I love how light and funny these stories are. Noah is constantly doing the wrong things for the right reasons. He’s unaware of how the world works, but is loved. Noah Could Never Playful and (surely) well intentioned, but unconfident to the point that Harry and noah's relationship plays second fiddle to a ludicrous mystery adventure filled with sitcom stereotypes. The pacing is usually quick, which is good when you want so many scenes to hurry up and be over. The protagonist Noah is frustrating and often unlikeable and once he said, 'oh phooey,' in total sincerity, which there is no excuse for.
Harry is a sweet heart. Noah could grow into it, maybe. Actions speak louder than words, which is a recurring theme in this book, yet the conclusion to Noah and Harry's romantic angst is just another (admittedly nice) speech. There has to be something in between a grand, public gesture and a private apology. Ah, yes. I think Harry was the one to find it, when, even with how upset he was at Noah, he went ahead and dug out the *spoiler* from the bin that Noah was after.
I guess that says it. Harry is a freaking hero who shows through actions how he feels. Noah, though? He's a bit of a prick sometimes. That works for a lot of people on TV in dramas, but in books it's all about psychology and motivation we should be in his head, we should be endeared. But I'm not.
The first book still flawed was much better. I'll return for the sequel if it (and Noah!) calms down a bit. Noah Could Never I fell in love with Noah when reading ‘Noah Can’t Even’. So, I was eager (impatient) to read book two ‘Noah Can’t Even’. Noah is a cringe worthy, honest, adorable protagonist whose adventures are both hilarious and heart breaking. Lacking in confidence but not in enthusiasm, Noah approaches everything in his unique way. From his relationship with Harry to a dodgy money making scheme to help his Gran. He continues to struggle with understanding society, people and their motives. Battles with his identity, sexuality and relationships. He learns a lot the hard way and uses his detective skills with mixed results.
In this book we’re introduced to wonderful new characters. Bambi/Mick a drag queen is hiding out at Noah’s house following a feud with fellow drag queens. Bambi’s character is fabulously portrayed, bringing humour and drama into Noah’s life. But also introducing Noah to a world he has little experience of. Pierre the ‘sexy’ French exchange student adds further hilarity but also angst to Noah’s story. Gran returns – her character adding a delightful mix of stability and colour to Noah’s life.
‘Noah Could Never’ hosts an incredible cast of vivid and memorable characters. Noah learns about himself and being in a relationship, whilst widening his life experience. It has romance, heartache, mystery and massive amounts of humour. Both ‘Noah Can’t Even’ and ‘Noah Could Never’ are books I recommend to people of all ages. What else can I say except – I love Noah (and Harry and Gran and…yep I’m a geeky fan of these books.) Noah Could Never Everything goes wrong for Noah. That’s what makes him such a likable character. Pure, not quite innocent, and precious. Throw in a boyfriend, crazy family life and a hot French foreign exchange student and the mix becomes perfection. Nicely done Simon. 4.5 for singing grans. Noah Could Never I would rather have this story told from the perspective of Harry or Eric because Noah grated on my nerves. Half way through the book i started drinking every time he complained about a term being from America, and This wasn’t America! i sighed so loudly in exasperation at one point that i got strange looks from my fellow bus riders. Noah Could Never
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Noah and Harry are now officially boyfriends, but is Noah ready to go all the way? It's no help that a group of cosmopolitan French exchange students have descended on Little Fobbing including sexy Pierre Victoire, who seems to have his eye on Harry! Will Noah ever catch a break? Noah Could Never
This Sequel to Noah Can't Even continues on much of the same range of topics young love, LGBT coming out, the difficulty of fitting in and trying to see how to live up to expectations and whether you even have to, of course! The plot is still campy, but the characters are well written, sensitively portrayed and there is genuine warmth to the book. And it'll make you laugh. Noah Could Never Lovely read, with all kind of feelings and Noah gets to solve his own mystery! Things happened that I did not expect, which is always a nice thing. And granny is just the best, rock on! Noah Could Never This gay coning of age tale of British teen Noah and his boyfriend Harry is charming and funny. The troubles this kid gets into, and the fortitude Harry shows standing by his boy. The addition of a drag queen to the supporting cast was a fun move. And hot French foreign exchange student Pierre makes things all the crazier. I love these two Noah books. I hope it becomes a series. I highly recommend this book. Noah Could Never This book is all about action. There is no padding to the story, which, to the author's credit mercifully does not fall into the trap of most gay based novels that are nothing short of predictable sexual fantasies of the author. For me, there is too much disaster after disaster, some extremely unlikely too, presaging what has to be the fastest and also the most predictable ending of any story I have ever read. This is no literary masterpiece but a cheery tale that will bring a smile to any reader. Good fodder as variety from highbrow reading, you cannot fail to like Noah and Harry whose relationship is put to the test here. But then I suspect anyone brave enough to have one with Noah would need a medal. Noah Could Never Give me a BEAUTIFULLY written YA gay book with a naive and innocent main character and you've got me hooked!
The two NOAH (Noah Can't Even and Noah Could Never) books were perfect in that regard.
In this second volume, Noah is finally official boyfriends with his amazing best friend Harry (Haz) who has had a big crush on our clueless titular character like forever it seems. (It took clueless Noah a LONG time to clue into that ; )
Noah's beloved grandmother and his bf Harry will get Noah through some very rough (but, in hindsight, very funny) times here mainly problems with Noah's ne'er do well father and mother. We also get to see Harry and Noah get even closer especially after a sometimes obnoxious (in a funny way) and flirty French exchange student who is not at all naive and innocent returns to his home in France.
I like to compare the two books in this series with the three in the MAPS trilogy by Nash Summers, a writer just as fabulous as Simon James Green even though the two separate series are in no way dependent on one another. MAPS is set in the United States while NOAH is set in Great Britain (as Noah frequently reminds his schoolmates, to great humorous effect, when they use American terminology and slang). Too, Noah's troubles go a bit deeper than Maps' issues. (Of course, to hear Maps tell it, that's not true at all ; )
And finally, Maps has no clue that he's innocent and naive while our Noah strongly suspects that HE is and spends much of his time and effort in these two wonderful books trying to be less so thereby leading to and/or aggravating 75% of his problems.
But all's well that ends well and Noah's story does end well.
If you like YA gay literature, either as a YA yourself or as an older adult wanting to revisit that scary yet wonderful time in your life, these two books are for you. I'm going to order them in hardcopy tonight. Noah Could Never