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

Sam and Ilsa's Last Hurrah

by Rachel Cohn and 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.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

3 of 5 stars

Share
This was not the book I was expecting. In fact, as I was listening to it, The Big Chill kept popping into my head.

It started off quite amusing. I was smiling and laughing, but once the dinner party started, the story took on a more serious and darker tone. Sam and Ilsa were not only saying goodbye to this glorious apartment, they were saying goodbye to high school, their old friends, and each other.

They touched upon so many issues and worries that many young people their age would be dealing with, and some of the discussions were quite deep. I just wished these serious portions were balanced out with some lighter parts, because I did find myself being consumed by the melancholy tone of the story. I will admit, that tears were shed towards the end, and the very end was quite strong.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 May, 2018: Finished reading
  • 21 May, 2018: Reviewed