Rachel Cohn and David Levithan seem to be aiming for a profound exploration of teens on the cusp of adulthood, but it felt like walking into a party hours after it had started and never really catching up.
Isla and Sam are eighteen, twins, and for reasons that never become entirely clear prone to using their grandmother’s apartment to host dinner parties when she’s out of town. On this occasion they each invite three guests and we spend the evening in their company.
Most of the guests have history. Not really knowing this meant I always felt a step behind their conversation. None of the characters were particularly likeable, and the majority of the book baffled me with clunky dialogue and hints of interesting details that never went anywhere.
By the time the party ended I’d checked out long before, and the ten years later catch-up would have been nice if I’d felt like I cared about either Sam or Isla.
I was grateful to NetGalley for letting me read this prior to publication, and so pleased they did when I’d finished it because I’d not wasted money on buying a copy. Sorry.

I could not finish this book because I could not abide the ridiculous, pretentious characters. I do not believe anyone, of this age, would live like this. I guess it’s meant to be cool but just made me think “get a grip”. And I’m not normally that person! So no I’m cross with the book for making me become all judgemental. Not my cup of t a. If you love super-cool, confident teenagers then this might be the novel for you.

I have a feeling this is one of those books you’ll really like or really won’t. I am a big fan of this writing partnership (I loved Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares) so I knew just what to expect and it didn’t disappoint. It feels like quite a short book, I seemed to fly through it, but given the whole novel takes place over the course of one pivotal night this is possibly no bad thing.

This is Sam and Ilsa’s last hurrah, the final dinner party they will hold in their Grandmother’s apartment in New York before she sells up and emigrates to Paris. This is also the last party before Sam and Ilsa and their friends head off to college or whatever adventure their future holds. It’s a chance to say goodbye but also to resolve their issues, get their revenge and settle scores.

They each invite three guests and it’s safe to say their choice of guests are interesting. There are best friends, potential love interests, ex boyfriends and a couple of wildcards (strangers they met and invited). It certainly makes for a rather charged and volatile evening.

I did love the amount of diversity in the characters, some of them are just so wonderfully out there. I will admit that at times it’s a little pretentious and a little over the top but I didn’t mind that. In some ways it’s like watching an episode of Dawson’s Creek. The language, emotional maturity and self awareness is a little unbelievable for a bunch of 18 year olds (would 18 year olds even throw a dinner party?). It is however very typical Cohn and Levithan, complex, emotional and incredibly engaging.

I’m not sure I could really say there was any character I particularly loved or could relate to, hence the 4 stars, but they all had interesting stories and backgrounds which were fascinating to read. I did find myself becoming emotionally invested, particularly in Sam’s story.

What I particularly loved though was how despite taking place within one building in one night the authors brought so much into the story and somehow managed to give such a sense of being in New York. The mix of characters, the building and its residents all just felt so right and so real you didn’t ever have to step outside.

I very much enjoyed this book. It may not have stolen the place of Dash and Lily in terms of favorites but with such an interesting mix of characters it’s still a pretty good read.

Writing this review is going to be one of the hardest things i've ever done - because I really just did not like it. It hurts even to type that! Rachel Cohn & David Levithan have been my writing duo heroes for a LONG time now. Their books are my absolute favourites (particularly Dash & Lily) and there are literally no words to describe how happy I was when I found out they were releasing a new book - and that I got it early. So what went wrong? *sigh*


Right from the off I disliked both Sam & Ilsa which is uh, kind of a big problem when the entire book is about them, their relationship with each other and their relationship with everyone else. I honestly just didn't care what they were going through. They were pretentious, terrible friends and really annoying to have to be with for an extended period of time.


It was really difficult to keep track of who was talking, which POV I was in etc as there wasn't a lot of substance to Sam or Ilsa for me to be able to easily identify them. It almost felt like Cohn & Levithan were trying really hard to be wacky with the dinner guests but they were actually completely overlooked. It was nearing the end of the book before I could even remember who their friend were. I think at one point a character appeared after being missing for a while and it genuinely took me a hot second to realise they weren't a new character and/or that that character had even been gone. It was kind of all over the place.


I'd say the most interesting character was their Grandmother and she didn't even feature in the book other than someone they occasionally talked about. I considered that maybe I was just too old to enjoy these books now but I was 100% here for Twelve Days of Dash & Lily book which only came out early last year so it can't be that. It's going to be very interesting to go and read reviews after this and see what everyone else thinks about it!


