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Home » Authors, Doll Mona Leigh, Rachel Cohn & David Levithan, Reviewers, Reviews

Review: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Submitted by on October 8, 2012 – 4:00 am3 Comments

Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Title: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares
Release: October 2010
Reviewer: Mona
Source: Netgalley
Purchase: | Book Depository

“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.”

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?

Disgruntled because her parents went to Fiji over the Christmas holidays for their 25th anniversary, Lily’s at loose ends and feeling lost. Her brother Langston’s no help, because he and Benny are in love and spend all their time together. Langston tells Lily she needs a boyfriend, but everyone knows ‘quality’ boyfriends are hard to come by. So Langston and Benny devise a plan to find someone for her, and thus begins a literary scavenger hunt.

Dash’s parents are divorced. He’d rather spend Christmas alone than with either of them, so he tells each of them he’s staying with the other. They’ll never find out, because they haven’t spoken in years. To kill time, he goes to his favorite bookstore where he finds Lily’s notebook. The challenges intrigue him and he ends up playing along.

Lily and Dash almost fail to meet, and when they do, Lily nearly blows the whole thing. The ‘scavenger’ hunt is interesting, and so are the characters. Lily’s quirky beyond belief, going so far as to walk around New York wearing two different shoes in hopes Dash will see her (because he possesses the mate to one shoe).

This isn’t your ordinary YA love story. The characters are overachievers with awesome vocabularies, and because of their extensive literary backgrounds, they sometimes they sound as though they just stepped out of the 19th century. The hunt kept me interested, but Dash’s personality definitely resonated with me.

Mona's first grade teacher, Mrs. Stanford, gifted her with the love of reading. For that, she'll always live in her heart. But reading took over Mona's life, eclipsing everything but playing sports, and has continued to be a huge part of her life. Although she has always written poetry and stories for her self, last year she decided to try her hand at writing fiction. She is currently editing her first urban fantasy and hopes to have it ready for the agent by summer's end. Besides reading, Mona loves speed in the form of fast cars. The faster, the better! In her next life, she plans to drive race cars (or whatever happens to be their replacement in the future) all while reading and writing. She has also taken up rune reading, and find it to be disturbingly accurate and exciting.
Doll Mona Leigh

3 Comments »

  • Lauren (Starving for Books) says:

    This book is adorable. I <3 David Levithan

    Reply to this comment »
  • [...] On Monday Mona reviewed Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan “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? READ REVIEW [...]

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