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amychant07's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I liked htis more than I thought I would when I first started to read it. There was about 8 point of views, a different to a chapter. This got a bit confusing at times but in the end I did enjoy this book.
daphx00's review against another edition
4.0
After reading two of their other collaborations, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I was excited to read another book from their hands. And it was even better than I was expecting it to be.
There was just something about this book that touched my heart and made it *that* good for me. Naomi and Ely are best friends, until Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce, and everything gets out of hand. The consequenses of their fight are told from various points of view, from Ely to Naomi, from Bruce the First (yes, you read that right) to Gabriel the Doorman. I loved seeing how their seperation influenced everyone around them, because they were always so close.
Their conversations (or should I say bickering sessions?) are equally hilarious as they are painful - because they know exactly how to hurt each other - but I couldn't help but laugh while reading the scene about the pants.
It's a story about friendship and love, and how similar they are. There's a brilliant quote in the book about that: "It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close."
Outside of the story about Naomi and Ely, the book also explores the discovery of sexuality, dealing with being gay and dealing with hormones. I teared up several times while reading this because it hit close to home with the fight between the two best friends and I loved the fact that this book was able to do that for me.
My overall rating: 4.5/5
Four and a half stars for the Naomi and Ely institution - and a promise to pick up whatever these two great authors write together in the future.
(this review is published on my blog, http://lvngbooks.blogspot.com)
There was just something about this book that touched my heart and made it *that* good for me. Naomi and Ely are best friends, until Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce, and everything gets out of hand. The consequenses of their fight are told from various points of view, from Ely to Naomi, from Bruce the First (yes, you read that right) to Gabriel the Doorman. I loved seeing how their seperation influenced everyone around them, because they were always so close.
Their conversations (or should I say bickering sessions?) are equally hilarious as they are painful - because they know exactly how to hurt each other - but I couldn't help but laugh while reading the scene about the pants.
It's a story about friendship and love, and how similar they are. There's a brilliant quote in the book about that: "It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close."
Outside of the story about Naomi and Ely, the book also explores the discovery of sexuality, dealing with being gay and dealing with hormones. I teared up several times while reading this because it hit close to home with the fight between the two best friends and I loved the fact that this book was able to do that for me.
My overall rating: 4.5/5
Four and a half stars for the Naomi and Ely institution - and a promise to pick up whatever these two great authors write together in the future.
(this review is published on my blog, http://lvngbooks.blogspot.com)
stephanieanne91's review against another edition
4.0
“It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close.”
It's has to be said that Rachel Cohn and David Levithan create wonderful characters and beautiful stories with relate-able issues all of us go through.
Naomi and Ely's relationship is one that everyone wishes they had, but as they find out their are a lot of things even 'the best of friends' hide from each other.
It's just a really cute story about friendship, love and growing up even if it means growing apart.
With secrets, betrayals, swoon worthy boys and finding out if some friendships are worth fighting for or best to just let go?
It's has to be said that Rachel Cohn and David Levithan create wonderful characters and beautiful stories with relate-able issues all of us go through.
Naomi and Ely's relationship is one that everyone wishes they had, but as they find out their are a lot of things even 'the best of friends' hide from each other.
It's just a really cute story about friendship, love and growing up even if it means growing apart.
With secrets, betrayals, swoon worthy boys and finding out if some friendships are worth fighting for or best to just let go?
jgurniak's review against another edition
1.0
After finishing this I had two questions. 1) Why did I read this? And 2) Why didn't I stop myself from finishing it?
Both of which remain unanswered.
Both of which remain unanswered.
jackieyvette's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
A total monet
Crying score: lol
Crying score: lol
bungadinding's review against another edition
3.0
For the most part this book feels more like a bunch of writing exercises by the two authors, like they were exploring several different point of views and styles, but in the end it all failed to build a cohesive story. The writing feels so messy and meandering and not enough emphasis on themes that are more important & substantial to the story. But at the end it has a message that i really really like:
"It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close."
"Friendship is love as much as any romance. And like any love, it's difficult and treacherous and confusing."
"It's bullshit to think of friendship and romance as being different. They're not. They're just variations of the same love. Variations of the same desire to be close."
"Friendship is love as much as any romance. And like any love, it's difficult and treacherous and confusing."
protoman21's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately the plot in this book was paper thin and the characters, though mostly interesting, did not bring enough to the table to carry us through an entire novel. The sections not narrated by Naomi, Ely or Bruce the Second were completely pointless and served as nothing but strange interludes into a story that really was going nowhere to begin with. Naomi is a very selfish character and not very appealing, though interesting in the watching a train wreck way. Ely and Bruce are more lovable, but because Naomi has such a big ego, the rest of them feel like secondary characters in her story.
kaleyamo's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this book, but I had so many problems with it. If I wasn't reading it to fill a task for a reading challenge, I probably would have DNF'd it.
The positive —
There were some characters I liked. Bruce (both the First and the Second), boy Robin, and girl Robin.
The negative —
Naomi and Ely were both terrible . . . and as the two main characters, it's kind of hard to forgive.
1. When Naomi and Ely were having their big fight, I did not love her internal dialogue. For someone whose best friend is gay...she sure uses a lot of hateful language. (I.e., the f****t word.) Yikes.
2. Ely acted like he did nothing wrong when he kissed his best friend's boyfriend.
SO. MANY. POVS. In a book this short, I don't really understand the point. There were so many wasted chapters on insights of characters who were hardly mentioned elsewhere. I really think it would have benefited from sticking to Naomi and Ely. And maybe Bruce the Second.
I think my biggest problem is that it feels like the book didn't really go anywhere. There was one "revelation" — that shouldn't really have been a revelation at this point since these people are ADULTS — and that was it. Not a whole bunch of character growth.... It just fell flat.
I really wanted to like this book, but I had so many problems with it. If I wasn't reading it to fill a task for a reading challenge, I probably would have DNF'd it.
The positive —
There were some characters I liked. Bruce (both the First and the Second), boy Robin, and girl Robin.
The negative —
Naomi and Ely were both terrible . . . and as the two main characters, it's kind of hard to forgive.
1. When Naomi and Ely were having their big fight, I did not love her internal dialogue. For someone whose best friend is gay...she sure uses a lot of hateful language. (I.e., the f****t word.) Yikes.
2. Ely acted like he did nothing wrong when he kissed his best friend's boyfriend.
Spoiler
And then at the end, Naomi said Ely "did nothing wrong." Maybe they're bigger people than me but, no, if my friend is kissing MY significant other...they are both doing something wrong.SO. MANY. POVS. In a book this short, I don't really understand the point. There were so many wasted chapters on insights of characters who were hardly mentioned elsewhere. I really think it would have benefited from sticking to Naomi and Ely. And maybe Bruce the Second.
I think my biggest problem is that it feels like the book didn't really go anywhere. There was one "revelation" — that shouldn't really have been a revelation at this point since these people are ADULTS — and that was it. Not a whole bunch of character growth.... It just fell flat.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
3.0
read this after coming of the emotional love of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist movie.