I wanted to love it wholeheartedly. I want Sam & Ilsa to be added to my list of fictional best friends. I wanted to throw a dinner party inspired by this book. None of those things happened. Honestly, I over-rated it on Goodreads purely because there's a sneaky little Nick & Norah reference and I was so overwhelmingly happy about it that I momentarily forgot that this didn't meet my standards.


I still love Cohn & Levithan. I'm going to definitely re-read this in a few months and reevaluate my opinion (we all have months of meh reading!). I haven't given up! But for now, if you're wanting something to blow you away - this isn't it.

Sadly didn't live up to my expectations for a Rachel Cohn and David Levithan novel. Characters too irritating,. I was unable to connect with or feel any empathy for them.. That said I think it will appeal to some YA readers.

I was so excited to get an advance copy of this because I absolutely love the authors' previous collaboration on the Dash and Lily books and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I expected something in the same vein - warm, amusing, slightly quirky, well rounded characters, and two distinct voices narrating (chapters alternate between the two main characters) but sadly I didn't get it.

The premise was interesting, twins Sam and Ilsa (boy and girl) throw one last dinner party for an odd assortment of their friends and acquaintances before their grandmother's beautiful rent controlled apartment is sold. I just felt like the magic is missing from this one. The two main characters didn't feel as distinct as usual - a few times I had to go back and check which character was narrating, and the main personality trait of most of the guests seemed to be obnoxious. Apart from the one who communicated solely via sock puppet who was frankly annoying, and all my sympathy was with the guest who wrestled the puppet off and tried to dispose of it. Sadly he wasn't successful.

The whole thing just felt very superficial, I never felt like we scratched beneath the surface. Fingers crossed the next collaboration is back up to the usual standard.

Passage of time in fiction is a strange and ephemeral thing. Which is harder to do - squash six months or more into 300 pages, or stretch a single night into a whole book? I don't know the answer, but I do know that whatever the time period, Cohn and Levithan write it well. I got addicted to this writing partnership when I read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, so when this gem turned up on Netgalley I couldn't say no. I have to admit, I wasn't as excited by the blurb as I have been by previous Cohn/Levithan books, but once I started reading I became thoroughly entrenched and found I couldn't put it down. It seems incredible and unbelieveable that so much could occur in one night, creating such huge changes in the lives of the main characters, especially when there is no death, birth or marriage involved. Just a dinner party. But at the same time, the way Cohn and Levithan write, makes it completely plausible and even obvious that these friends and strangers coming together forms the catalyst for some major life choices.
As usual, the dialogue is ridiculously clever, observant and yet easy to read. The world created is both whimsical and achingly realistic. Overall, it's entertainment that makes you think just enough, a story that made me completely and utterly invested in its two heros, and an unexpected but wonderfully perfect ending.

This is like the beginning of a coming of age story, the kind of story that these writers do best. I say the beginning of it because this story, with the exception of the epilogue, takes place over just one night, not one day, just the night! So I feel like we get a real grasp for these characters and the fact that they are on the cusp of a life changing moment in their existence but we don't necessarily get to see how that happens or the consequences of their deacons.

An intriguing premise for a book, it was definitely the plot that kept me going through these novel because I did find some of the characters harder to gel with. Sam and Ilsa are twins and I loved their relationship with and to each other. This is written with chapters alternating between Sam and Ilsa's points of view. So we really get to see how they view each other as well. I really didn't like or gel with the other characters so I was glad the focus was on the twins in the main part. There is also no adult presence in this novel, the party takes place in their grandmother's apartment but she is not around and no other adults are involved in the plot at all.

I love the fact that David Leviathan tends to set his novels in New York City because I think this makes for a really interesting canvas on which to paint the characters and their journey. It's quite a unique place for teenagers to be growing up and moving on from and so I really liked the fact that this novel is set here. As I mentioned, I found the others characters in the novel difficult to like and difficult to connect with and so this did make this novel drag a little for me. I was interested to see how the night ended and I'm glad I stuck it through to the end but if you're expecting something along the lines of Dash and Lily then you'll be disappointed. The twin aspect gave this book a novelty value and I liked the timescale it took place over as well as the setting.

DNF at 43%

I received an Arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not even going to give this a rating because I just couldn't get through it. I went in wiith completely different expectations of what I thought it would be. Roughly at about 4% in I'd already had enough. Sam and Ilsa came off as pretentious, and I couldn't figure out how their relationship worked. One moment Ilsa would be making comments about Sam being the favourite and to me she felt over shadowed and then the next moment she'd be praising him, it just didn't really make sense to me.

