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A review by l1nds
Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
3.0
I was so excited to get an advance copy of this because I absolutely love the authors' previous collaboration on the Dash and Lily books and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I expected something in the same vein - warm, amusing, slightly quirky, well rounded characters, and two distinct voices narrating (chapters alternate between the two main characters) but sadly I didn't get it.
The premise was interesting, twins Sam and Ilsa (boy and girl) throw one last dinner party for an odd assortment of their friends and acquaintances before their grandmother's beautiful rent controlled apartment is sold. I just felt like the magic is missing from this one. The two main characters didn't feel as distinct as usual - a few times I had to go back and check which character was narrating, and the main personality trait of most of the guests seemed to be obnoxious. Apart from the one who communicated solely via sock puppet who was frankly annoying, and all my sympathy was with the guest who wrestled the puppet off and tried to dispose of it. Sadly he wasn't successful.
The whole thing just felt very superficial, I never felt like we scratched beneath the surface - in Britain we would say it's all fur coat no knickers but I don't know how well that expression travels!
*ARC from Netgalley for an honest opinion*
The premise was interesting, twins Sam and Ilsa (boy and girl) throw one last dinner party for an odd assortment of their friends and acquaintances before their grandmother's beautiful rent controlled apartment is sold. I just felt like the magic is missing from this one. The two main characters didn't feel as distinct as usual - a few times I had to go back and check which character was narrating, and the main personality trait of most of the guests seemed to be obnoxious. Apart from the one who communicated solely via sock puppet who was frankly annoying, and all my sympathy was with the guest who wrestled the puppet off and tried to dispose of it. Sadly he wasn't successful.
The whole thing just felt very superficial, I never felt like we scratched beneath the surface - in Britain we would say it's all fur coat no knickers but I don't know how well that expression travels!
*ARC from Netgalley for an honest opinion*