BOOK REVIEW: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Released: October 11, 2011 (Ember)
Author Links (Rachel): WEB / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
Author Links (David): WEB / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK
Source: Library

Challenge: 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
Buy Now From: Amazon

“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.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

My Thoughts

When I started reading Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, I couldn’t believe the amount of language that was in it. Not foul language, but just language. Words. Lots of words. Words that made me wish I read the title on my Kobo so that I could use the dictionary function. Or, words that made me wish I had a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, just so I could look up all of their etymologies.

Being someone who rarely looks up words in the dictionary while reading, I considered the fact that I even thought to do so a small accomplishment.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares is about Lily and Dash. Obviously. Lily leaves a red notebook with clues in it and a dare to the person who wishes to undertake it — preferably someone who would be well suited for her. Dash finds her notebook and the book takes off!

I really liked this book. I thought it was smart, funny, quirky, romantic, and humorous. Dash and Lily were perfect characters, both somewhat outcasts in the fact that they weren’t so much different, but dared to just be themselves. I enjoyed how the book was pretty much only about them — even though there were other characters in the novel, it was strictly focused on Dash and Lily.

The characters were wonderful. I liked how Dash and Lily weren’t the same kind of person — in fact, they were both so different from one another. Different personalities, different styles — but it just goes to show that differences don’t necessarily drive two people apart.

Now, to me, the whole novel wasn’t perfection. There was at least one scene in it that was just cheesy, not quite true-to-life. I also didn’t enjoy how the parental figures of Dash and Lily seemed a little too absent, and that they were almost silly any not like normal parents. For many things that happened in this novel, most kids would probably be grounded, but the teenagers seemed to be full of so much angst and the parents just accepted it.

I’ve heard that Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have wrote another amazing book called Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist — I’ve never read it, but it’s definitely going on my reading list. I would say if you like books that are just a little different, full of can’t-help-but-smile romance, and characters that are worth cheering for, give Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares a try – I dare you!