Monday 15 December 2014

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares



In the run up to Christmas I love to get into the Christmas spirit and read a few Christmassy books and so back in September, during a particularly wild Amazon book spree, I purchased ‘Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares’ by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan in preparation for the festive Winter months. When the book arrived with a lovely thump on my doorstep I was very sensible and placed it safely in a hidden corner of my bedroom to sit and wait until the reindeers roamed the streets, tinsel was strung over every available surface and it was okay to be excited for Christmas. I definitely was not going to read this book until Christmas. I wasn’t. I wasn’t! ... I did.

            I am currently writing this blog in October… Okay! Okay! So, kill me! I saw a wreath of holly in a passing shop window and I got a teensy bit excited. Well… when I say a ‘teensy bit’ I mean I freaked out in the middle of the street, pre-ordered a new reindeer pattern Christmas jumper, pulled my ‘Snowman’ snow globe down from the spiders in the attic and shook it manically as I began to read ‘Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares’.

            But, all that is beside the point. The point is that ‘Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares’ is one of the most wonderful Christmas books that I have ever read! The book follows the story of New York teenagers, Dash and Lily (the co-writers writing the two perspectives chapter for chapter) as they get to know each other over Christmas using only the fantastic dares and challenges they leave each other in a little red Moleskine notebook.

 Now, bear in mind, just in case you like to take my word as law (As I know you all definitely do!) that this is not for all you lactose intolerant readers out there. This book definitely has rich, creamy, full-fat gorgonzola cheese as its main ingredient – and I loved it! Cheese is exactly what a Christmas book should have, heck, the entire season is cheesy, not just its literature. There were so many sweet little scenes and Christmassy settings that I could almost smell the cinnamon in the air. I have never in my life left Europe but I’ll be damned if I don’t what Christmas in New York is like after reading that book.


Dash, I thought, was a very unlikely character to appear in a Christmas book and at first I found him quite irritating. The complete opposite to Lily, he hated Christmas and chose to spend Christmas alone, hiding from parties and festivities and delicious gingerbread men.  Dash seemed to think himself incredibly deep and troubled because of this particular preference and kept spouting pretentious moody rubbish all the way throughout the book.  However, as I became more familiar with the characters and their individual thoughts and feelings I began to realise that this was no accident. Dash was meant to be annoying! Though infuriating, it was crucial to the plotline and I actually began to become quite fond of this particular personality quirk.

I liked Lily straight off the bat! I think her best contribution to the novel as a whole is her close connection with her family. Lily’s relatives feature a lot throughout the novel and though they may only be minor parts I think collectively they make the book more Christmassy than any number of snowflake baubles, giant nutcrackers or North-Pole themed mittens. This may only be a personal opinion, but, to me, family is the most important aspect of Christmas and I know that if Cohn and Levithan had forgotten to sprinkle a few aunts, uncles and lazy older brothers into their writing, then the book would not make my heart swell as much as it did.


Because I am a lazy blogger, now, as I finish this blog, the calendar reads December 15th. I have read ‘Dash and Lily’ again since my little (massive) Christmas freak out back in October and I can confirm to you that nothing I have said as thus is a lie - induced by an early dose of mistletoe and fake shop-display snow. The book manages to maintain its lovely warmth and sweetness for the re-read and if, still, this late into December, you haven’t yet felt that familiar glow that comes from warm mince pies and santa-shaped mittens, then I guarantee you, this is the book to kick-start your holiday spirit! 


