Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

"we always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust."

Okay, so I'm a little surprised. I really loved this one. When it first started I was worried... A girl who won't stop lying, symbols, multiple POV...all of these potentially annoying things set in one book. But no, it all worked so well together.

Now to say I loved the story does not mean I love all the characters in the story. But I loved the adventure of following a group of people through this huge moment of their lives.

I'm glad that this was told from so many POV and that the story is a little quirky and crazy. Because underneath is a wonderful story about survival. Surviving the crumbling show more of a family, a friendship, a relationship and more. It's realizing the lies we tell ourselves to get through today and tomorrow. And it's not for us to judge one person's coping style. We all try to just survive our challenges and this is how Ely and Naomi have gotten through theirs - together. show less

Summary: Naomi and Ely have been neighbors and best friends for most of their lives. Naomi sees no reason why they shouldn't spend the rest of their lives together as well, plans that are only temporarily derailed by the fact that Ely's gay (he'll get over it and realize he's meant to be with her, she's sure). However, when Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend - and Naomi's boyfriend kisses back - the harsh truth comes crashing home, and the formerly inseperable duo are now no longer on speaking terms. It's a horrible fight, but each must somehow adapt to life without their other half until they can find a way back to what they had... if going back is even worth it.

Review: Cohn & Levithan do a lot of things right in Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, show more and they get a lot of things right, but they didn't quite recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle reading experience that was Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I think that's because in Naomi & Ely's, they tried to widen their focus but wound up overreaching. Not in terms of the plot - the best-friend break-up is a fine subject, and one that's certainly germane to a lot of teenagers' lives - but in terms of the number of viewpoints they tried to pack into this relatively slim book. Obviously I was expecting Naomi and Ely, but Bruce the Second (Naomi's then Ely's boyfriend) got almost as many pages as either of the two titular characters, plus there were chapters from the POV of Bruce the First, Gabriel the hot doorman, Bruce the First's sister, girl Robin, boy Robin, etc., and the end result felt kind of fragmented, with segments and sub-plots that weren't as well-developed as they could have been.

On the flip side of the too-many-POV-characters problem is that there were a multitude of characters to sympathize with when both of the leads were being insufferably bratty. I understand that both Naomi and Ely's becoming less self-involved and immature is the main character arc, and probably the point of the book, but it still meant that for large chunks of the story, I just wanted to smack both of the leads in the head and tell them to stop acting like obnoxious children. (Recognizably obnoxious, though; I'm sure some of my teenaged behavior was no better.) I think by the end, Bruce the Second wound up being my favorite character - he was definitely the one I understood and sympathized with the most, being much less inherently drama queen-y than either Naomi or Ely, despite going through just as radical of a change in his world.

However, despite the overabundance of shifting viewpoints and other minor annoyances (I really could have lived without Naomi inserting wingdings instead of words throughout her chapters), I did quite enjoy this book. It is funny as hell in points, and really poignant in others, and the best thing about it is that it has a great way of capturing moments that are emotionally true, in language that is simultaneously beautifully observed and still genuine to the teenage experience. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not quite as good as Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist or Will Grayson, Will Grayson, although it's similar to both, but anyone who enjoys contemporary YA novels should definitely pick all three of them up. show less

Every now and then, when I come off the back of something really heavy and adult, I want a little light YA fiction to cleanse my palate.
Levithan (always want to type Leviathan when I see that) and Cohen are firm favourites for me in this respect. Occupying the land somewhere between Nick at Night, John Hughes and Gregg Araki, their books are a source of incredible comfort and simplicity.

Don't we all miss the times when all you had to do was flunk out of school and care about records and these were the most important things in the world?
The times when you were genuinely massively excited about what your whole life held for you and all the new experiences that were waiting?

This is what that is. with a slight edge.

As in Nick & Norah's show more and Dash & Lily's the story is set in NYC and references a bunch of bands that you love (and guys, I once read a Tao Lin book because he mentioned Jawbreaker once) This book isn't going to change your life, but I don't think that makes it any less valid.

As for all the people saying that the characters are unlikeable, hi guys! I'm not sure if you noticed this about yourselves, but most people in their late teens/early 20s are horrible, self centred idiots. It's who you are before you figure out how to be awesome, eh?

