(Goodreads Blurb)
It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who's just walked in to his band's show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City;and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.
Cover: I generally have a broad hate for movie covers. I only bought this one because it was on sale for $2.75. So basically, not a fan of the cover.
My Thoughts: I really loved this book. It was everything I was expecting.
I have seen the movie, and thought it was okay. In general, I won't want to read the book if I watch the movie first. Once I see the movie, that's all I can picture in my head. I'm always comparing the two. My own picture of the book in my head is way better than the movie.
The writing was easy and flowy and sucked me right in. I loved that the chapters alternated between Norah (written by Rachel Cohn) and Nick's (written by David Levithan) point of view. Of course it made perfect sense for the setting to be in New York. I've never been to New York but I imagine it to be huge and scary, but at the same time filled with endless possibilities of adventure.
The novel starts off with us meeting Nick, whose girlfriend of 6 months dumped him 3 weeks ago, and he's still a sad little thing nursing his wounded heart. He's a bassist in a queercore band and uses music and lyrics to express his soul. We also meet Norah, who is described as a basic frigid bitch. But this frigidity is a cover up for having a best friend whom she always has to take care of and a boy who never made her feel like she was amazing. To avoid his ex, Nick asks Norah to be his 5-minute girlfriend. By accepting his request, it turns into night that they'll never forget and they form a bond that was created by their love of music.
The romance between Nick and Norah is sweet and funny and hot and they are both very endearing characters who I came to love. You can't help but to root for them. This book also includes references to Johnny Castle (hells to the yeah), My-So-Called-Life and The Beatles, which made it all the more better.
Another score for Rachel and David.
Favorite Quotes:
"She's cinematic and I'm a fucking sitcom."
"There's no such thing as ready, there's only willing."
"Why do we even bother? Why do we make ourselves so open to such easy damage? Is it all loneliness? Is it all fear? Or is it just to experience those narcotic moments of belonging with someone else?"
"...they nailed it. That's what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have a feeling that they can't hide."
"I shouldn't want the song to end. I always think of each night as a song. Or each moment as a song. But now I'm seeing we don't live in a single song. We move from song to song, from lyric to lyric, from chord to chord. There is no ending here. It's an infinite playlist."
Bottom Line: An endearing, fun, musical ride. 4/5
I leave this review with one of my favorite covers of The Beatles song I Wanna Hold Your Hand
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