Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Reading Group: Middle School+
Reading Group: Middle School+
Personal Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
Given Summary: “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.
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?
Cover: The cover of this book shows a street corner with the title as the street name, the authors names on a one way sign, the cross/don't cross sign has a heart in it, and the out of focus snow looks like hearts. In all honestly, for me it's all a bit much. I like the paperback version's cover, it's simple and cute, but this one just seems a little over the top for me.
My Review: Personally, I couldn't really get into this book. I thought it would be perfect because it takes place at christmastime and christmas is on Sunday, but I was slightly disappointed. I loved the dares, I thought they were super cute, and I loved the whole concept of passing the notebook back and forth and getting to know someone in such a peculiar way before actually meeting them. I just didn't like the characters themselves. Dash was kind of pretentious, which I found to be super annoying. He (and some other characters too) threw around big words just because he could and I just got irritated with it. And Lily was a little too woe-is-me for my liking. I get that she was disappointed that her christmas wasn't going the way she wanted and I think we would all feel that way, but she was going on these crazy dares and having the best time of her life, which she wouldn't be doing if her family was home. Also, they were supposed to be sixteen-years-old, but they didn't seem it to me. They honestly could have been twelve and I think the story would have been the same. Maybe this book just has a younger audience and if I read it as a freshman in high school I would have liked it better. I loved the concept, but I wish it was better executed I guess. All that being said, this book was definitely not the worst book I've ever read and it was a quick read that did put me slightly more into the holiday spirit. I did like how they referenced Franny and Zooey and The Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because I just read Franny and Zooey a couple of weeks ago in class and The Mixed-up Files was one of my favorites as a kid. It was nice to know those books because I knew what they were talking about when they were referenced. Dash and Lily did sort of remind me of Franny and Zooey and maybe that's another reason I didn't really like this book was because I didn't really like that one. I don't know maybe one of you can give me better insight and try o change my opinion.
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