I didn't love this book as much as the other two, but it completely satisfies that Paula Danzinger craving that I sometimes get. If you're at the right age to read it, it's probably ace. show less

This is NOT N&N. I spent the first 40 pages or so dealing with that. Once I got over it, though, this was wonderful. The characters are less likeable in some ways, but no less realistic, and in the end, no less engaging, I thought. Heterosexual romance, homosexual romance, and friendship are all kinds of love that are here. Part of what I find so great about C & L's writing is their fluid definitions of love and sexuality. I find myself feeling more at home there than in conventional romances. It's just more tolerant and equal - implicitly. It's like - not even worth talking about. Brilliant.

I absolutely loved Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, so I think my expectations were pretty high for Cohn and Levithan's second novel. Possibly too high at first, because while I found the plot interesting (Naomi loves Ely, Ely loves Naomi, but Ely loves boys more -- in brief. The book is so much more than that, though), I just couldn't get into, well, Naomi. But I progressed, mostly because I love the authors' style -- alternating points of view. Where Nick & Norah only had two points of view, Naomi and Ely had, well, lots. You have the exboyfriends, the best friends, the friends and, of course, Ely and Naomi. One of the things that kept me reading is the writing style. Cohn and Levithan do a fantastic job of integrating their styles, show more you don't know who is writing which part, and it doesn't matter. The book flows, just like Nick and Norah and, when all is said and done, I loved it. My problem was that I expected it to be like Nick and Norah, and it's (thankfully) not. This story is much more about hurt and love and loss (and everything in between), which is what makes it so good. You're not supposed to sympathize with Naomi (except for when you feel sorry for her -- especially since I've known people like her) and you're supposed to adore Ely. And then everything gets flipped upside down, which is perfect, too. I think what makes this novel especially good is that you get everyone's point of view, but you don't get all points of view. There's no omniscient narrator, just because you know what someone is thinking, doesn't mean that you know what everyone's thinking about that one scene. Sure, there's a lot of overlap, but it's good. Really, really good. I hope that Cohn and Levithan write more books together, because I cannot wait to read them. show less

Naomi and Ely have grown up in adjacent apartments and been best friends forever. Naomi knows Ely is gay, but a stubborn part of her still believes they're meant to be together, and that part causes a lot of problems. Meanwhile, Ely falls for Naomi's (ex)boyfriend Bruce the Second (not to be confused with Bruce the First, who also lives in their apartment building), and Naomi can't help but notice the incredibly hot young doorman, Gabriel. All of these characters and more get a turn narrating the story.

Quotes

How can you spend hours every day trying in small ways to figure out who you are, then have a near-stranger give you a sentence of yourself that says it better than you ever could? (Bruce the Second, 20)

Gay guys get all the perks show more with none of the responsibility. It's so not fair. (Bruce the First, 29)

Neither of us needs a mirror when the other one's around. (Ely, 37)

That indifference was a lie....Indifference lies to protect my hurt. (Naomi, 45)

"It hurts to hurt people when you never mean to, doesn't it?" (Naomi to Ely, 197)

...the writing on the map is gone, but the paper's still there. (Ely, 213)

...I think that as hard as we try, it still sometimes feels like we all speak different languages. Even if we all share the same words, meanings can be different. (Ely, 223) show less

On the surface, this book seems a lot like Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. It has the alternating points of view, the fabulous New York lifestyle that I suspect only exists in teen novels, and two people trying to get their lives started.

That's where the similarities end however, because Ely and Naomi are childhood friends, and they created the No-Kiss list when it became clear that Ely liked some of the same boys as Naomi. However, even though Ely is gay, Naomi can't give up on the idea that one day, he'll love her the way she loves him. Their whole world comes crashing down when Ely breaks the rules and kisses Bruce the Second, Naomi's current boyfriend. Naomi has to deal with Ely's betrayal, and more importantly, come to grips show more with the idea that he's never going to be what she wants. Ely realizes, maybe for the first time, what it is to really fall in love.

When I started reading this book, my first reaction was, "it's not as good as Nick and Nora" -- and in a lot of ways, I still think that's true. Ely and Naomi are a lot less likable, and they have a complicated back-story that never really gets the attention it deserves. Also, aside from the two main characters there are other points of view included, and many of these characters just seem like they're along for the ride -- their contributions don't do much to move the plot along or help the reader understand the situation.

However, when I got to the end of the book, I felt like crying. Not that the ending is sad, necessarily, but I really felt for these two people, and what they had lost, and what they were facing in the future. Kearsten once said that nobody writes falling in love like David Levithan, and she's right; the relationship between Bruce the Second and Ely is very sweet and very fragile. Even Naomi, who I pretty much disliked on sight, turns out to be more than she seems.
So, while I wouldn't say that Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List is one of my favorite books, it is very compelling. Not as wonderful as Nick and Nora... but still good. show less