Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

I cannot think of a better way to describe this book than to use the word “magic”. Seriously, it is pure magic. Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is guaranteed to have you grinning from the first page and wondering why real life keeps getting in the way of allowing you to read straight through. Are you one of those people who gets hooked on a book and can't put it down? Don't start this book when you have other prior commitments. Trust me.

My favorite part of Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's books have always been their characters. They have the ability to write such sweetly and perfectly flawed characters that I fall in love instantly. It's one of the reasons that each time I see their names on a book, I dance with happiness. I have yet to be let down! Dash is the definition of my perfect man. He dresses well, oozes snarky humor, and charisma does not even begin to describe his witty banter with people. From the the very first page he was introduced, I was smitten! Then I met Lily, who I wish I knew in real life to be honest. She's funny, slightly awkward and has the best taste in clothing I think I've ever seen. Majorette boots? Kudos Lily! Needless to say, these characters had my heart in their hands.

Then, oh then, the adventures began. I found myself giggling in delight as they went to great lengths to one-up the other person. There are seriously parts of this book that made me laugh so hard that I cried. Watching these two characters communicate via the written word was (and yes I realize I already said this) pure and utter magic! I was so absorbed in learning their inner thoughts through their letters. The differences between Dash and Lily's personalities were apparent, but the way they meshed together was beautiful. This book stole my heart. Plain and simple. Seeing these two bond over their mutual love of books and adventure just fed my romantic side. Magic I tell you, magic!

As you can probably tell from this jumbled review, I am utterly in love with this book. Sadly the copy I read was not my own. I need to remedy that as soon as possible, so I can get to rereading this and dog-earing the pages. This is bound to become one of those books that I will need to buy in hardcover format, because otherwise it will fall into pieces from my taking it along with me everywhere. Guess what my bookish friends will be receiving for Christmas?

If you enjoy snarky wit and humor, if you simply love characters that will touch your heart, give this book a read. I hereby stamp it “100% recommended by Jessica”.

What a great premise for a lovely - and at times ridiculous - story! I loved the characters, though I'll admit to loving Lily a bit more than Dash who could come across as a little condescending (but Boomer is his friend, so he can't be a all bad... ;) )

I picked up this book after I randomly watched the series on Netflix. I fell in love with the concept it introduced with the red notebook. It reminded me of scavenger hunts which I really enjoy. A lot of the magic of this book is this concept because most of the characters are pretty flat. Whilst I really enjoyed Dash' snarly character (it just worked) Lily reminded me of a child which was annoying and it was hard to just ignore.. I didn't expect the characters to experience the mature “life can be disappointing” when they actually meet each other for the first time and I kind of appreciate it feeling realistic.

If you are looking for a cute whimsical Christmas love story .. Dash & Lily's book of dares will give you what you want. I gave it a good rating, keeping the ‘fun and easy read' genre in mind. And hey! It's almost Christmas ;-)

I have seen the movie, several times. It's one of my favorite Christmas movies :-D
This book is a bit different. But I like it, too :-)

A boy finds a notebook in a book store. DO YOU DARE? is written on the cover. He dares. And meets Lily. The rest is history :-D

Ehhhh.

Recently, I really enjoyed the Netflix adaptation (“Dash & Lily”) of this book. The characters were really well-drawn and fun, even for an aging Gen Xer like me.


The book starts off well and it's clear where the series got its inspiration. But, after a few chapters, the book gets less and less charming with the writing seeming rushed and confused.

My friend made me watch the show and I (begrudgingly) fell for its charms. And of course, the book was no different! I love how closely the show followed the book and pretty much perfectly captured its spirit. And, Dash reminds me a lot of a certain someone in my life and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at some of the pretentious things he said because I could hear my boyfriend saying the exact same things.

Un libro super bonito, no he leído ninguno de sus otros trabajos conjuntos, pero me gustó la historia, está sencilla que agradable

I hate this book!!!

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader as part of a quick takes post to catch up–emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
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I picked this up as the result of “I need something to listen to and the library's app just happened to have it at the top of the list.” This was about the time that the Netflix series was about to launch, so a good part of my Twitter feed was talking about it. I'd read something by Levithan years ago and had good memories, figured I'd try it out.

It was adorable. It was sweet. Pure silly fun. The narrators did a pretty decent job convincing me that they were teenagers. I think Lily can do better than Dash, but that's probably just me. I doubt I'll continue on in the series, but I'm glad I gave this a shot.

4.5 I really loved it but I felt like the ending was slightly abrupt. I especially loved Dash, although he was pretentious he was really great and well developed. Their different point of views on Christmas was a great addition to the story both Dash and Lily's voice was distinct and so were their stories.


REREAD 2020
Overall, I didn't love it. I had a completely different memory of my feelings regarding this book. I still liked both characters well enough but they felt a bit flat and lackluster. I still feel like the ending was abrupt but I am not sure if I want to continue on to the next book.

“We believe in the wrong things, that's what frustrates me the most. Not the lack of belief, but the belief in the wrong things. You want meaning? Well, the meanings are out there. We're just so damn good at reading them wrong.”

This book shares quite a bit with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (including its authors), but I found it much more enjoyable.

Dash, as a character, got on my nerves at times. I wasn't a huge fan, but Lily was warm and funny and very likable. The entire cast was pretty likable, and they added a lot of flavor and character to an already charming novel.

It's a light read, perfect for the holidays, and it made me laugh and smile throughout. And that's really all it tries to do.

(:

Cute cute cute. Much better than Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List, and probably about the same level as Nick and Norah. I liked Lily a lot. Dash not quite as much, but he was mildly annoying in a very realistic teenage-boy way.

Oh hmm. I wanted to like this book, and I did! But neither Dash nor Lily parsed as particularly realistic characters to me. But they seemed maybe like the kind of characters teenagers might want to be. I liked the book of dares and the whole adventure plot. Cute... but maybe TOO cute for jaded grown-up persons such as myself. (Ha)