Monday 20 February 2017

Review: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and 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.

At the urge of her lucky-in-love brother, sixteen-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of dares on her favourite bookshop shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept. Curious, snarky Dash isn’t one to back down from a challenge – and the Book of Dares is the perfect distraction he’s been looking for.
As they send each other on a scavenger hunt across Manhattan, they’re falling for each other on paper. But finding out if their real selves share their on-page chemistry could be their biggest dare yet….




Review: So I had wanted to read this book for ages and I don't know why I hadn't got round to it until now, but I can definitely say it was worth the wait. I had heard that this book was set in New York but I didn't know how prominently it would feature in this novel. I loved how much of a character New York itself was and I think that this was one of my favourite things about this book. I could really picture where the characters lived and were heading and the places they met. What is great about the writing is that the description is so vivid, you don't need to have visited there, you can live from the descriptions on the page-wonderful!

The eponymous characters are, of course, wonderful as well! I liked the fact that they seemed to be the kind of people who don't normally go off on adventures like the one they encounter in this book. The book starts off with Dash finding this notebook, he could have left it alone, but his sense of adventure means that he picks up the notebook and takes on the first challenge. We can tell that both these characters are confident children of the city, as they are able to speak to people in shows, movie theatres, coffee shops and have no problem in attending a party on their own.

I identified with Lily more than Dash because this is something that she has done in an attempt to put herself out there and you can tell that she doesn't really know exactly what she's doing. I like that she has the confidence to do this. Something else i really liked about this character was the relationship that she has with her grandfather, I think this is a really sweet part of the story. Dash also forms a relationship with one on Lily's relatives and I definitely found this aspect interesting. I like the bond that he was able to form with Lily because of this too.

There are definitely some moments in the book where Dash and Lily seem to exhibit the typical teenage behavior of growing up , a bit of rebellion if you will, but on the whole I found them to be mature individuals. They definitely go on a journey over the course of the novel but I think that this isn't just something to be enjoyed by Young adults, I think that anyone who has a love of adventure and a love of New York would take as much from this book as I have.

The other thing I must mention that I particularly enjoyed about this book is the characters love of books as well. It all starts off in a bookstore and The Strand bookstore in New York features heavily i this novel. This book is therefore perfect for book lovers, it was a pacey read and I loved every moment of it!

To grab your copy, just click here!

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