Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Knopf Books for Young Readers (2010), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 320 pages
Description
Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: Very LeFreak has a problem: she's a crazed technology addict. Very can't get enough of her iPhone, laptop, IMs, text messages, whatever. If there's any chance the incoming message, call, text, or photo might be from her supersecret online crush, she's going to answer, no matter what. Nothing is too important: sleep, friends in mid-conversation, class, a meeting with the dean about academic probation. Soon enough, though, this obsession costs Very everything and everyone. Can she learn to block out the noise so she can finally hear her heart? Rachel Cohn makes her Knopf solo debut with this funny, touching, and surely recognizable story about a girl and the technology habit that threatens everything. From the Hardcover edition..… (more)
Media reviews
Booklist
Cohn creates a wondrous, sometimes breathtaking character with Very, a wholly believable modern-day multitasker who is unabashedly sexual. That’s why the second half of the book is something of a disappointment
School Library Journal
Very's unique take on the world brings plenty of humor and a vicarious ride through racy modern college life
User reviews
LibraryThing member stephxsu
Columbia University freshman Very LeFreak is a vivacious, confident girl, the life of the party and eternal schemer of outrageous activities. True, her busyness makes her rather scatterbrained, non-academically inclined, and a bit of a heartbreaker. But that doesn’t really matter, because her
VERY LEFREAK is an unfortunate disappointment by a highly respectable author. It contains the chatty, witty, and pop culture reference-loaded writing of her previous books, but lacks cohesion and the ability to make us empathize with the characters.
Very is an appealing character because her thoughts—and therefore her narration—are refreshingly fast-paced, modern, and slightly scattered in the way that many 21st-century teens are, whether we admit it or not. She is unlike any character I’ve encountered in literature before, with her ever-ready repertoire of pop culture, random tangents, and connections we’d never make ourselves, but which seem perfectly logical coming from Very’s mind.
However, the fact that we are in Very’s head so much makes it extremely difficult for us to grasp what is going on in the story. Very’s observations are certainly interesting, but there is a lack of narrative cohesion tying together Very with the people in her life. The little we glean of Very’s friends is so colored by Very’s desires for who she wants them to be that we don’t get even close to a solid picture of who they are. While I understand that this may in fact be the manifestation of the typical limitations of fiction writing—everything we know about the characters, we know through a biased lens—the paradox doesn’t completely translate into reader enjoyability and comprehension here.
Similarly, there seemed to be a lack of plot in VERY LEFREAK. The book is so much a dissection of Very’s thought processes that it oftentimes forgets to effectively move the story along via relevant events, conversations, and even overarching themes. The technology addiction that the book’s synopsis claims Very suffers from actually doesn’t even play a major role in the book—which disappointed me, as I thought it was an interesting and pertinent topic that could’ve better been explored. I read about half of the book before realizing that absolutely nothing pertaining to character growth had happened yet. One can get away with that in an adult book, but for YA fiction, that just might be the kiss of death.
Overall, I believe VERY LEFREAK might be an interesting read for writers and academics curious about issues regarding fiction’s metalanguage—are the supporting characters really incohesive, or is that just a product of the intensely close third-person narration of this book? Can a story be a story without character development or plot?—but I fear it may be a struggle for the YA audience it’s being marketed at. Appreciators of well-written, character-driven novels might give this one a go and find that they enjoy it immensely.
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heart’s taken by El Virus, the mysterious man she “met” on the Internet and is madly in love with. Trouble is, Very hasn’t heard from El Virus in weeks and months, despite the fact that she is constantly checking her phone, email, and IMs to see if he’s contacted her. When her technology addiction begins to seriously negatively affect her real life, Very decides to go on a mission to discover the whereabouts of El Virus.VERY LEFREAK is an unfortunate disappointment by a highly respectable author. It contains the chatty, witty, and pop culture reference-loaded writing of her previous books, but lacks cohesion and the ability to make us empathize with the characters.
Very is an appealing character because her thoughts—and therefore her narration—are refreshingly fast-paced, modern, and slightly scattered in the way that many 21st-century teens are, whether we admit it or not. She is unlike any character I’ve encountered in literature before, with her ever-ready repertoire of pop culture, random tangents, and connections we’d never make ourselves, but which seem perfectly logical coming from Very’s mind.
However, the fact that we are in Very’s head so much makes it extremely difficult for us to grasp what is going on in the story. Very’s observations are certainly interesting, but there is a lack of narrative cohesion tying together Very with the people in her life. The little we glean of Very’s friends is so colored by Very’s desires for who she wants them to be that we don’t get even close to a solid picture of who they are. While I understand that this may in fact be the manifestation of the typical limitations of fiction writing—everything we know about the characters, we know through a biased lens—the paradox doesn’t completely translate into reader enjoyability and comprehension here.
