I have been waiting 3 years to read this book. I was waiting for a sad moment when a good YA book could lift my spirits and bring me back to the wide-eyed idealist I was.
Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List was not that YA book. Why did nobody warn me?
“Naomi loves Ely. And she's kinda in love with him. Ely loves Naomi. But he prefers to be in love with boys. Naomi and Ely have been inseparable since childhood - partially because they've grown up across the hall from each other in the same Manhattan apartment building, and also because they're best friends. Soul mates. Or are they? Just to be safe, they've created a NO KISS LIST - their list of people who are absolutely off-kissing-limits for both of them. The NO KISS LIST protects their friendship and ensures that nothing will rock the foundation of Naomi and Ely: the institution. Until Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend. And a fateful piece of chewing gum in the wrong place at the wrong time changes everything. Soon a rift of universal proportions threatens to destroy their friendship, and it remains to be seen whether Naomi and Ely can find their way toward new soul-mate prospects...and back to one another.”
This book is terrible, awful, no good, garbage. The characters were immature - some had redeeming moments, but otherwise, they’re generally unbelievably selfish and stupid. For two people who are allegedly best friends, I find it hard to believe that one could steal the other’s boyfriend and not feel like they are betraying them. I like flawed and realistic characters, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know anybody who would act the way these children act. Children! They’re all children! Not of the early 20’s variety like me, but of the 10-year-old variety who have just discovered cliques and backstabbing. And the f-word.
The book’s title refers to their no kiss list - meaning the list of people neither of them can kiss, duh - yet it plays almost no role. The first thing that happens is Ely kisses Naomi’s boyfriend, who I would assume is an honorary member of the no kiss crew despite his name not being officially inducted. Was the disappearance of the list and its relevance a symbol for the abrupt ending of their friendship? Maybe. Do I care? No.
Lots of pointless side characters. Lots of switching of point of view for no real reason but to add pages to the book.
I waited so long to read it, and I waited even longer to watch the movie because I wanted to read the book first. Now I don’t even want to watch the movie. Me! Not taking a chance to sit on my bum for a couple hours to see words brought to life on the screen! This book was THAT BAD.
The one thing I liked about this book was that it was short, and therefore, the suffering was short-lived.
1.5 stars. Not 1, because I finished it. Putting it down wasn’t an option - I had to know if it got any better. It didn’t.
Happy reading,
Holly
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