Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan
Genre: Fiction/ Young Adult

Edition: http://tinyurl.com/mft5tdl

 

Synopsis:

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. At the urge of her lucky-in-love brother, sixteen-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of dares on her favourite bookshop shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept. Curious, snarky Dash isn't one to back down from a challenge - and the Book of Dares is the perfect distraction he's been looking for. As they send each other on a scavenger hunt across Manhattan, they're falling for each other on paper. But finding out if their real selves share their on-page chemistry could be their biggest dare yet...

 

Summary:

A quirky love story meets treasure hunt. Dash and Lily are two opposites brought together by their curiosity and love for literature.

 

My thoughts:

I have mixed thoughts on this book. It is not my 'usual' read, and was read on the recommendation of my best friend, who then proceeded to buy it me for Christmas so I couldn't possibly say no!(These kinds of friends are the best friends.)

It was a breath of fresh air, in the sense of the concept behind the story. A young girl trying to find love amongst the shelves of a bookstore, depositing a book daring any person to happen upon it to complete the tasks within.

But unfortunately, it quickly lost its charm, and for that I am genuinely sorry.

 

We first meet Dash on his chance encounter with the red notebook and its daring initial challenge. Dash is perplexed despite his pretentious nature and continues with the dares until the time comes to deposit in a safe place for Lily to retrieve. But being the snarky young man he is, he doesn't make it easy, and leaves a set of dares himself.

This kicks off the 'Book of Dares' endless exchange right up until the anticipated moment of actually meeting the person behind the words.

This for me is where it all came tumbling down. Without the moleskin as the plot device, the story seemed pointless and even though it holds so much merit in the beginning, it swiftly becomes overlooked towards the end of the story as I'm guessing, the two characters fall for each other instead of their words(how they do is beyond me).

The plot from this point onwards(about 50% into it) involves a lot of near-miss meetings and awkward encounters which just don't work because outside of the notebook, you don't feel anything towards any of the characters involved. I felt myself craving the notebook and the sanctuary and controlled awkwardness the pages and their words offered.

 

The book starts out as cute and funny, two awkward individuals kindling an equally awkward romance amongst the pages of a moleskin notebook. Now having read it, it seems obvious that their meeting was doomed to fail. Dash and Lily are incredibly different from each other despite their love of literature and towards the end I found myself wishing for them to go their opposite ways but keep their connection via the moleskin notebook, obviously this doesn't happen(otherwise I would be a lot happier about the outcome!)

It is clear that they had a lot of fun and escape on behalf of the notebook but as soon as that mythical barrier was removed, I felt that their was no purpose anymore.

 

As for our two main characters, I feel that they will be a Marmite couple, you either love them or you hate them, I personally love Lily and her quirkiness, naivety and profound love for Christmas but loathed Dash from the get go. It just doesn't sit right with me that such an excitable and clumsy girl would really fall for a pretentious guy who thinks he's ultimately better in every way and takes things way too seriously. A couple should compliment each other and these two really don't.
They were both extremely hard to like from the start(Lily only swinging me after one particular scene which came too late) as they both attempt so god damn hard to be smart, cool and 'snarly'. They weren't believable characters and only proceeded to infuriate me the way someone who is trying too hard in real life would.

I fully expected this book to make my feel Christmassy(as I really wasn't feeling it) but even with the endless mentions of snow, carolling, lights and Christmas dinner, it just didn't do it for me.
In the end, I felt myself rushing through the story purely so I could move on to the next book.

 

Final words:

An interesting story, which lacks lustre as it meets its climax however it does make for a comforting Christmas read.

 

Star Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Buy: Yes if you love a fluffy Christmas read.

Borrow: Same as above.

Further reading suggestions: Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.