Not only this but it came off as quite pretentious to me, with comments of "good silver" and folding fancy napkins. Then we have the whole university thing with woe is me I didn't get into this top notch place, on and on.

Then we have Sam who shows signs of anxiety, however I quote "My sister does not like to be depressed" I'm not quite sure what to even say in regards to this. I didn't realise you could pick and choose if you wanted to be depressed/have anxiety.

Making it's way into the dinner party, they each get to invite three guests each, they both decide to invite someone the other doesn't like for whatever reason, Sam invites a random boy he fancies and then Ilsa Invites a boy she wants Sam to hook up with. I shit you not, one of them turns up with a Sock Puppet on his hand, and the other two come as and I quote "slutty maids".

I just wasn't a fan and had to give up, I don't really care enough about the characters to continue on and find out what happens, it just wasn't for me.

I'm not really sure what to think about this book. There were parts of it I loved...but then there was something about it that just fell short of being great and being what I needed it to be. Like there was just something lacking from the story and I can't pin point what.

I think maybe part of the problem was that the story was quite short and takes place in one night. That worked spectacularly for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (by far my favourite collaboration

between these authors) but it didn't work as well in this. It felt like the story introduced issues and relationships and plot points that couldn't really get the development and justice they deserved in such a short book.

It wasn't that any of the plot points were done poorly, it was just a lot to pack into one night of a story and such a short book -- especially when it had to be balanced out with lighter, more comedic stuff.

Like both Sam and Isla were dealing with finding closure to their old relationships, while juggling potential new relationships as well as dealing with family issues and personal issues and identity issues and in-the-moment party issues and it was just...it was a lot. Which made it not feel like enough, if that makes sense.

I loved that Isla's sexuality was explored in the story but in such a casual, non-issue way rather than having it dominate the whole story (representation like that is just as important as books revolving mostly around that). The only issue, again, was that the actual relationship felt underdeveloped, so I was rooting more for the idea of them than actually feeling a real connection between the pairing.

I loved the overall vibe the story had. I loved that the setting was practically a character in its own right (that was one of the things I loved about Nick & Norah) and I loved that it made me laugh and smile quite a bit. And I loved how utterly bizarre some parts were.

I loved that the book gave me that goodbye feeling. You know the one -- when you're leaving a place or a person or a particular point in your life and you feel this heavy mix of hope and happiness and sadness and fear and nostalgia all at once right in the heart of your chest? The book gave me that feeling, I was feeling it right along with the characters.

I guess what I'm getting at is that it's a really good book. It just felt like it bit off a bit more than it could chew with the issues and relationships it tried to cram into a few hundred pages.

I'd rate the book 3.5 stars out of 5. It's not the best book these two have written together but it is worth reading.

Okay so I’ve read quite a few David Levithan books in my time (and absolutely loved them) so I had high hopes for this. I have never read anything with Rachel Cohn though and I’d seen some very mixed reviews on goodreads, but I was still hopeful that I’d love this book! I am happy to confirm, that I did really enjoy it!

Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah is about a set of twins who upon nearing leaving for college decide to throw one last sophisticated dinner party at their grandmother’s Upper East Side Manhattan apartment. They each are allowed to invite three guests, but cannot tell the other who their three are. What could possibly go wrong? The answer is: a lot.

It’s a very short book, coming in at just over 200 pages long so it’s perfect for reading on a Sunday evening or a free afternoon. The main this I loved was the representation. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with such a diverse immediate circle; full of people of different sexualities, body types, races and mental states. One thing I adored about this book was the discussion of these things. There is so much ownership of sexuality, often in causal conversation. I also loved the discussion of mental health. Anxiety medication is portrayed as a helpful tool for people to take, that they should not be afraid of employing should they need it. ALSO, A FAT CHARACTER WAS DESCRIBED AS HAVING SEXY CURVES. Yes. This is exactly what I need after Leah being made skinny in the Love, Simon film (don’t even get me started…).

This is not a heavy plot based book, so if you want lots of crazy stuff to happen in the books you read, then this won’t be for you. If you’re more character driven, then you should definitely pick this up. I loved reading about the character dynamics, and the way that different characters acted with each other depending on their pasts and personalities. We even see a surprising amount of character arcs in such a short book.

This book is not perfect, there are some word choices I wouldn’t use and some stereotype tropes that I like to stay away from. And. it is so pretentious; one of the dinner guests is a sock puppet, for goodness sake! But it’s pretentious in the best way. It’s pretentious in the same way all of David Levithan’s and to an extent, John Green’s characters are, so if you like their other books then this will be a plus for you, not a minus. I’d have loved to have read this when I was seventeen and making my decisions about where to go with my life, so if you fit into that bracket, I’d highly recommend giving this a go! And if you’re not, still give it a go!

As far as writing partnerships go, Cohn and Levithan has to be one of my favourites. There has yet to be a book that they have written (either individually or together) that I have not enjoyed. Therefore, even before turning the first page of Sam and Isla’s Last Hurrah I knew I would like it.

And like it, I did.

It is almost like that game were you select ideal dinner guests, except in this circumstance all the guests are alive and not celebrities. We see Sam and Isla through the dual narrative try to come to terms with the empty space ahead of life after high school. Besides not knowing if they are going to college, travelling or getting a job they also have to deal with the fact that they are losing their home; the location for the last hurrah – their grandmother’s New York apartment.

It really is a quirky piece of YA fiction that focuses on half truths and lies and also includes a sock puppet. I know you are intrigued.

Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is available now.

For more information regarding Rachel Cohn (@rachelcohn) please visit www.rachelcohn.com.

For more information regarding David Levithan (@loversdiction) please visit www.davidlevithan.com.

For more information regarding Egmont Publishing (@EgmontUK) please sisit www.egmont.co.uk.

*Disclaimer I received a free copy of this book through netgalley in return for an honest review*
Okay, so I did enjoy this book, but I also found it quite hard to follow, mainly due to the dialogue of this novel.
I did enjoy how it was set over one evening but felt like I would like to know more about all the characters’ lives. I also didn’t like how quirky the characters were, at times I felt like it was too much.
3/5 stars

An entertaining and fun to read book. Well written, with interesting characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Egmont Publishing

The plot was actually not bad. But I thought the ending was a lot better than how the rest of the book had gone. I'm a huge nostalgia junkie so the whole 'moving out of your fortress and just living a new experience' got me. Also the 10 years later chapter was a really nice touch and brought the whole thing together. I'd just wish they had that kind of sentiment running through the whole story a lot more rather than the fiery teenage angst.

One thing that just didn't make this book enjoyable was the characters. I get it, when you're 18 and you think you know every single thing about the world. I've been there! So having a catty character like Isla was enough. But also having KK was a bit too much. And then Caspian the sock puppet on top of all of that was just irritating. Because of those 3 prominent and loud characters it made it so much hard to relate to the other 4.

Overall 'Sam and Ilsa's Last Hurrah' was an okay book but nothing impressive.

'Sam and Isla's Last Hurrah' was a much needed palate cleanser from my mild 'chick-lit addiction'. Reading about the twins' party prep and in two different POV's made it interesting. Sam and Isla were adorable as the sparring/opposite siblings who cared for each other. Their glamorous party made me wanna throw a party too....

Cute book for a night in!
****
~Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my ARC~

I’m going to be quite brief on this review because so much just didn’t click for me beyond the blurb. The book plunges the reader into an entitled and rather odd situation of teens hosting a dinner party in Manhattan and this dinner party is pretty much the entirety of the book. What starts as enchantingly quirky in terms of the main characters, siblings Sam and Ilsa, ends up being rather too quirky and somewhat irritating.

The guests at the dinner party were again an odd mix but the drama, dialogue and conversations didn’t click with me. I was not drawn into either the smaller stories or the larger overall narrative.

I am disappointed, I’ve heard much praise of one of the authors but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I loved reading about how the characters grew through the two alternating perspectives, even though the book took place over such a short period of time. A quick and easy room that had me glued. I loved it.

Sam and Isla are twins who are hosting their final dinner party in their grandmothers’ swanky New York apartment as she is due to move to Paris and they are leaving school and going their separate ways. The entire book takes place over this one evening. Sam and Elsa each invite 3 guests to the dinner party. They both invite each others ex partner, which just seems cruel to me.
There were a few times where I thought that things were going to start happening and being expanded upon but they just seemed to fizzle out.
There was too much of a similarity between the authors that I occasionally just couldn’t remember who was who.
There was something missing from this book for me and I just can’t decide what it was and I have to say that I was rather relieved when the book ended.

An entertaining, nicely written YA novel, which holds the attention and includes some worthy themes such as family relationships, sexuality, endings/beginnings/transitions and anxiety/coping mechanisms - all of which are treated sensitively and shown ways which could be beneficial to a teenage reader. Nothing I would rave about, but sometimes might recommend if it seemed a young person might relate to/learn from the themes explored.