Sunday 2 January 2011

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares review


Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
26th October 2010
Knopf  Books


“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. (Goodreads)


I think Dash and Lily might be the definition of cute. Seriously. But that might be because the only other book I've read where it's just a romance (albeit a funny one) is Anna, so I don't have much to compare it with, but, apart from Anna, obviously, this book is the definition of cute.


I really love Dash, and I know a lot of people think he's broody and all (well, he is a bit) but under all that broody pretence he's a really nice person. Or, at least he is in my opinion. I loved reading all of his chapters, and I loved his voice. In fact, I think I fell in love with him at about the point in which he used the word rapscallions. Anyone who uses the word rapscallions is a keeper in my book! :) And I loved reading Lily's bits as well because even though she was slightly childish at the beginning, I could feel the joy she had (most of the time, until she goes all Shrilly and all...) and I could totally relate to all of her Christmas joy (Cicely = Christmas freak). I also liked how they developed over the course of the book, and slowly came out of their shells more and more.


Dash and Lily really did make me want to go into my bookstore and see if I could find a red moleskine notebook with dares and whatnot in it. As I previously mentioned, so CUTE! And another thing I loved about it was the excessive use of brackets (or parenthesis) as you can probably tell, I love brackets. I use them all the time. Sometimes I use them so much I put more brackets inside the brackets and it all gets a bit confusing but I think they are my favourite form of punctuation (apart from ellipses and exclamation marks, of course [is it sad that I have a heirarchy of favourite kinds of punctuation? No, I don't think so...] see I told you it gets confusing ;p)


Anyhoo... Back to the actual book, I genuinely enjoyed Dash and Lily from the bottom of my heart, and I think it's a perfect Holiday romance that I will probably read again over winter next year (or this year, rather... [see, now my bracket usage is just ridiculous. me: *shakes fist at book* book: *puppy dog stare* me: *hugs Dash and Lily and takes it all back*]) 4.5 stars :D


(P.S Who thinks Collation should be a real film? *raises hand*)


(P.P.S Who wants a Snarly muppet? I DO! I like misfit stuffed toys/muppets. They're cute really :D)

6 comments:

  1. I've heard good things about this book so I'm looking forward to reading it sometime this year. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  2. I'm more of a "dash" person (the punctuation, not the character!) but I love parens too. I'm trying to cut down on exclamation points--I overuse them.

    Enjoyed your review.

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  3. Great Review! This book was so cute! And it was very good! I want a snarly puppey too!! LOL

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  4. Yay! Another fan of this AWESOME book. It truly was a "cute" read and highly enjoyable for any person who claims the adjective "bookish" as their own. Great review! Happy reading...

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  5. Yes- I do want Collation to be a film and I want a Snarly muppet! Those details in Dash & Lily made it really fun. Great book! Like you, I preferred Dash's chapters, but Lily also balances out his snarliness. My daughter and I reference Shrilly all the time.
    Enjoyed your review.

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