Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Review 7

Cohn, Rachel, David Levithan. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

Annotation: Doused in expletives and hard-core punk rock music scenes, a quirky romance stands out among the mass of non-conducive-to-romance situations.


Justification for Nomination: A modern love adventure between two punk-rock enthusiast teens, with similar help-me-get-over-my-ex syndromes proves to be surprisingly romantic, despite unlikely "first spark" in their relationship.

In his attempt to avoid his ex-girlfriend at a punk-rock concert, Nick turns to the girl next to him and asks if she will be his girlfriend for the next five minutes, and make out with him. The girl next to him, Norah, in a mutual effort to avoid the same girl she dislikes for her own reasons, agrees to the idea by pulling Nick to her face. Thus, the relationship begins.

From page one, Nick and Norah wraps you into the fast-paced, intense, music-filled plot. The chapters alternate by being told from the perspective of Nick and Norah. This is a unique story-telling feature that I found highly effective. The readers gets the love-story from both sides of the developing relationship. Although I had reservations with this, thinking I would be hearing the story told twice over, Nick and Norah's version are unique enough to their interpretation of the situations. In fact, this adds to the pacing of the book, as the reader is eager to know how the other party feels about what just happened.

Additionally, the situational and emotional tension make the story an adventurous, fast-paced read. Despite the dirty, smelly punk-rock scene clubs, drunken friends and flipant relationships surrounding them, Nick and Norah maintain a mutual spark of interest in one another that drives them to continue getting to know each other.

I feel the novel may be discredited based on some of the language and some potentially controversial situations. Most of the characters swear and on some pages, profusely. Personally, I believe the language in this novel is particularly authentic, representative of modern teenagers. If I felt the expletives were used for the sake of using them, I may have felt different in terms of my nomination. The same goes for the drunk scenes and minor drug references. What may present itself redeemingly is the fact that the main characters, Nick and Norah, refer to themselves as straight-edge, meaning they don't particularly drink/smoke. The authenticity, along with the overriding romantic, optimistic tone complement the bitter tones.

The novel is a fun, fast-paced read that many modern readers will enjoy, especially those with passion for music and interest in the punk-rock scene. The romance is bitter-sweet, optimistic yet real. It touches on a number of key developmental issues when it comes to figuring out who one is and how one grows in a romantic relationship

Genre: Edgy/Romance