Book Review-Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Title: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares

 Author: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Series:  N/A

Published:   26 October 2010 by Knopf books. October 2012 by Mira Ink

Length:274 pages

Source: netgalley

Summary : “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?

Review: Dash is doing his normal tour of bookshelves when he sees a red notebook among the books for sale. As it dares him to go find French Pianism , Fat Hoochie Prom Queen,The Joys of Gay Sex  and What The Living Do to make a message, he does it, and it ends up with him and this girl who set him the tasks

I was told lots of good things about this. How sweet it was, how different it was, and such. , Lily, passing the notebook back and forth, setting each other dares over the Christmas season.

The first half was very good. Dash and Lily send each other all  kinds of places, such as klezmer rock concerts, and Santa’s grotto, and it’s all a lot of fun. At some point it gets a bit samey and a bit boring and the magic is lost a bit. Like most romance books,

The idea is both good and terrible. It’s adorable in that they start really liking each other after a  shedload of written communication, but there was just a part of me thinking “I know your directions were really clear and I know most unsavoury types probably wouldn’t be interested in doing this but don’t you think there may be a few issues in setting up serous correspondence with a stranger who, despite your instructions at the start, might not be a teenage boy.”

Dash is cute in parts, super irritating in others. No one reads a dictionary and actually remembers it all. Especially not teenage boys. And it’s nice that he’s well read and all, but sometimes he shows off about it to the point of annoyance. Lily’s the same. She starts off sweet and happy and then she starts talking about gerbils and complaining about everything and i  don’t even know about Shrilly. I just didn’t care.

There’s a lot of secondary characters that I felt generally indifferent on. They’re a colourful lot, and all a bit different.

I’m not a part of the drag/trans* community, but I’m fairly sure that the “she-man” reference is not right, and it annoyed me. Especially from a book worked on by David Levithan, who is meant to be a big name in the LGBT literature group, I wonder how  it got through.

I know it’s not a huge part of the story, but I really want that klezmer rock group to exist! There’s a klezmer piece in one of the exam syllabuses and I love it. Anyone who fuses it with rock must be awesome. //music fangirl over.

Despite all this, I did enjoy this. It was a break from all the darker, heavier stuff I normally read, and is good as a cheerup read.

Overall:  Strength 3.5, more a 3,  tea to a cute romance that got really annoying in places.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Rachel’s website | David’s website