If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”
So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.
Put honestly, and bluntly right off the bat, I was pretty disappointed in this book. Which was so unexpected and sad for me who has been looking forward to reading this for years (and who specifically bought it not only to read it during Christmas time to really get a feel for the mood established in the novel but also for the Netflix show based on it!). I think it got better as I approached the second half of the novel but it wasn't so much better to save the entire reading experience for me.
I think my first thought of the story itself was: Childish. Which does bring up the question of whether the problem was the story or me. It is a very big possibility that I just read it at too old of an age to really understand the characters (who were my main problem). Perhaps if I had read it when I was younger, closer to when the book came out it would have been a different experience, a much better one at that. Which is something to keep in mind throughout this review. Because putting that aside, I can definitely see the appeal in the story and characters.
I didn't really like the characters too much. I felt like both of the main characters were too stereotypical - falling so strictly into being 'too preppy' or 'too sardonic'. It felt too black and white which, for a contemporary set in our modern world, didn't seem to realistic. Particularly Dash who was very very pretentious, and not in a way I could come to appreciate. But I do see where the appeal could come in, in the opposite attracts trope which I saw building and I was expecting to love but it just fell flat because it was not capitalized on well. I think this disconnect also made the story feel much too much like insta love for me to like - which is not something I usually mind in stories! The connection they formed so quickly just didn't have much of a reasoning behind for why it was so quick and strong, I couldn't understand it and I think that was a problem for other parts of the story as well. A lot of decisions or changes in thoughts/feelings were so rash with little to absolutely no explanation as to why. It felt like the story was missing an element that could make a reader feel truly immersed in the story. Even the deeper messages that were introduced throughout the novel felt weak, weakly explained and weakly resolved which didn't make the book feel meaningful at all, or at least not like it felt obvious it wanted to be seen as.
And after a while, the novel itself became quite boring. It got to the point where I took multiple breaks while reading because I would just lose interest or I felt impatient for a bigger point in the plot line. Especially when it took them so long to meet! There were also a lot of unanswered questions at the end as well at the end but honestly, it wasn't something I minded much about (maybe because I'm aware there's a sequel). That's not to say there weren't interesting points in the reading. I felt like there were pretty entertaining periods where I really liked reading about the characters and even times where I would laugh out loud. Particularly in Dash's portion. I think that is mostly due to Boomer though, who was by far one of the best characters in the novel, his puppy-like disposition especially in contrast with Dash's personality made for such a wholesome and fun time reading (the way I though the whole book and characters - particularly Lily - would be like).
When they did meet though, I really enjoyed it and began enjoying the book a lot more. I actually liked Dash a lot more, Lily a lot less. I was really disappointed with Lily, who I liked at the beginning but slowly degraded into annoying and almost unbearable (but became better near the end). I especially didn't like her brother who was selfish, dismissive with Lily being a doormat and weak. Those two characters combined in each of Lily's chapters did not make for an enjoyable experience. But I really liked, at the end, the way their relationship was portrayed. It was cute and just nice to be able to experience (which is what I wished the rest of the book was like). It seemed even the themes of the story got better with this as well. The theme of building people, loving people even, for the version we create of them versus who they really are is such a powerful theme that I've always thought about but never quite seen explained in a book, let alone so well. I loved it and its what saved this book's rating from what it would have otherwise. It made up for a good portion of the book and its downfalls. But saying that, it is quite a shame I couldn't have felt that way about the book for a greater portion of it. Instead, a lot of its disappointment was not made up for and really brought down what I wished was a great experience for me as a reader.
Through this though, I think the ending and the establishment of the relationships between characters (which, I think the build up portion of the book was not done well but the establishment was) was enough, not to forget how much I disliked the first 2/3rds of the novel, but to get me interested enough to be willing to pick up the next book. Again though, it wasn't enough to make up for the first part of the novel and thus the rating I gave it, 3 stars, is sadly including/reflecting the positive portion at the end. Without that it would easily be a 2.5 or even 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment