Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah

by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

Sam and Ilsa Kehlmann have spent most of their high school years throwing dinner parties, and now they’ve prepared their final blowout, just before graduation. The rules for the twins are simple: they each get to invite three guests, and the other twin doesn’t know who’s coming until the guests show up at the door. With Sam and Ilsa, the sibling revelry is always tempered with a large dose of sibling rivalry, and tonight is no exception.

One night. One apartment. Eight people. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, we all know the answer is plenty. But plenty also goes right – in rather surprising ways.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, LGBT, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook

217 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2018

About the author

Rachel grew up in the D.C. area and graduated from Barnard College with a B.A. in Political Science. She has written many YA novels, including three that she cowrote with her friend and colleague David Levithan. She lives and writes (when she's not reading other people's books, organizing her music library or looking for the best cappuccino) in New York City.

Reviews

[Beth]

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.

[Sylvie {Semi-Hiatus} · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah
by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

1/5 stars.

Never in my entire life have I rated a young adult contemporary book this low.

I can’t believe how two amazing authors wrote a book so horrible.
This was my most anticipated book for this year, because when those two authors collaborate they write great books together but this was just awful, none of the pages made sense.

I expected for this to be something glamorous because it takes place in New York where twins Ilsa and Sam decide to throw their last high school party in their rich grandmother's fancy apartement before everyone going to their seperate ways to figure life out, going to college, explore new places and etc.
What I got from the book, weirdness, teen drama, super annoying characters who whine about everything.
And the last chapter which was 10 years later was neither interesting nor necessary.

The only thing that i was happy with the book was that it wasn’t long.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Rachel & David book but I need a novella on grandma.

[Alaina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is my second book by this author? Not a fan so far.

Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah was more than boring. Thankfully, this book is super short - like about 200 pages. So, I could easily fly through this.. with ya know not caring about anything or anyone.

In it, you will meet Sam and Ilsa. They are twin's and having one last party in their grandma's place before saying goodbye. No, they aren't dying (even though that twist would've been a warm welcome) but their grandma is moving to Paris. They are also saying goodbye because they are graduating high school. As to what they are doing after, going to college or whatever, has yet to be set in stone.

These two are trying to figure out their lives and at least making a change in their current depressing ones. These two do nothing - heck nothing really happens in this book. It was beyond weird and confusing. I honestly didn't like any character in this thing. So, fortunately for me, I didn't care about what they were doing after this goodbye.

Towards the end, I was excited - mostly because I was almost done with this tragic book. I was also happy because these two were finally going to do something exciting with their lives. Leave this place behind and never look back...and yet I got a sad ending. Sad because they had to say goodbye again..but weird because I still didn't like anyone.

Overall, goodbye book.

[Bookphenomena (Micky) · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Suzzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read. Not an intense read, but sometimes that is good because you just want a quick read to pass the rainy afternoon. The characters are pretty different from each other so the dinner party banter is random and amusing. The story follows to fraternal twins who are different as they have a last dinner party in their grandmother’s swank New York apartment as they in their guest end up on a verbal path of their futures and even a fun game in which they discuss off the wall locations and why. Also the final chapter was a great wrap up to the story.

My quick and simple overall: a quick, coming of age read that is great to pass the afternoon when you just don’t want a too intense read.

[Macarena Yannelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo leí mientras que esperaba en el aeropuerto y estaba en el avión. Es re lectura ligera de viaje.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm usually a huge fan of anything David Levithan writes but this was a huge let down for me. Everything felt very underdeveloped and it was not well paced at all. Such a shame.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narration: 3.5 stars 🌟
Plot: 3 stars
Characters/writing:2.5 stars 🌟
---

I didn't particularly like or get attached to most of the characters and the writing was so-so but I did enjoy the plot and the party.

The plot was more interesting than the writing ✍️ and I wanted to be at that party 🥳.

Wouldn't revisit it again but had fun


*Overdrive app*

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

~Rezension~
(Rezensionsexemplar)

Ich durfte dieses Rezensionsexemplar „ Sam und Ilsa“ von Rachel Cohen&David Levithan und dem @bloggerportal @hey_reader lesen .

🦋 Zum Inhalt:

Sam und Ilsa sind Zwillinge und geben vor dem Ende ihrer Highschool-Zeit eine legendäre letzte DinnerParty mit vielen unterschiedlichen, spannenden Charakteren als Gäste. Ein reiches ,verwöhntes Partygirl, ein Baskteballer mit Puppensocke, 2 Ex-Freunde, ein, in der U Bahn aufgegriffener Sänger und jemand, der immer was zum Strick dabei hat .
Der Abend fängt harmlos an, geht dann über Chaos und Streit zu ernsteren Themen.
Sam und Ilsa überdenken ihr bisheriges Leben, ihre Beziehung zueinander, sowie deren Zukuntsaussichten.

🦋Meine Meinung:

Das Buch ist von der Story her, sehr leicht zu lesen. Man muss sich nicht anstrengen um mithalten zu können, da der Schreibstil locker und flüssig ist .
Man kann beiden Sichtweisen, sowohl von Sam als auch von Ilsa problemlos folgen .
Die Kulisse ist sehr einfach gehalten, da sie ausschließlich nur in der Wohnung von Czarina spielt.
Die Charaktere sind spritzig, spannend und abwechslungsreich. Es macht Spaß deren Dialoge zu verfolgen.
Mich hat die Geschichte nicht so ganz gepackt, war aber trotzdem zwischenzeitlich recht amüsant und am Ende gab es sogar ernstere Themen .
Die Zwillingen mussten sich miteinander und mit sich selbst auseinandersetzen, stoßen dabei auf viele Erwartungen von außerhalb und setzen die eigene Bindung in Frage.
Es stehen große Veränderungen an, die anfangs unmöglich erschienen, zum Ende hin aber nicht so Schrecklichwaren wie erwartet .
Ein Roman für Zwischendurch.

⭐️ 4/5

[Kayla Silverss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got sent this book in exchange for a honest review, all my opinions are my own and thank you so much to the publishers for sending me this book!

This book was very entertaining. I love books that are focused on relationships and friendships and this book definitely focused on it.
I have rated this book 3 stars just depending on, I didn't like the writing and I usually don't for David Levithan but I do enjoy the plots of his stories.
Overall it was a good book, I just don't think I'll revisit it again.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

twins sam and ilsa are throwing one last dinner party before they and their friends go off to college and their grandma moves to paris.

while this wasn’t the worst book i’ve read, i honestly wouldn’t have bothered finishing it had it been any longer. i really didn’t care about any of these people, which sucked because the characters were the whole plot. they really didn’t have much character development, either, which i guess makes some sense since this book takes place over the course of a dinner party, but still.

anyway, i wouldn’t really recommend this book, if that wasn’t clear. david levithan does have other books i’ve enjoyed and i’m willing to give rachel cohn’s books a try, but this is the second book i’ve read that was co-authored by these two that i didn’t really enjoy.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review **

I have always enjoyed Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's collaborations, and I was excited for the opportunity to review this one (coming out in April). The book follows Sam and Ilsa, twins and high school seniors, and their final party before graduation, hosted in their grandmother's elaborate and eclectic downtown apartment. Each sibling invites 3 guests, unknown to other until they arrive, and these guests certainly were unique.

The two perspectives were fun to read, and Sam and Ilsa both experienced great growth by the end of the book. I really loved how Ilsa found herself in this book, and became more open to new relationships. The other characters balanced out the novel, each with quirky traits that added humor or insight to the story.

I enjoyed reading the book, but it did not hook me as much as I had hoped, hence only a 4/5 rating. However, the lessons in this book are worthwhile, and I will recommend it when it comes out!

[Kira DeSomma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting after receiving an advance reading copy from the publisher.
The authors of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist have done it again! This book is beautiful and absurd, hilarious and heartwarming, and it reminded me a lot of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I loved every minute of it and I will be recommending it when it comes out in April!

[Alexa L]

This is one of the worst YA books I've read in a long time. I don't like to post bad reviews or ratings, but honestly this book was terrible. Do not recommend.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have little to say about this book. I thought it was boring for the most part, random, chaotic, and I didn't care for any of the characters.

Twins Sam and Ilsa are seniors in high school and they have a last dinner party for 6 of their friends, each inviting 3 people. There was an interesting cast of friends invited, and I thought it held some potential at first. But honestly I just didn't like this one much at all. The characters were mostly mean or bitchy. There was what I'd call an attempt at having a funny character in Casper, but a sock puppet that was pretty much another character? Uh, not for me!

I hope that others like this book more than I did. I have nothing more I care to say about it, except I hope the KK is never resurrected.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had no idea that David Levithan and Rachel Cohn had collaborated on another novel until I received an email about it from Netgalley. Whilst I rarely read young adult novels, I have always enjoyed their work in their past, and was eager to begin Sam and Ilsa's Last Hurrah. I have come away feeling more than disappointed about it, however. It lacks the wit and sparkle of their earlier work; the characters are precocious and annoying rather than intelligent and endearing. I was hoping for an immersive, amusing, and rather quick read, but I grumbled my way through it.

It felt markedly different to their earlier work; each of the characters is obnoxious, but none are entirely distinct from one another. Even the voices of both protagonists blended rather at times - odd, considering that they are written by different authors - and I had to skip back on two occasions to see who was supposed to be narrating the part which I was currently reading. I largely found Sam and Ilsa's Last Hurrah rather mediocre, lacklustre, and cliched, and it seems an anomaly within the Levithan/Cohn collaborations. Also, the 'ten years later' ending was really terrible and, I felt, unnecessary. I will, regardless, read their next book together, and hope that it has more of a Dash and Lily kind of feel to it.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I don't hand out 1 star reviews often, but when I do I really have got to strongly dislike the book. This was one of those books.
I tried so hard to like this. I've heard David Levithan is great author, and that him and Rachel Cohn were a dynamic duo. I'm going to respectfully disagree on the dynamic writing duo part.
Twins inviting each other's exes to a party should have been unique, fun, and entertaining. Instead I was asking myself when this book would end. This book is 200 pages long. It felt a lot longer.
There was such a lack of plot. It felt like the authors had a really good idea, and introduced It effectively, but then didn't know how to carry the plot into a story. I felt like this book was going nowhere and wondered when the actual plot would start. It didn't. I was bitter. I am still bitter.
I also had no connection to the characters. Neither Sam nor Ilsa had much depth. We never learned about their parents, personality, or anything that really makes them characters. They felt a bit like cardboard cutouts. I wanted to love them and feel interested in their lives, but I just couldn't. I tried giving them a chance, but in the end I just couldn't do it.
So all in all, this book was more of an idea than a story, which is why this is a 1/5 star book for me. It was rushed and plotless, and I came out of this book very disappointed.

[kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book suffered from being inconsistent. every time i picked up this book, it felt like i was reading a different book.

the cast of characters in this novel were sooooooo unlikable. i couldn’t stand ANY of them. and i also couldn’t keep track of a lot of them ?????? it took me a while to realize one of the characters was a sock puppet....

the only part i liked about this book was that the party took place over the course of the whole book. as someone who has read books with misleading summaries (*cough* By Your Side *cough*), i appreciated that. i also really liked how the book wrapped up in the last chapter.

i was vastly disappointed in this book. i loved Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, so i had some decent expectations for this.

[katie taguchi · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

i saw what the authors were going for with this book, but i think they just really missed the mark. i think this novel had a lot of potential to be a fun story about an extravagant dinner party with lovable guests. instead, this book had no plot, annoying narrators, a pointless epilogue, and a sock puppet as a character. a SOCK PUPPET.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast-paced, with a more serious undertone than previous novels by this pair.

[kelly {BookCrushin} · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 round down to 3. It wasn't a bad book but so many personalities to contend with. It was a fast quick read and overall it stressed me out a tad too much. Maybe I related to all the insecurities of these characters but not their privilege so it felt uneven to me personally.

[Leah G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Sam, the protagonist, demonstrates the character strength 'self-control' because even though he gets very upset and anxious when he thinks about things that might be stressing him out, he calms himself down without having a complete panic attack. For example, before the party, the sink broke and he ruined some of the food. Instead of completely freaking out, he tells himself it's okay, and he controls himself.

[Betsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad read, but it kind of felt like a watered down Perks of Being a Wallflower. I typically love books from these authors, so it was surprising that this book wasn't my cup of tea. Honestly, the most interesting character was the sock puppet. The rest of the characters were a little too self-involved for my taste. Not a bad quick read. I probably would have DNF'd had the book gone on any longer.

[Kat Drennan-Scace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t put my finger on why I didn’t really like this one except that maybe it’s not that exciting to read chapters and chapters of people sitting around and talking at a party. Maybe especially when they’re privileged teens trying to figure out what to do with their lives. So, disappointed in this one but it still had funny and touching parts. Just not my fave!

[Mari Johnston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is this book?

[Yvonne Olson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry. I feel like I shouldn't even rate it because I didn't read nearly enough of it to warrant a rating, but I read the first chapter out loud, to my roommate, and we were both flabbergasted by how bad it was.
I then flipped through to random pages and read bits and pieces, and I agree with every other review of this book that I have read: it's so pretentious.
But, how could it not be? It's literally about two twins who throw a dinner party while her parents and grandmother are in parents (the latter having gone to Paris for the... 4th time in six weeks? Did I remember that right?)
I stopped as soon as Sam asked Isla "Please tell me you didn't invite KK.", to which she responded "'Of course not!' I totally invited KK."
It's bad.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are things I like and don't like about this book. I liked that is was short and an easy read. I read it in 2 sittings with several days in between. Some of the characters are very interesting and memorable. I like that Sam and Ilsa are twins, and are both similar and different at the same time. They both have a bit of baggage.
I wasn't a fan of how all the characters worked. I liked Li and what she brought to the group but I felt a bit of confusion as to who was talking about what when. There wasn't much set up into the story so it felt a bit like the characters were just thrown in and was a bit rushed.

I don't hate it but it's not their best book.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. David Levithan has written at LEAST two books that I think about to this day. But wow this book, this book was not it for me.

As a reader I need to like at least some of the characters in a book. I honestly feel like I could not stand a single one. Maybe Li and maybe Parker. And this isn't to say a character has to be perfect and there cannot be any unlikeable characters, but I have to be invested in some way in their journey. I was not invested in anyone's story.

I will probably give this 1.5 stars in actuality just because of how surprised I was at one point. But besides that... it came up empty for me.

[Geethika Atluri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much since I got to know not-so-great reviews
tho I still liked it
(I am totally biased)
I love the authors (❁´◡`❁)
the dinner setting was interesting
the conversations were amusing enough
it was a nice quick read (✿◡‿◡)