Similarly, there seemed to be a lack of plot in VERY LEFREAK. The book is so much a dissection of Very’s thought processes that it oftentimes forgets to effectively move the story along via relevant events, conversations, and even overarching themes. The technology addiction that the book’s synopsis claims Very suffers from actually doesn’t even play a major role in the book—which disappointed me, as I thought it was an interesting and pertinent topic that could’ve better been explored. I read about half of the book before realizing that absolutely nothing pertaining to character growth had happened yet. One can get away with that in an adult book, but for YA fiction, that just might be the kiss of death.
Overall, I believe VERY LEFREAK might be an interesting read for writers and academics curious about issues regarding fiction’s metalanguage—are the supporting characters really incohesive, or is that just a product of the intensely close third-person narration of this book? Can a story be a story without character development or plot?—but I fear it may be a struggle for the YA audience it’s being marketed at. Appreciators of well-written, character-driven novels might give this one a go and find that they enjoy it immensely.
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LibraryThing member wsquared
Columbia University freshman Veronica, better known as Very, has a technology problem. Sure, she could focus on her schoolwork and her work-study job, but she’d rather organize killer parties and ridiculous flashmobs using the social networking site she created with her dorm-mates. Oh, and
I really wanted to like this book. Rachel Cohn wrote half of one of my favorite YA books, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and the introduction to Very reminded me a bit of Norah — a sarcastic music lover with a romantic side. Unfortunately, I just never connected with the character. She was a little too caustic and Cohn packed her with too many issues to deal with in 300 pages. The side characters were one-sided and came in and out of the narrative at strange intervals. Plus, I found the technology addiction plot a little eye-rolling and fear that it will be outdated quickly. This could be a fun diversion for older teens (also note: plenty of drugs and sex), but I doubt it will have much staying power.
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there’s the alluring El Virus, a fellow technophile she’s been flirting with online. All the fun has to come to an end, however, when El Virus suddenly disappears and her college friends stage an intervention that ends up with her in technology rehab.I really wanted to like this book. Rachel Cohn wrote half of one of my favorite YA books, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and the introduction to Very reminded me a bit of Norah — a sarcastic music lover with a romantic side. Unfortunately, I just never connected with the character. She was a little too caustic and Cohn packed her with too many issues to deal with in 300 pages. The side characters were one-sided and came in and out of the narrative at strange intervals. Plus, I found the technology addiction plot a little eye-rolling and fear that it will be outdated quickly. This could be a fun diversion for older teens (also note: plenty of drugs and sex), but I doubt it will have much staying power.
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LibraryThing member Euphoria13
So i just finished reading my ARC of Very LeFreak. One major problem concerning this review- My ARC is missing the last 100 pages. I wish that the pages were not missing because i don't like to read a book and not be able to finish it (Unless it was a bad book) This leads me to my "Half Review" So
It took a long time for me to get into this book. I really did not enjoy this story (from what i read) i had to skip a few parts to get into some diologue! Too much non-diologue going on throughout the book. I do not like the character of Very- She's too much! She really doesn't mind being a whore. I do understand that her mother died and it had some affect on the girl who she once was (A preserved academically smart girl ) But still, Very is just too loose and i guess stupid.
Maybe i am judging this book too hard and i should read the rest before i continue rambling but i don't have any intentions on buying a real copy of this book. I'm not eager to find out how it ends.(
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Very LeFreak is about a girl named Veronica who is just what her self made nickname is- A FREAK. The girl has a really wild side...actually i think that is the only side she might have, until she is force to check into ESCAPE, a rehab center for people with "Technology Addictions" Very loves music, she cannot live without her ipod/iphone not to mention buying uselss things which leads her to max out her credit card. But her major must have is her laptop. The machine that is the gateway to her cyber world, where she holds s "passionate fling" with El Virus. It took a long time for me to get into this book. I really did not enjoy this story (from what i read) i had to skip a few parts to get into some diologue! Too much non-diologue going on throughout the book. I do not like the character of Very- She's too much! She really doesn't mind being a whore. I do understand that her mother died and it had some affect on the girl who she once was (A preserved academically smart girl ) But still, Very is just too loose and i guess stupid.
Maybe i am judging this book too hard and i should read the rest before i continue rambling but i don't have any intentions on buying a real copy of this book. I'm not eager to find out how it ends.(
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LibraryThing member mhg123
For older teens, some rather explicit scenes.
