Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel CohnDavid Levithan Published by Random House Children's Books on October 26th 2010
Genres: Young Adult, Love & Romance, Holidays & Celebrations, Christmas & Advent, Social Issues, Friendship
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
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A whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist! “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.†16-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on her favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. Dash, in a bad mood during the holidays, happens to be the first guy to pick up the notebook and rise to its challenges.
What follows is a whirlwind romance as Dash and Lily trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations all across New York City. But can their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions, or will their scavenger hunt end in a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?
Co-written by Rachel Cohn (GINGERBREAD) and David Levithan, co-author of WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON with John Green (THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), DASH & LILY'S BOOK OF DARES is a love story that will have readers scouring bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.
From the Hardcover edition.
Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan left me with a void. YA, where are your Halloween books? Your Valentines books? Your holiday themed books? Readers, Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares is SO charming and festive! I want more. I am hungry for more holiday reads and this took my Scrooge-like spend nothing mood and made me feel more like when the Grinch’s heart swells.
The plot of Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan opens with Dash, penned by David Levithan, browsing the shelves of his favorite bookstore, The Strand, when he comes across a strange red moleskin notebook. Inside is a dare. Of course, he takes it, unleashing a game of Truth Or Dare, in the sense that the notebook contains dares BUT they write their truths within, between him and Lily – a softhearted dog lover who is full of Christmas cheer. The dares take the two throughout NYC and really bring out the best of the city.
On Dash: At first, I was like ‘what a pretentious twat’, because Dash is constantly using big words and calling himself things like Erudite. BUT, then we readers see Dash is just in love with words and likes to use them. He is a bit snarly, but there’s a reason for that. ALSO his friend Boomer deserves a shout out, because he is awesome.
On Lily: Oh my goodness! Lily could have been my friend in high school. She’s the weird girl with this zest for life. I love that. I love that she isn’t jaded. Also, she has this big huge family which I could totally relate to, because I have one as well. All the scenes with her Great Aunt Ida are worth reading – twice. Right, so with Lily she learns this sort of courage through the red notebook dares and to not be afraid to leave the protective cloak of her family. I like that. I like seeing her change.
If I wasn’t reading a library copy of Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares, I would commit the cardinal crime of dog earring SO many pages. I think David Levithan and Rachel Cohn are a winning combination. I thought the voices were believable once I got past my reluctance (see pretentious twat above). ALSO I am going to buy Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares so I can trot it out every Christmas and read it.
Disclosure: Borrowed from my local library.
Other Reviews of Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan:
Ten Cent Notes
Anna Reads
One More Page
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Oh my own copy of Dash and Lily has so many dog-ears that I know my friends who don’t like that would be horrified. :p
I REALLY want to dog ear it so bad but I can’t hurt library property like that!
I use mini Post-Its, which have taken over my copy of Dash and Lily. Must say, I was surprised by how much I loved this book since I wasn’t a huge fan of Nick and Norah or Naomi and Ely.
I use mini post its on review books, but I should maybe use them on library books but just take them off before returning.
Fabulous review my dear! I love that you loved this book so much. It is definitely a favorite of mine… I may need to pick my copy off the shelf & do a re-read this Christmas 🙂
Why thank you Ginger! I think you should totally re-read it, just to get in the festive spirit!
You know I’ve never really jumped for these two authors so I never gave this book a look, but now I’m thinking I need to get this one! It sounds like a good read and I also love some holiday based stories 🙂
I haven’t read the other books that Levithan and Cohn wrote together, but Dash and Lily is really charming and great for the season.
This one is on my to read list for Christmas , thanks!
Yay! I am glad to hear that 🙂
I really, really, really want to read this book! Now to find a way to get it into my hands… *smiles* Great review!
Check the library they may have it! I was so excited to see that mine did 😀
This book sounds so good! I had never really heard much aabout it until recently. I love holiday-themed books. This is one I will definitely have to check out. Also, Lily sounds like the type of character I would absolutely adore. Great review!
Lily is quite wonderful! She’s very sweet and kind and my very favorite sort of character.
I can’t wait to read this one – I started it last year but for some reason got distracted and put it down. Everyone keeps telling me of it’s brilliance though. 🙂
It’s so awesome! You should def pick it back up!
I’ve never heard of this book before this year and now it seems to be raved about everywhere! I love the premise anyway but who can resist a bit of extra festive cheer?! I’ll be hunting this down even more desperately to read just before Christmas 🙂
I think a big part of that is it’s now in paperback and plus I think people like to read with the seasons and it’s one of the few seasonal YA reads. 🙂
Yay- this is one of my favorite holiday reads ever! Also, next year try out the audio version which is also great. Fab review!
There’s an audio version? WHAT! I can’t wait to try that next year 😀
I agree so much that this book was super cute. I’ve visited most of the places that Dash and Lily go off too so it was even more fun knowing where they were headed off to. I never look at the Strand the same way again after reading this book! LOVE.
I need a holiday read like this one this year.
That’s SO cool that you’ve been to all the places Dash And Lily went to. I’ve only been to a few – namely The Strand and Max Brenner.
I think you should definitely re-read this!
This really is a perfect Christmas read, isn’t it? I read it around this time last year and I had a lot of fun with it. If there’s enough time, I’ll try to squeeze in a reread but December has been really crazy so far and I haven’t even had much time to read (let alone reread).
It really is a fabulous holiday read! I’m lucky in that my December has been rather quiet and I am not complaining about that at all!
I have a copy of this but haven’t had a chance to read it yet… Maybe I’m going to have to try and squeak this one in before Christmas! I’ve read their other co-written books, which I liked (but didn’t love) but the plot of this one appeals to me more than the other two, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. 🙂 So glad that you loved it so much! 🙂
YES! Read this before Christmas it will probably only take you a few hours to read, plus it’s very lighthearted 😀
Must. Read. This. NOW! It sounds so great! It’s one of those books that I’ve heard of but it somehow always gets lost in the sea of books in my head. So glad that you reminded me with this fab review! I think I need to pick it up JUST to read about Lily. She sounds FANTASTIC. I’m girl-crushing already! Hooray for Holiday YA 🙂
Yo, Lily is worthy of a girlcrush, she’s such a good person and a good soul.
I love this book! It made me so happy to read it. How great would it be to find a notebook like that?
I bet it would be totally life changing if you are game for it, or really awesome!
I cannot stand the Pretentious Twat, either. I know enough of those in real life, why on earth would I want to read about one, amirite? But! Good to know he’s not that way throughout. And that I need to read this book soon! Especially when it gets all snowy and lovely outside, not unlike that cover!
I KNEW SO MANY COLLEGE! OH my goodness! So annoying. I definitely did not care for Dash in the beginning, but my heart really opened up to him because he turns out to be fantastic.
And yeah, SNOW is totally on my Christmas milk carton this year.
I want to dog ear everything that David Levithan writes. I love him an unhealthy amount…This book was fantastic! It’s a great holiday read. I’m happy it made your Grinch-y heart swell. 😉 Have you read Nick & Norah? I LOVED that one even more.
OMG I have wanted to read this one so bad. I might break down and use the amazon giftcards I have been hoarding for this book, after I check my local library. Thanks for the review.