What's Hot? Books.

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

Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
Author: Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 26th 2010
Goodreads 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.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the 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.

{ Review }

Apologies, again, for my long absence - it's a busy time but I'm trying :(

I've been wanting to read this for a long time now, the cover is just too cute to resist! It couldn't be more appropriate that I decided to pick this book up again at Christmas time because that's exactly when it's set. If you're inspired by my review to read this fab book, then now, like right now, is definitely the time to do it! I have heap of revision to be doing, but I just couldn't stop reading this book. (I think this sentence may quite possibly have made its way into just about every review I've written) In fact, I've been going to bed at around 3:30 a.m. every night because I just can't stop reading and as a result I am now extremely ill, but - it was worth it.

So apart from the uber cute cover, I was also drawn into the unique plot line. This didn't seem like your average teen romance, and I was right. Dash and Lily's story begins when Dash stumbles across Lily's notebook, wedged on a shelf at his favourite bookstore, next to his favourite book. Inside, he finds a list of things to do, if he dares, which of course, he does, and so their special correspondence begins. I suppose its a bit idealistic to think that if you left a notebook hanging around with a list of things to do inside it that the perfect guy for you would stumble across it, but somehow this story seems like it could be real.

The other great thing about this book is that it's quite relateable, I would say, to the average reader of this review. Both Lily and Dash are misfits who are much more comfortable with writing things down rather than saying things out loud and that just makes everything between them seem much more real, despite the fact that this story is really quite unrealistic (picture a dog running into a pram, a baby flying into the air, a teenage girl leaping for (and catching) the baby, and then a few hours spent in a jail cell).

This wasn't one of those teenage stories where you fall in love with the protagonist because he sounds so dreamy and hot, it's one where you learn to love and appreciate every single character because they've all got a part to play. That's not to say that I didn't think that Dash sounded dreamy and hot - because he did. You find out a lot about the main characters through their exchanges in the notebook and whilst they don't actually meet each other until about three quarters of the way through the book, you can feel the connection between the two. I love the realism that both characters had. Neither of them were the swooning romantic sort, but the practical and thoughtful sort who understood that at the end of the day, it was just a notebook full of dares and perhaps there was nothing more to it.

I think that the main reason that I enjoyed this book so much is that I'm secretly waiting for something exciting like this to happen to me. I wish that my parents would leave me alone for a week over the Christmas holidays, leaving me to do whatever the hell I want, when I want, including secret rendez-vous with mysterious bookshop boys. Alas, I don't think this will ever happen to me.

This story makes you think about what you're really looking for in that special someone and warns you not to get too caught up in the idea of someone, which, in my opinion, is a very important lesson. Whilst this book was exciting and daring, it was also calming. Now that I've finished reading it, I feel like a sort of serene peace has settled over me which is strange. (It also cured me of my review-writers block which is another plus). So all in all, this was an absolutely fantastic Christmas-New Years read that I'd recommend for any teenage girl, I guarantee that you'll fall in love with this story!