{Thoughts On} Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Title: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Goodreads)
Author: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Pages: 260
Source: Publisher for review

Summary from Goodreads:

“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.


The premise of a notebook of dares left for a guy, and at the Strand no less, is an intriguing one. Who wouldn't love to converse with a witty, book loving boy? What kept me from totally and completely loving this book was the awful character of Lily. She made me want to Hulk smash something. Her character was 16 but she sounded and acted much younger and that threw me off in my reading. 

I didn't hate Dash like some other reviewers but his character was drawn with dialogue that made it seem like he was trying to prove how smart he was. How ironically hipster he was. The problem with that is that truly smart, ironically hipster people don't go around talking about how smart and ironically hipster they are. But he has the best dialogue in the book with such awesome lines as:

"Are you wearing earphones that I can't see?" I asked.

I snort every single time I read that line. He has the most character development, in my opinion, but the secondary cast of characters...Sophia, Lily's brother Langston and his boyfriend Benny, as well as Great Aunt Ida were great fun. There was a great family dynamic to Lily...she had so many people who loved and were looking out for her. Though I loved that her large family loved her, I thought their protection of her was babyish and a bit over the top. 

And Boomer. Every time he appeared on the page, I pictured a stupid dog saying "which way did he go?" Props to the authors for making him so vivid, even if I couldn't stand him. 

The romance was completely predicable but was enjoyable for me anyway. I was rooting for them to not totally hate each other anyway. They did get to know each other through the dares and comments in the notebook so that part at least was rather believable. My one gripe with the plot comes at the last part of the book. Lots of things happened that I felt were unneeded and really added nothing to the overall story.

This was a cute, quick and funny read that will appeal to readers who love books about books (lots of quotes and bookish references) and those who love the romance. I didn't rate it as high as I would have probably only for the fact that I didn't like Lily but overall it was a highly enjoyable read. I'll seek out other books by the authors for sure.

Rating: 3/5 for very enjoyable with some things that irked me