Review: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Jacque's Review:

Nick and Norah meet at a club under unusual circumstances.  Nick is the straight bass guitar player in a local NYC "all gay band".  He just finished his set and is more or less flipping out because his ex-girlfriend, Tris, was at the show with another guy and is now approaching.  He spontaneously asks the girl standing next to him to be his "five minute girlfriend."  Her response was to kiss him, which they were both surprisingly turned on by.  

It turns out that Norah, Nick's five minute girlfriend, is sort of friends with his ex.  They attend the same school and have known each other for years, but I wouldn't say that they are BFFs by any means.  Norah is in the midst of getting over a breakup of her own and decides to help Nick get over Tris by taking him out for the evening.  

The entire book is one really long date that goes well into the following morning.  They both make several mistakes in the process of getting to know each other, but their mutual love of music keeps pulling them back together.  

I decided to read this book because I loved Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, which was the second collaboration between Cohn and Levithan.  The narration alternates between the two main characters/authors each chapter, which was an essential part of the story.  This book simply would not have worked without hearing both characters' inner dialog.  As is often the case, men and women see things differently.  There was quite a bit of humor in hearing the two vastly different interpretations of the same conversation or event.