I was really excited to read this book because these two authors have written another really fantastic book together: NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST. NICK AND NORAH is a fantastic book that I really should review sometime. Both authors have also written amazing books separately–Rachel Cohn’s GINGERBREAD, in particular, is another huge favorite of mine.

So NAOMI AND ELY’S NO KISS LIST has a lot to live up to. It’s close, but I think NICK AND NORAH is better–but not by much, and that may well just be a matter of my personal preference, as both are brilliant.

Naomi and Ely are the best of friends, and they grew up that way, in the same apartment building in New York City (I love books set in NYC, too). Because Naomi is straight and Ely is gay, their taste in guys kind of overlaps sometimes. So, to keep their friendship free from any conflicts over boys, they’ve created the no kiss list.

Bruce The Second wasn’t on the no kiss list, but Naomi sort of thought it was understood–he was her boyfriend. Until Ely kissed him.

And now…Naomi and Ely aren’t as solid together as they thought. Will their fantastic friendship really be put in jeopardy by a boy? Or is it about more than that? And can they fix it?

Naomi, Ely, and all of the other characters populating this awesome book are so amazingly well written. So three-dimensional. And their relationships! The way that Cohn and Levithan understand the relationships between people is fantastic, and shows through so well in their writing.

Chapters switch points of view, mainly between Naomi and Ely, with other characters occasionally getting to have a say as well, and that is done so well. They all have their distinct voices, they are all fully developed characters, and I was never confused as to who was speaking. The head-hopping here was completely necessary and done brilliantly.

Both Cohn and Levithan are amazingly talented writers, and in working together they have once again managed to create something absolutely beautiful! I can’t gush about this one enough!

Five Stars