that, they've developed the No Kiss List(tm). Pretty simple: it's a list of all the people the two of them are not allowed to kiss.
Naomi's boyfriend isn't on the list. Then again, it can't possibly be a good idea for Ely to kiss him-right?
Very, very, very right, as it turns out.
Now all bets are off-the jeans must be returned. The key under Naomi's doormat (to Ely's apartment) is removed. The Starbucks locations across New York are divvied up.
Will Naomi and Ely be able to make it through?

Pretty great book, as the first was. (There's even a brief allusion to Nick and Norah!) Still a little bit...over-the-top. A little too good to be true. But the words of YA author Maureen Johnson haunt me still: Who am I to decide what is and isn't realistic?

Cohn and Levithan use various narrators. The differences between the characters' chapters are incredible and very enjoyable-I mean, you've got Naomi, who speaks in symbols part of the time, and then Robin (male), whose chapter is all one massive paragraph with no direct quotes, and then Gabriel, who speaks in mix tapes. Absolutely fantastic to read.

But still, the symbols in Naomi's chapters are so small it took staring to see what they were meant to represent, and No Kiss List is lacking a-can you hear the English teachers of the world draw their breaths?-strong theme. I didn't love it. I'm sorry, die-hard fans. David, Rachel-you know I'm going to buy your next books anyway (or, well, check them out of the library as soon as they're available, or when I can score one on a Goodreads BookSwap, like this one).

Recommended... but only as a casual read. Don't try and beat a weighty, profound statement out of this novel...it might hurt the book. And possibly whatever you were beating it with.

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