LibraryThing member Manderiffic
In Rachel Cohn's newest book, Very Lefreak, we meet a girl named Veronica who calls herself Very. She is a party girl with an addiction to all things technological. Very is the girl everyone wants to know, wants to see and even wants to be. There is more to Very than her online and her party life
This is the second book I've read from Rachel Cohn and I was not disappointed. Though this book, was a bit more sexual then I would have preferred in a young adult novel, it was still a great story. Cohn has an amazing talent at writing characters that are believable and real. She uses languages that is true to the age groups she portrays, and her scenarios are realistic and current. This book is filled with internet jargon, places, and things that today's teenagers experience on a daily basis. I loved the references to Iphones, social networks, and play lists. Cohn definitely created a world where her readers can relate. The best part was that I never got the feeling that anything was lacking research or was not lived by Very. I also loved the depth of Very that you do not get in books like this. Though she is very superficial and bland on the surface, she also has this deep past and has emotions that she has tried to cover up. This is a great book for a generation living in this century. I would recommend this book for an older teen crowd because of all the grown up language and sexual content, but it still a great read. Rachel Cohn never disappoints and with Very LeFreak she has won me again.
Review originally posted on my blog Draw A Blank.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Knopf Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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college girl personas show, but will she ever learn to be just Veronica? Things in her real life get out of hand and Very is sent off to techno-rehab at a place called ESCAPE. The story then follows her steps to "recovery" and who she meets along the way. Very Lefreak is a joyride through Very's social life, personal life, and eventually her struggle to make it through. Will she make it out alive? Or will her past come back to haunt her? It is up to you to find out.This is the second book I've read from Rachel Cohn and I was not disappointed. Though this book, was a bit more sexual then I would have preferred in a young adult novel, it was still a great story. Cohn has an amazing talent at writing characters that are believable and real. She uses languages that is true to the age groups she portrays, and her scenarios are realistic and current. This book is filled with internet jargon, places, and things that today's teenagers experience on a daily basis. I loved the references to Iphones, social networks, and play lists. Cohn definitely created a world where her readers can relate. The best part was that I never got the feeling that anything was lacking research or was not lived by Very. I also loved the depth of Very that you do not get in books like this. Though she is very superficial and bland on the surface, she also has this deep past and has emotions that she has tried to cover up. This is a great book for a generation living in this century. I would recommend this book for an older teen crowd because of all the grown up language and sexual content, but it still a great read. Rachel Cohn never disappoints and with Very LeFreak she has won me again.
Review originally posted on my blog Draw A Blank.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Knopf Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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LibraryThing member helgagrace
A technology-addicted Columbia freshman finds relief from her hedonistic party-girl lifestyle at ESCAPE (Emergency Services for Computer-Addicted Persons Everywhere). For the first half of the book, Very (aka Veronica) is Addicted to Technology (brand and product names and song titles dropped
I had several problems with the way this book was written. Not the premise, because technology addiction is certainly a very current and realistic topic, especially for the demographic at which this book is aimed. I have lately been considering my own level of addiction (which is fairly high, but not yet smartphone-enabled) and whether or not I should take a periodic break. Nevertheless, the way Cohn handles it is not very subtle, involving Very coming to a series of realizations with her therapist that spell out the message in technicolor letters: "In therapy, Very had made the connection that perhaps her overdependence on technology had been her way of not dealing with other, deeper pains. It wasn't about the technology so much as it was about something to do, to stay busy all the time, and to not connect to what was really in her heart."
I feel like most readers are intelligent enough to draw their own conclusions along this line, given the numerous illustrations of the way Very uses technology to avoid deeper interaction. This is not to say that Cohn paints a picture in which technology = bad, the discussion is certainly more nuanced.
In addition, I felt that the writing itself was often trying too hard to be hip, or cutesy, or edgy, and usually just ended up being over the top. For example, this character introduction: "Jean-Wayne's parents, a French-Canadian artist mother and Vancouver-based Chinese businessman father, were both Francophiles and cowboy movie aficionados; they'd met in a Montreal patisserie next door to a revival house cinema where they'd both been to see a matinee showing of Stagecoach, starring John Wayne. They'd named their hybrid boy in tribute to their hybrid passions."
Trying too hard. And the last sentence is unnecessary, since the reader could have gathered that from the previous information.
Yet somehow, despite not liking the writing style, or Very, or the fact that the action was agonizingly slow until Very made it to ESCAPE, I still ended up liking this book. Why? Because, like Very [spoiler alert!], I fell in love with Jennifer/Lavinia. I am a sucker for a sweet romance.
