Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I was a little nervous when I started reading this book. I was drawn to this book both on Goodreads and at the library, but I decided to go ahead and read Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist first. And while that one was okay, it wasn't GREAT. But I gave it a shot anyway, and I'm glad that I did because where Nick & Norah was okay, Dash & Lily was AMAZING.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan 

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 cosmic 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.

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OH. MY. GOSH. This book was SO GOOD, I don't even know where to begin. Well...I guess with the beginning. Not five pages in and already I was laughing out loud (and receiving very strange looks) and completely, absolutely, HEAD OVER HEELS in love with Dash. He's amazing. Smart, cute, funny, and most of all BOOKISH. He's my newest book crush, and I get the feeling he'll be on the list for a long time.


And then there's Lily. I loved her, too. Besides their mutual love of books, she and Dash (or as she calls him, Snarl) are kind of polar opposites. She's an optimist and an idealist, while Dash is a pessimistic cynic. Together, though, they just work.


Really, there was so much to love in this book. To name a few:


-I loved Lily's attitude and narration. She was just so fun and happy, yet she had problems and sadness too. And she's just so dang cute.


-I loved...well, everything about Dash. Seriously.


***This next bit is not exactly a spoiler, but something that would be more fun to discover on your own! Beware!***




I changed the text color to make it harder to see. Highlighting it should make it easier to read.




-I loved the part with the writing on the bathroom wall, where Lily sees the message Norah left in Nick & Norah.






***Spoiler over***


-I loved Lily's crazy family.


-I loved Chapter 17, which is without a doubt the most fantastic chapter I've read in a very long time. There's no words to describe it adequately. Anyone who's read Dash & Lily knows what I mean.


-And finally, I loved this quote:

     "You don't know who Nicholas Sparks is?" he asked.      

     I shook my head. 

     "Please don't ever find out," he said.

     -Page 250 

Altogether, this book gets, without a doubt, <*><*><*><*><*>


(:D)
~Mag