Friday 16 November 2012

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Pages - 260
Published by MIRA Ink on the 5th October 2012
Imagine this:
You're in your favourite bookstore, scanning the shelves. You get to the section where a favourite author's books reside, and there, nestled in comfortably between the incredibly familiar spines, sits a red notebook.
What do you do?
Goodreads Summary
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.
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This is one of the books that you find yourself head butting a door over - cursing yourself that you didn't read it before. Within the first few paragraphs I was completely hooked and totally in love with Lily and Dash. This book is cute and sugary! Like a tasty cinnamon swirl. 
The book moves back and forth between the two characters which were written by two different authors, giving it a really authentic feel. 
Lily is adorably quirky and blossoming in geekiness and you cannot help but love her, desperate for her to finally find true love. She isn't perfect, in fact her imperfections make her even more a delightful character. She panics... a lot but Dash becomes her calming influence. There is a strong contrast between Lily's tight, protective family and Dash's absent and carefree one. It felt like they were the missing link for the other one.
This is a bit like the teen version of the legendary film Serendipity,with John Cusack and Kate Beckensale as the characters leave messages for each other in various places around New York before they ever meet. As the story progresses, you are desperate for fate to play Cupid and finally bring these adorable characters together so they realise how wonderful the other person  is, something the reader picks up on really early in the book. 
I loved the whole idea behind the red notebook, it was as though the characters were going to confession, they revealed their deepest secrets to each other. By the time they actually met they knew each other so well - it was utterly beautiful. 
The final chapters were awe inspiring. The lengths that Dash and Lily go to  in order to find that perfect date, were just so romantic. This book is just bursting with love - it could be retitled - How To Find The Love Of Your Life Through The Art Of Words. But that might be too long and boring, so...
Stick with the original! 
For a real YA Christmas cracker, buy this! I can assure you I shall be putting  this book in some teen's Christmas stockings this year!

5 comments:

  1. I agree with you, the two characters' voices are really well differentiated. I'd back the Christmas cracker idea too. Although, who says just for teens... :)

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  2. I really enjoyed this book too, it was so much fun to read!

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  3. Man, I loved this book! It was so sweet and I devoured it in a few hours. Glad you loved it too.

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  4. What a fun premise for a book. I bet it would make a great movie too!

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  5. I'm going to read my lovely hardback as this sounds just amazing <3

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