Name: Sia Riley's review of Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by David Levithan
Item: Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List
Rating: 2
Author: Sia Riley

David Levithan

Rachel Cohn

From the dream team David Levithan and Rachel Cohn who brought you Nick and Norah's Infinite playlist. Naomi and Ely prove that any great friendship can be as confusing, treacherous, inspiring and wonderful as any great romance. Naomi and Ely have been best friends forever. Naomi loves and is in love with Ely, and Ely loves Naomi, but prefers to be in love with boys. So they create their "No Kiss List" of people neither of them is allowed to kiss. And this works fine - until Bruce. Bruce is Naomi's boyfriend, so there's no reason to put him on the List. But Ely kissed Bruce - and the resulting fallout is going to shake up the world! Perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen, Rainbow Rowell, and Morgan Matson. David and Rachel's other collaborations include Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and The 12 Days of Dash and Lily. David Levithan is the New York Times best-selling author of Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, and Another Day. His many collaborations include Will Grayson, Will Grayson with Fault in Our Stars author John Green. Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, now has his own novel: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story. David's latest collaboration with Rachel Cohn, The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily, was picked by Zoella for her Book Club with WHSmiths. David is also a highly respected children's book editor, whose list includes many luminaries of children's literature, including Garth Nix, Libba Bray and Suzanne Collins. He lives and works in New York. Rachel Cohn was born in Maryland but now also lives in New York. Among her many YA novels are Gingerbread, Shrimp, and Cupcake.

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List

Sia Riley

Although they have been friends and neighbors all their lives, straight Naomi and gay Ely find their relationship severely strained during their freshman year at New York University when Naomi starts dating Bruce.

A Novel

I totally did not get this book's vibe. And truthfully, I never got any of Cohn-Levithan collab book's vibes. Ever. I liked Dash & Lily's fair enough because the plot worked very well, and although Nick & Norah's was (barely) tolerable, it was still original and romantic. However,I just don't like Naomi & Ely's. This one is probably the worst of the three, and I've had it, I AM SO DONE, with Cohn-Levithan collabs. Done. 

Naomi is an idiot. There, I've said it. Ely is openly gay, not to mention her best friend (ugh) and yet she still continues to entertain thoughts of him liking her back and getting married and having children and uhghhhh really?! As his best friend, she should know how Ely would respond. She should not expect anything more from him. Because of this, the book is filled of two hundred pages of Naomi complaining and bitching about him. 

But of course I can't completely blame the girl because Ely, the huge douchebag, is always flirting with her and kissing her and picking out places to get married and crossing the line all the freaking time. And like the self-centered jerk that he is, he goes on to flirt and kiss and steal her boyfriend, as if friendzoning her wasn't enough. The funny thing is, he never realizes she's in love with him the entire time, and I find that a very crappy showing of best friend duties.

And then of course, the worse supporting characters. Gabriel, the deus ex machina for Naomi to get over Ely, Bruce the (completely useless) First, and the two Robin's just to mess things up further. 

This is the kind of garbage that is published these days. No morals, no depth, no lessons, nothing. A huge epic fail for the two authors.

Emelie

1,5owls


I really dont like David Levithans books so far..

Flavia Louise

3 stars
This was enjoyable but not very much more...I'm gonna be honest and say I actually enjoyed the movie a bit more

Although they have been friends and neighbors all their lives, straight Naomi and gay Ely find their relationship severely strained during their freshman year at New York University when Naomi starts dating Bruce. Reprint.

Lisa Collins

3.5 stars

First and foremost, I love it when Rachel Cohn and David Levithan write together because they’re such a fantastic team. I actually haven’t read anything they’ve done separately (yet!), but that’s a discussion for a different day.

Next: Yes, there is a No Kiss List™. No, the book isn’t revolved around it. Rather, the book tells us about several different relationships from the point of view of several people throughout the book. I’m serious, people, there’s a lot going on in this book and it’s all very thorough. There are several stories at play in the novel, but fear not. It’s not confusing or hard to keep up with in the slightest. The main focus is Naomi and Eli and their lives, together and apart. The story is so easy to connect with because it’s something everyone deals with during his or her life. Friendships/relationships, loss of friendships/relationships, romance, loss of romance, finding your “true” self, et cetera et cetera. The story was engaging and so mundane in the best of ways. The events feel like they could have (or maybe have?) happened to you, and that makes everything extremely connectable.

I want to hop right over to the characters. Oh, man I loved Gabriel. I don’t even want to talk about anything else right now because Gabriel. Gabriel. Gabriel. Sure all the characters were good and I liked them all, but Gabriel shined the brightest to me. We didn’t get to see a lot of him (boo!) but you can tell from what was shown that he’s a very complex person. And though he seems very chill on the outside he has a lot of things buried underneath. Sigh, I loved Gabriel. Why wasn’t he one of the main characters? (I’m pouting right now, by the way.)

Speaking of the main characters: I wasn’t attached to either of them in the slightest. That, to me, was the biggest flaw in this book and the main thing keeping me from liking it any more than I ultimately did. Gabriel aside, there was nobody in the novel that would have kept me reading if the story were lacking. Luckily the story was engaging, but still… it’s a bummer not to have anyone to root for.

All in all I’m fine with having taken the time to read Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List, but I don’t think I would recommend it to someone who isn’t hardcore in love with the contemporary branch of YA books.

P.S. There were symbols (like, instead of words) used all over Naomi’s point of view… I loved it.

Now a motion picture starring Victoria Justice! From the New York Times bestselling authors of NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST, NAOMI AND ELY’S NO KISS LIST is the quintessential Girl-Likes-Boy-Who-Likes-Boys story. Naomi and Ely are best friends. Inseparable since childhood. Naomi is straight. Ely is gay. Naomi dates guys who she claims to like. They’re okay, but she likes Ely more. To protect their feelings, Naomi and Ely created a No Kiss List—a list of people neither of them is allowed to kiss under any circumstances. Naomi’s latest boyfriend Bruce isn’t on that list. But he probably should have been. Because when Ely kisses Bruce, it breaks Naomi’s heart. The result? A rift of universal proportions. Can these best friends come together again, or will this be end of Naomi and Ely: the Institution? Told in alternating voices using an array of emoticons and symbols by co-authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), NAOMI AND ELY’S NO KISS LIST is the ultimate offbeat story about leaving room for every kind of love.

Zoe Smolen

Meh. I really did not like this book at all, and in fact, it was almost a chore for me to finish reading it, but I kept sticking with it, hoping it would get better, and then it just never did and it was just over. For me there was just way too many different points of view. The stories just got muddled down and confusing, by the end. I also found it hard to decipher the icons which would replace words. All in all, the plot was okay, but it was just way too much of a chore for me to read.

A witty, hip and highly entertaining exploration of love, friendship and misunderstanding, by two stars of the New York YA publishing scene.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Full review: http://bookgirl.co.vu/post/7272550091...

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List is the second book that this talented duo have worked on together (the first being Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) and proves just the same that sometimes two heads are better than one. And how perfect is this bright cover? It certainly caught my attention!

After the success of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, it was obvious that these two work incredible together. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List may fall flat at some points, but for a young adult book? It’s fabulous.

And if you like the works of either or both authors, this is a must have for you!

Sia Riley &
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by David Levithan

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Sia Riley &Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by David Levithan

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Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by David Levithan