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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
This really grinch-ified my only Christmas themed read. BUT it was a cute read.
I didn’t really have high expectations for this book, but I have to be honest, it didn’t live up to those either. I don’t think I liked the writing style (like I immediately didn’t like it, but it did get a little better, but can we chill with the overuse of elaborate vocab even if the male main character’s greatest wish is to own a unabridged dictionary). A lot of the pop culture references fell short and let me tell you… there were a lot. It just took away from the story in making you think of all these other references. I mean I know it was published almost a decade and a half ago, but besides this odd Hermione character, none of the references were even nostalgic.
It reminded me of Nicola Yoon’s “The Sun Is Also a Star” and Tahereh Mafi’s “A Very Large Expanse of Sea” with the whole running around New York vibe and I have to say, I don’t think I really like that setting. I know Mafi’s example might be far reaching and doesn’t necessarily fit with that, but it still had a lot to do with New York given it is set one year after 9/11. Maybe I like my American city settings as a “background event” and not so glorified in the book.
I like a weird girl/eccentric guy romance, but I just didn’t connect with these characters at all. It always felt like they were lacking something and that you didn’t really know them at all. Especially Lily and her whole self pity act of having to spend Christmas “alone”. She felt exactly what your first thoughts would be if you were told a childless middle aged man wrote a teenage girl character (this is not a dig at the author, purely factual). And can we talk about the fact that there’s this underlying vibe that the two main characters are depressed because they haven’t found their person yet in life. They. Are. In. High. School. I appreciate Levithan’s hopeful and tragic view on YA love that comes through in his books (this is my first Rachel Cohn, so I can’t comment there), but I just don’t find it relatable or real, now in my life or 10 years ago.
Anyway, I think the coolest thing about this book was that I started it ten minutes into the day that the book starts on. I did like the whole book scavenger hunt in the first chapter though and things did pick up a little past the halfway point. All in all, for me at least, I needed a different setting, better characters, and more focus on storytelling and less on pop culture.
I didn’t really have high expectations for this book, but I have to be honest, it didn’t live up to those either. I don’t think I liked the writing style (like I immediately didn’t like it, but it did get a little better, but can we chill with the overuse of elaborate vocab even if the male main character’s greatest wish is to own a unabridged dictionary). A lot of the pop culture references fell short and let me tell you… there were a lot. It just took away from the story in making you think of all these other references. I mean I know it was published almost a decade and a half ago, but besides this odd Hermione character, none of the references were even nostalgic.
It reminded me of Nicola Yoon’s “The Sun Is Also a Star” and Tahereh Mafi’s “A Very Large Expanse of Sea” with the whole running around New York vibe and I have to say, I don’t think I really like that setting. I know Mafi’s example might be far reaching and doesn’t necessarily fit with that, but it still had a lot to do with New York given it is set one year after 9/11. Maybe I like my American city settings as a “background event” and not so glorified in the book.
I like a weird girl/eccentric guy romance, but I just didn’t connect with these characters at all. It always felt like they were lacking something and that you didn’t really know them at all. Especially Lily and her whole self pity act of having to spend Christmas “alone”. She felt exactly what your first thoughts would be if you were told a childless middle aged man wrote a teenage girl character (this is not a dig at the author, purely factual). And can we talk about the fact that there’s this underlying vibe that the two main characters are depressed because they haven’t found their person yet in life. They. Are. In. High. School. I appreciate Levithan’s hopeful and tragic view on YA love that comes through in his books (this is my first Rachel Cohn, so I can’t comment there), but I just don’t find it relatable or real, now in my life or 10 years ago.
Anyway, I think the coolest thing about this book was that I started it ten minutes into the day that the book starts on. I did like the whole book scavenger hunt in the first chapter though and things did pick up a little past the halfway point. All in all, for me at least, I needed a different setting, better characters, and more focus on storytelling and less on pop culture.
Started reading as I want to watch the netflix version but just wasnt feeling it. It felt too Y of YA fiction.
An captivating book which told a fascinating story that I enjoyed a lot.
This is the first book I've read from either of these authors, and the first co-authored book I've fully experienced. And I have to say it made me excited to try that style with my writing friends. The concept of how this story came to be seems really challenging and fun and they pulled it off very well. Based on this read, I look forward to checking out other books of Cohn and Levithan's.
3.5
Very fun and funny! I forgot that some YA books don't actually have annoying kids in them. I loved being inside of both their heads! Ready to savor the other two books
Very fun and funny! I forgot that some YA books don't actually have annoying kids in them. I loved being inside of both their heads! Ready to savor the other two books
I wanted to like it but it's no Nick and Norah's Infinte playlist. It gets 2 stars because it is funny. It just isn't well paced.
I can’t believe how disappointed I was by this book. The tv show is 5 stars. This just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I found every character incredibly unlikeable. Their pretentious style was almost unbearable. Boris was the best part. Sofia put it best when she explained to Dash about how his little English lessons were condescending. His whole personality was condescending. I think the actors from the show managed to capture their quirks and transform the characters into real people. On paper, they just seem insufferable.
Lily’s wisest words: “Well sure, who doesn’t need a boyfriend? But realistically, those exotic creatures are hard to come by.”
Anne Enright’s wisest words: “On page 82 of Anne Enright’s The Gathering, was it ‘But it is not just the sex, or remembered sex, that makes me think I love Michael Weiss from Brooklyn, now, seventeen years too late. It is the way he refused to own me, no matter how much I tried to be owned. It was the way he would not take me, he would only meet me, and that only ever halfway.’”
Boomer’s wisest words: “‘Did I ask your opinion?’ Mark asked. ‘No!’ Boomer said. ‘But I don’t mind that you didn’t!’”
Lily’s wisest words: “Well sure, who doesn’t need a boyfriend? But realistically, those exotic creatures are hard to come by.”
Anne Enright’s wisest words: “On page 82 of Anne Enright’s The Gathering, was it ‘But it is not just the sex, or remembered sex, that makes me think I love Michael Weiss from Brooklyn, now, seventeen years too late. It is the way he refused to own me, no matter how much I tried to be owned. It was the way he would not take me, he would only meet me, and that only ever halfway.’”
Boomer’s wisest words: “‘Did I ask your opinion?’ Mark asked. ‘No!’ Boomer said. ‘But I don’t mind that you didn’t!’”
Dec 8, 2016: I picked this up because I was in the Christmas-y mood (it takes place during the holidays), but I did not enjoy this book as much as I would have liked, so it did not satiate my holidaytime story craving.
I found the protagonists hard to like. Dash is really pretentious and Lily is kind of whiny. I don’t think any of the side characters are very developed. The premise is interesting, and the lesson is nice, but it's hard for me to be invested when I just really don't enjoy the 2 main characters. I wouldn’t recommend this one.
I found the protagonists hard to like. Dash is really pretentious and Lily is kind of whiny. I don’t think any of the side characters are very developed. The premise is interesting, and the lesson is nice, but it's hard for me to be invested when I just really don't enjoy the 2 main characters. I wouldn’t recommend this one.
This is a really cute story. I love concept of it and the story was just cute and silly. There were some parts I felt very uncomfortable reading, especially the underage drinking. But overall, I really enjoyed it and it quenched my thirst for a cute fluffy romance.