| A couple of years ago I had the half term of orange books. Let me explain: my now husband and I were going away to a cottage in North Yorkshire for a few nights one May half term. This was before we were engaged and well before our son was ever on the horizon. Which is why I managed to read 4 books that week! Now, I went on Amazon to order my new reads as I do before going anywhere. I did what I call Amazon surfing: you type in the name of a book you have read and surf your way through the recommendations until you come across something you like the look of. On this particular break I found Eleanor and Park (ok so the cover is yellow but it’s in the same citrus category) by Rainbow Rowell (which I think I may revisit at some point soon as I love the pair of them); Dead Ends by Erin Lange (I had previously read and very much enjoyed Butter); and Every Day by David Levithan. I couldn’t tell you what it was that drew me to all three but when they turned up with very similar colours it may have been the minimalist style that had appealed to me on a subliminal level.
I was fascinated by Every Day – the story of A who wakes up in a different body each day around the same area who then falls in love with a girl called Rihanna and appears to her in different forms daily – and the idea that someone could step into our bodies and take us over for a day. We’ve all had times where we just haven’t felt with it which is why I liked this idea so much. It was something so very different too. I went on to read Two Boys Kissing (not quite so good) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (good but possibly aided by the involvement of John Green). Levithan also released a tie in I read via Netgalley which was called Another Day; this time told from the perspective of Rihanna which was quite interesting. I had been intrigued by the thought of the story from her point of view and so it was good to have the chance to read it. This was why Sam and Ilsa popped into my inbox a few weeks ago as a auto approval from Netgalley and also why I was interested to get going. I’ve not read anything by Cohn before and am always up for a new author. This book comes out on Amazon on 5th April 2018 * The story begins inside the apartment of Sam and Ilsa’s grandmother, Czarina. We never meet her but we learn a great deal about her – she sounds amazing. Sam and Ilsa are twins and are holding a dinner party with the weirdest group of guests you could ever imagine. This being their last hurrah together you would imagine it would be close friends only. Instead we get Parker, Ilsa’s ex; Jason, Sam’s ex; KK, a vain and spoilt girl who I actually loved; Li, a friend who lives in the apartment; Johan, a guy Sam has seen on the subway over the course of a few months and decides to invite; and finally Fredrick, who comes with his sock puppet Cornelius who is the one that does all the talking. Quite possibly the strangest group of people you could ever put together. Over the course of the evening we learn a little more about each character. Parker and Ilsa used to be dance partners as well as in a relationship; Jason hates Ilsa as he blames her for his and Sam’s break up; Li and KK both arrive dressed as French maids for some reason…. Sam has always been favourite in the family and the underlying issues that come from that seem to spill out slowly through the course of reading. We get dual narrative, usually a big tick in a box for me, meaning we saw stories through both sets of eyes which in this case provided much of the plot of the book. But there’s not a great deal of that to work on… I’ll be honest, I found this book slightly irritating. What annoyed me was that you were given hints of issues and problems and jealousies but they never came to full fruition. It felt like something was going to come to a head, and it didn’t. It felt like some big revelation would come out, and it doesn’t. Sam and Ilsa were actually the least interesting characters in the whole story. KK and her obnoxious nature and brutal honesty were very entertaining, as was the sock puppet which at first seemed ridiculous but after a while it just seemed fine! This sock puppet was obviously a cover for the issues Fredryck has but, as with the majority of the book, we never really find out what those are. That being said he was one of the more endearing characters in the book and the way Cornelius speaks to people provides much of the humour at times. In order to impress KK he manages to insult most members of the dinner table, resulting in him getting thrown across the room and almost torn by Johan! But then everything settles down again. Like I said, nothing really comes to a head. The other thing that was irritating was the archetypal characters that turn up. I couldn’t decide if this was being done in an ironic way and intentionally but the more I read the more I thought it really wasn’t. We have the obnoxious girl, the freak, the warring but not really brother and sister, the girl who needs to find herself and the stranger no one knows who turns up with a fiddle case full of Dolly Parton figures. I know right? It’s just weird and not in a good way! I felt a bit “Meh” about a lot of it – I know books are escapism but you still need a level of suspended belief and this just didn’t happen for me. Over the course of the book the characters go to the roof, break into the empty apartment next door, dance, drink champagne, play the piano, dance again…. It felt like any old story in this sense. Why does there always have to be a rooftop? Why do they always have to have a dance? What is it with soul singers coming on at some point? I enjoyed it, but I will be honest, it has left me feeling a bit “meh”. I won’t necessarily be in any rush to recommend this but I am still going to add Nick and Norah to my playlist to read at some point in the future. I wasn’t blown away, I found it all a bit trite and I just didn’t really like Sam or Ilsa. As a twin myself you always wonder if your parents have a favourite, but the resentment that is felt between these two wasn’t really interesting enough. You have a pair of spoiled teenagers who continue to be so and just get a bit narked off with each other. It’s all a bit predictable – you know people are going to end up making out, you know there’s going to be arguments, and you also know that everyone will leave having had a heart to heart and learning something about themselves. It’s frustrating – you find yourself willing them to fall out and smash everything just so that something relatively interesting will happen! But no one does. They talk, they shout, they dress up, some dance, some kiss and then bold statements about the future will be made. Blah blah. It was a quick read. I liked the claustrophobia of the setting but by the same token there seemed to be an infinite amount of space between the characters as well! They could all get privacy when they needed it somehow. I don’t know anyone who has access to the sheer amount of space that pops up in these stories! Johan was interesting, the sock puppet was entertaining and Czarina sounds like an epic grandma. But otherwise I don’t think it’s hugely memorable. I will keep an eye out for Levithan and Cohn again as I am willing to try again and as it wasn’t a long read I don’t feel cheated. If you want a quick read that doesn’t take a lot of thinking about or any real depth then this is a good one to choose. I just wanted something a bit more meaty this time. Order a copy from Amazon (if you like… no pressure…)
*information correct as 19/03/2018 |
Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
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