12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful review, Evie! I recently reviewed this book too and I absolutely loved it. I loved everything about it, but that's also because like you, I freak out over Christmas. Haha! Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is cheesy, as it well should be, but it's also one of the most interesting YA romance book I've encountered. Awesome job, Evie! :) - Joy @ The Bookshelf Intruder

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    1. Christmas is wonderful :D I love a bit of cheese so I do, the cheesier the better in my opinion! Christmas is a time for clichés and over the top, lovey-dovey goodness and I think Dash and Lily managed to have that but also keep an element of sophistication :3 Thank you very much Joy, and thanks for stopping by!!! x

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  2. Oh, I love this book! I actually liked both, Dash and Lily, right away. Mostly because they both reminded me of myself, when I was a kid I would always be excited about Christmas, kind of like Lily. But now, being all busy, I feel like I'm turning into Dash D:
    This is the only Christmassy book I've read so far. I still remember, one of the main reasons why I decided to read this book was because of the cover.
    Reading about their dares was fun. But I do know some people who didn't like it because they felt like the book just didn't have a serious enough plot. Oh well, I still love it :D It's great that you love it too!
    Great review Evie! :)

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    1. I'm definitely like Lily during the Christmas period!! SO SO SO excited!!! You should definitely take the time to pick up a few more christmas books.. may I reccomend 'Let it Snow' and 'My True Love Gave To Me' both are excellent and christmassy :3
      I don't think Christmas books really have to have a serious plot. They're seasonal and so they take all the wonders of the season with them. And Christmas is funny and silly not serious. No one wants to read about sad serious things at christmas! So Dash and lily is perfect for a festive read :3 x Thanks so much Izzy, you're a lovely blogger you

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  3. I've been wanting to read a Levithan book forever and, while Will Grayson, Will Grayson will probably be the first I read (since I already have it), this one has definitely been on my radar for a while. It's great to know its so good!

    And I'm about like you. I freak out over Christmas - it really is my favorite time of the year. I was begging my parents to put the tree up back in October! XD

    Brittany @ http://www.spacebetweenthespines.com

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    1. Will Grayson Will Grayson!! It's so great, you'll like it! Though dash is similar in some way to Levithan's Will Grayson. I actually reviewed this book here: http://prescriptionfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/rainbow-list-of-must-reads-purple-will.html
      (Shameless self promoting I know.. but if you cant do it at christmas, when can you?)
      Anyway, thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a super duper very merry (with extra sherry) Christmas :3 x

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  4. By the way, I tagged you to do the Bookish Identity tag! Have fun! :D

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    1. So many tags Ahhhhh!!! Thankyou a billion :3 I feel so loved when people tag me in stuff

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  5. I read this book last year around this time, and really enjoyed it. I actually liked Dash more than I liked Lily. I found her to be a little annoying towards the middle of the book for some reason. I loved how tight knit her family was, and how she eventually rubbed off on the grinch a.k.a Dash and got him into the spirit of the holidays lol. Great review Evie, I've been away from your blog for too long!

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    1. That's fair :D I think I'm probably that annoying kind of festive around Christmas time so I related to Lily totally :3 She can be irritating but she's also super fun so I liked her. Dash was an interesting character but I'm not great with more pessimistic characters so that explains why I didn't connect to him as much! Thanks for coming back, Tika! I feel like we're old blogging friends now, so you're always welcome here, girl!! Merry Christmas :3

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  6. I'm so angry with myself for reading your review. I mean I wanted to read this book but didn't order it in time so now I have to wait to read it until next Christmas. And now that I read your review, which is fantastic by the way :), I just want to read it even more! I heard many great things about David Levithan and found his novella in My True Love Gave To Me well-written so I'm even more excited.
    Anyhow, I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) Happy late-Christmas to you!
    Veronika @ http://reading-is-dreaming-with-open-eyes.blogspot.hu/

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    1. Awwww Thankyou! Sweet comments like this just make me day! I'm secretly proud that I've frustrated you so much ^_^ Levithan is a great writer, however one thing I've found with him is that a lot of his characters are quite similar. Dash and Will Grayson (from Will Grayson Will Grayson) have so many similarities. But then again, I guess when you're a writer you pour a certain amount of yourself into your characters, so I'm okay with that! It was a cute short story huh? I loved it anyway :D Merry Late Christmas to you too Veronica! And a happy new year!

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