Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Authors: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 272
Release date: October 26th 2010
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
Find out more: Amazon | Goodreads


Goodreads description:

“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them... turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.” 
Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a shelf in her favourite bookshop, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept them. But is Dash that right guy? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
From the authors of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist comes a warm and funny story that will leave you perusing bookshop shelves, looking for a red notebook of your own.

First sentence:

Imagine this: You're standing in your favorite bookstore, scanning the shelves.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Every year I need to read one Christmas-y book to get into a Christmas-y mood. And since I loved Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's first collaboration, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (review), and the cover of this one is adorable, I thought I'd give it a shot. And it definitely worked - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is the perfect book for the holidays!


I love the whole idea for this book. The idea of the notebook is adorable, and I love how it got them into such random, crazy, hilarious situations that are so much fun to read about. Yes, it's cheesy and not all that realistic, but the whole story is just so adorable. I also loved how bookish this book is. (And yes, I do realize how stupid that sounds.) All the bookish references are all really interesting to read about.


I have to say, though, I like the notebook part better than the part where the actual Dash and Lily meet, just because I think their notebook-versions have better chemistry. They're still cute together, but they're not all that special without the notebook-storyline. Some parts towards the end are kind of slow, and I was disappointed by the ending.


The characters are what make this book work. I loved Lily - she's easy to relate to, shy and awkward but totally lovable. Dash's a great character too, so smart and sweet and amazing... A little too amazing, even - I can't imagine anyone as perfect as Dash actually existing. Nevertheless, they're both quirky characters with honest and entertaining voices. The secondary characters are great, too - it's hilarious to read about how their entire extended families helped them, and Boomer is just plain awesome.


Dash & Lily's Book of Dares made me want to go to New York so bad - I wanted to check out all of the places the two of them visited, the Strand and Max Brenner, especially. Max Brenner sounds so cool - they have chocolate syringes! I googled Max Brenner and they really do sell chocolate syringes! Getting off topic here, but I so need to go there.


Anyways, back on topic... Another thing I appreciated about Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is that  there isn't as much swearing in this one as there is in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. The use of swear words is really overdone in Nick & Norah, in my opinion, and I'm glad it isn't like that in Dash & Lily.


One complaint I have, though, is the structure. The chapters are pretty long, and it goes back and forth between Dash and Lily's points of view. And since the chapters are longer, it'd sometimes be one day in this chapter and be the day before that in the next one, which got kind of confusing in parts.


Despite the problems I had with the structure and some slow parts towards the end, I definitely recommend it - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is an adorably bookish romance that will warm your heart in the cold winter time!