Since then, I have been chasing the same high with the writing duo’s other books and having finished Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist with a general sense of ‘meh’ I’ve sadly come to the conclusion that Dash and Lily is a one-off. Nick and Norah didn’t excite me. Naomi and Ely can do one.
So the premise is that Nick and Norah have both recently gone through bad break-ups. They meet in a club one night and to escape Nick’s evil ex, he asks Norah to pretend to be his girlfriend for five minutes. They end up spending the whole evening together, getting into all sorts of scrapes over Manhattan.
This was an okay book, but it was only really okay, given the monumental talent I know DL and RC are capable of.
It was a quick, easy read with lots of bad language, which is a big plus for me because I’m pretty foul-mouthed.
The action felt rushed and while I don’t have anything against Instalove as a literary trope, it somehow didn’t feel right. I usually prefer books with a tight story arc, but the story, despite rushing, rambled quite a bit.
Nick and Norah were okay, but borderline obnoxious. Norah felt quite belligerent and Nick felt like a bit of a drip. I saw one reviewer liken their alternating chapters to excerpts from a cringey, best-kept-hidden-under-the-bed diary from when you were fourteen. Like when you think you know literally everything there is to know about the world and everyone else is basically a cretin. I think this is a really accurate description. Norah was so jaded and cynical, and Nick’s narrative read like a bad Dashboard Confessional lyric.
Not great, considering what these two authors are capable of.
2.5 stars