Unabashedly contrary
I've had this waiting for me on my Kindle for quite some time. I'm a huge fan of Rachel Cohn's work, having started with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and working my way through her other works. For example, I've completed two-thirds of her Cupcake trilogy (one sign that you're reading a Cohn book: whole passages of food porn). This is her latest offering.
Very (short for Veronica) is an unapologetic 19-year-old freshman at Columbia University. She's not going to apologize for her obsession with music, for loving technology too much, for calling her far more normal roommate Lavinia (when said roommate's name is actually Jennifer), for her bisexuality, or for sleeping with nice guy Brian and hurting his feelings in the process. Her heart belongs to another - an online personality who she lovingly calls El Virus. Although the happy-go-lucky, blithe Very can rarely focus her energy on one thing for long, she decides to throw a school-wide bash to fund a trek to track down El Virus so they can live out the Star Trek fanfic she uses for masturbation fantasies. There's just one problem: her friends (including the slighted Brian and sincere Lavinia/Jennifer) think Very is addicted to technology. And while she won't admit it, even the flighty Very is grounded enough to see that neglecting her schoolwork doesn't reflect well on her. She goes along with their tech-free plan, but then Brian's confession that he threw out her laptop makes her snap. Will a stint in rehab cure Very of her obsession? When invited to open up about her travel-hopping past, the long-buried part of Very sees day for the first time in a long time - and sheds light on her present, and possibly her future.
Writing this summary, I feel as if it makes the book sound like it's all over the place. And it begins that way: Very's personality isn't just bouncy - it leaps over tall buildings in a single bound. At the same time, it's made of steel - it's hard to shake Very, although readers will occasionally feel the desire to do just that. A woman-child at the time of youth when the two terms are interchangeable, Very meets challenges head-on with blithe coolness or cheerful ignorance. She sleeps with whomever she wants; she re-christens her roommate with a name that said roommate hates; she makes playlists for every occasion, even for a meeting with the university dean. Hell, she'll walk around naked if it suits her. But her free spirit is tethered to a desire to (eventually) do the right thing - she has a scholarship to maintain, an elderly caretaker to reassure, a roommate she wants to impress. And as we are given glimpses into her past - her sexual history in particular is revealing - she experiences different levels of emotional and mental maturity. It's all very well done, covering issues and territory that strike me as atypical for a YA novel. I love the way in which it's all revealed, and how Very's growth is realistically portrayed.
Another thing that surprised me about this book is who the love interest turns out to be. It's not always a guessing game with Cohn's stories, but here it really does always keep you guessing. I won't ruin the surprise, but I will say that it was nicely built-up and has a really great pay-off.
Let me try to rephrase everything I just wrote: Very LeFreak is awesome. It's hilarious and has a big heart in its portrayal of an ADHD-possessing, endearingly misdirected tech-lover and just when you think it's going to be too silly for its own good, it starts showing depth and understanding. Cohn's wordplay toes the line between clever and twee, and depending on the reader, this can be annoying. But this book has it where it counts - an engrossing main character, a story of self-realization, and pretty good music selection. Rating: 4.5 Ipod Shuffles out of 5.
Writing this summary, I feel as if it makes the book sound like it's all over the place. And it begins that way: Very's personality isn't just bouncy - it leaps over tall buildings in a single bound. At the same time, it's made of steel - it's hard to shake Very, although readers will occasionally feel the desire to do just that. A woman-child at the time of youth when the two terms are interchangeable, Very meets challenges head-on with blithe coolness or cheerful ignorance. She sleeps with whomever she wants; she re-christens her roommate with a name that said roommate hates; she makes playlists for every occasion, even for a meeting with the university dean. Hell, she'll walk around naked if it suits her. But her free spirit is tethered to a desire to (eventually) do the right thing - she has a scholarship to maintain, an elderly caretaker to reassure, a roommate she wants to impress. And as we are given glimpses into her past - her sexual history in particular is revealing - she experiences different levels of emotional and mental maturity. It's all very well done, covering issues and territory that strike me as atypical for a YA novel. I love the way in which it's all revealed, and how Very's growth is realistically portrayed.
Another thing that surprised me about this book is who the love interest turns out to be. It's not always a guessing game with Cohn's stories, but here it really does always keep you guessing. I won't ruin the surprise, but I will say that it was nicely built-up and has a really great pay-off.
Let me try to rephrase everything I just wrote: Very LeFreak is awesome. It's hilarious and has a big heart in its portrayal of an ADHD-possessing, endearingly misdirected tech-lover and just when you think it's going to be too silly for its own good, it starts showing depth and understanding. Cohn's wordplay toes the line between clever and twee, and depending on the reader, this can be annoying. But this book has it where it counts - an engrossing main character, a story of self-realization, and pretty good music selection. Rating: 4.5 Ipod Shuffles out of 5.
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