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madly), which makes her treat most people, especially her sweet and caring roommate Jennifer (whom Very insists on calling Lavinia), like shit. She also maintains an obsessive and secret online relationship with a mysterious persona known only as "El Virus," whose disappearance from the online world serves as a catalyst to her breakdown and exile to ESCAPE. In the second half: therapy, self-awareness, love, redemption. There are several reasons for Very's technology obsession, primarily a globe-trotting childhood with her (now dead) pyromaniac mother, and Cohn doesn't shy away from tackling difficult issues such as intimacy and sexuality.I had several problems with the way this book was written. Not the premise, because technology addiction is certainly a very current and realistic topic, especially for the demographic at which this book is aimed. I have lately been considering my own level of addiction (which is fairly high, but not yet smartphone-enabled) and whether or not I should take a periodic break. Nevertheless, the way Cohn handles it is not very subtle, involving Very coming to a series of realizations with her therapist that spell out the message in technicolor letters: "In therapy, Very had made the connection that perhaps her overdependence on technology had been her way of not dealing with other, deeper pains. It wasn't about the technology so much as it was about something to do, to stay busy all the time, and to not connect to what was really in her heart."
I feel like most readers are intelligent enough to draw their own conclusions along this line, given the numerous illustrations of the way Very uses technology to avoid deeper interaction. This is not to say that Cohn paints a picture in which technology = bad, the discussion is certainly more nuanced.
In addition, I felt that the writing itself was often trying too hard to be hip, or cutesy, or edgy, and usually just ended up being over the top. For example, this character introduction: "Jean-Wayne's parents, a French-Canadian artist mother and Vancouver-based Chinese businessman father, were both Francophiles and cowboy movie aficionados; they'd met in a Montreal patisserie next door to a revival house cinema where they'd both been to see a matinee showing of Stagecoach, starring John Wayne. They'd named their hybrid boy in tribute to their hybrid passions."
Trying too hard. And the last sentence is unnecessary, since the reader could have gathered that from the previous information.
Yet somehow, despite not liking the writing style, or Very, or the fact that the action was agonizingly slow until Very made it to ESCAPE, I still ended up liking this book. Why? Because, like Very [spoiler alert!], I fell in love with Jennifer/Lavinia. I am a sucker for a sweet romance.
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LibraryThing member youngadultish
“Very LeFreak” by Rachel Cohn (320 pages) had such an interesting premise: Witty college student deals with technology addiction. Hilarity ensues, right? Well, not exactly.
The main character, Very, is well, to put it nicely, VERY, VERY annoying.
I realize that chatacters have to have flaws to
There are even characters that I actually enjoyed in the book, if only they were the title characters.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this book does have some redeeming qualities. It had some laugh-out-loud funny parts. I couldn’t get enough of her grandma! And … yeah.
And I am not sure how it went so wrong. I lived “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist!” Guess Cohn is just better as a team.
Bottom line: It is OK. It is a quick read, so at least there’s that.
The main character, Very, is well, to put it nicely, VERY, VERY annoying.
I realize that chatacters have to have flaws to
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grow and everything, but jeez!There are even characters that I actually enjoyed in the book, if only they were the title characters.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this book does have some redeeming qualities. It had some laugh-out-loud funny parts. I couldn’t get enough of her grandma! And … yeah.
And I am not sure how it went so wrong. I lived “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist!” Guess Cohn is just better as a team.
Bottom line: It is OK. It is a quick read, so at least there’s that.
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LibraryThing member lindap69
there will be those who care enough about Very to finish the book, but I am not one of them
LibraryThing member Dairyqueen84
Very LeFreak is really Veronica, but even her mother said that she is very Very. She is in second semester of her freshman year at Columbia but may be in the process of failing out because of her addiction to all things technological. Since coming to school, she has endeared herself to her fellow
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dorm mates by throwing wild parties, organizing an online forum called The Grid, coordinating flash mobs around campus. She is living beyond her means by going online shopping and maxing out her credit card. Her friends stage an intervention with the help of Dean Dean and the resident advisor Dreabie or Debby. She winds up going to rehab at Emergency Services for Computer-Addicted Persons or ESCAPE where she has to give up her iPhone and all other technology including electricity. Cohn captures the atmosphere of how technology speeds up life and so-called multitasking with technology can lead to distraction keenly and there are many laugh-out-loud moments in the book. Events toward to end of the book are hard to believe. This read is definitely for more mature readers as the language and sexual content can get graphic. Show Less
Awards
ALA Rainbow Book List (Selection — 2011)
Original publication date
2010-01-12
Physical description
320 p.; 6.83 inches
ISBN
0375857583 / 9780375857584
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