Review: "Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story"

 Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan
3 out of 5 stars

I'm not really sure how I felt about this book, even a week later. I really enjoyed Will Grayson, Will Grayson and I loved Tiny (like everyone else) so I was pretty excited to hear that he was getting his own story. And when I saw it was going to be available early at the NTTBF, I was over the moon. Then I opened it and saw the...interesting format. Maybe you haven't heard of this book yet and want to be completely surprised? If so, stop reading here.

Before going further, I recommend putting on your favorite musical soundtrack or Broadway playlist in Pandora. It really sets the mood. :) Tiny Cooper is written as a "musical novel", which essentially means it is his musical script (from the end of WG2) with extra notes about stage direction, how the actors should be feeling at certain times, and whatever Tiny seems to be thinking at the time. Most of the story is told thru song, which is honestly a little hard to read, even if you are "musically inclined". I think it would make an excellent audio book though, I can totally see/hear that!


Aside from the format, we've got the story itself...which is basically Tiny's story in WG2. There really isn't any new material and that made me sad. I think that does a disservice to Tiny, in a way. I mean yes, there are some really beautiful parts to his story, such as when he finally comes out to his parents and they are completely understanding or when Tiny tries to figure out what is missing in his life. (Fun fact: "Without Love" from Hairspray is playing right now.)

I was hoping to see Tiny grow (not literally lol) though and *spoiler: highlight* maybe get back with boyfriend WG or at least be happy with himself. Or even Tiny in college. Wouldn't that be great? Maybe there will be another WG2 or Tiny Cooper story in the future. Even if it's another musical novel, I would still read it. Also, it's too bad Glee is over now because they would rock a Tiny Cooper musical!!

Maybe there is something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go. It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because it matters.

But I just fell and landed and I am still standing here to tell you that you've gotta learn to love the falling, because it's all about the falling.

Just fall for once. Let yourself fall!

Review: "Dash & Lily's Book of Dares"

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
3 out of 5 stars

Being more specific in my rating, I'd give this probably a 3.75 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it quite a lot, but there seemed to be something off about it. Maybe it's the fact that it is a Christmas story and I read it in the middle of June lol. I think I'd like to buy this still though (I read it as an eBook from the library) and I can see myself enjoying it around the holidays more as a light, fluffy read. One of the main problems that I had (like most of the reviews I've read) is that Dash & Lily, who are supposed to be 16 years old, come across as overly sophisticated and at times, unrealistic.

This book was written by two authors, obviously, but their approach was to not write it together, but to write a chapter at a time, Levithan writing Dash's part and Cohn Lily's, with no communication otherwise. It's intriguing but at times it doesn't work, the story doesn't mesh well, and towards the end it just kind of unravels. In one chapter, we have Dash cursing up a storm as he is forced to sit on Santa's lap at Macy's and basically feel him up. Then in the next chapter, we have Lily saying she can't go to a movie alone and practicing "mean faces" in the mirror. But even with that, I still enjoyed the book!

Dash (this must be the week for weirdly-named teenagers lol) is a sixteen year old boy who has managed to trick his divorced parents into letting him stay home alone for Christmas break. He detests Christmas and all its familial obligations, forced cheer, and over-crowded stores. He spends most of his time in bookstores, browsing in odd and peculiar fashions that intrigue me: "...the afternoon was sponsored by a particular letter, and would visit each and every section to check out the authors whose last names began with that letter. Other days, I would decide to tackle a single section, or would investigate the recently unloaded tomes, thrown in bins that never really conformed to alphabetization." It is on one of these bookish journeys that he comes across a red Moleskine journal that does not belong among the Salinger classics. Curious, he opens it and begins a journey across the bookstore and with an unknown girl (he hopes).

Enter the unknown girl, Lily, who adores Christmas and everything about it, but is "abandoned" by her parents, who have decided to take a trip to Fiji and her grandpa, who is proposing to some hussy down in Florida. She is stuck with her older brother and as he is completely enamored with his new boyfriend, she is essentially just as alone as Dash. She agrees to go along with the Book of Dares that her brother has come up with and is completely surprised when A. someone actually goes along with it and B. they up the ante and she is swept along in the adventure. My favorite part about Lily? She has fashion sense that rivals Claudia Kishi and I just had to do a Polyvore for her. :)

I think my outfit is very festive for the day before the day before Christmas...Oxford uniform school shirt tucked into a knee-length lime-green felt material skirt with a reindeer embroidered on it, candy-cane-colored swirled stockings, and...Great-aunt Ida's retired tasseled majorette boots, with taps still on the toes and heels.

Seriously, awesome right? In between the dares and the running around New York and the just being kids, there are some surprisingly deep moments to enjoy. Well, maybe not surprising, since they talk like they're 30 (and even I don't talk like that half the time). Quotes like this remind you that this is, indeed, a romance: I want to believe there is a somebody out there just for me. I want to believe that I exist to be there for that somebody. And I think it does a decent job of representing that.

Review: "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist"

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
3 out of 5 stars

I finally got this at HPB recently because I loved the movie so much and wanted to see how the book stands up. And I've decided that I am a person who needs to read the book before seeing the movie because it was too hard to separate the two in my head. What about you? Book or movie first or doesn't matter?

So, if you've never seen or read it, here's the basic story: nice boy gets heart stomped on by bad girl, semi-nice girl gets ditto by bad boy, nice boy & semi-nice girl meet under strange circumstances, have first date spanning one night in New York, maybe fall in love, possibly learn things about themselves in the process, definitely have a wild adventure. There is also: music of the indie-rock persuasion, lots of sex, drugs, and rock & roll, plenty of cursing, girls chasing boys, boys chasing girls, boys chasing boys, and more. If you are of a nature that takes offense to any of those things, this is not the book for you and I'd just stop reading this review right now. Might I suggest Bad News Ballet or Anne of Green Gables? :)

Norah comes across as a total bad-ass, rocker chick who takes no flack from anyone. But under the flannel and leather is a sensitive girl who wants people to like her for her not for who her dad is. And she doesn't find that often. Nick is the insecure, wanna-be rocker who shows her not all people suck and maybe she can find love after all, if she just lets the bad stuff go.

“Fuck this. Fuck this wondering. Fuck this trying and trying. Fuck this belief that two people can become one ideal. Fuck this helplessness. Fuck this waiting for something to happen that probably won't ever happen.” 

As you can see, I didn't have a problem with the language. That's how teens talk. To make yourself sound cooler and more grown-up than you actually are. I also didn't have a problem with their adventure thru the city, like I've seen in a lot of reviews. New York is kind of like another world (like Texas lol) and I think it's completely realistic for these teens to have the run of the city, experiencing life and music like that. And that's about all I have to say about the book itself, but I created my own version of Nick & Norah's playlist. It's part songs that reminded me of the book and their story and part songs that I think N&N would like themselves...I hope you enjoy it! :)

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist from kendaljay on 8tracks Radio.