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

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Release Date: December 1st 2010
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Add it: Goodreads
Overall: ♥♥♥♥

What can I say about this? Oh, I have such a hard time writing reviews for contemporary books (Brodie, I know what you're going to say, but I won't say this review is dodgy... for your sake), I just don't find them as easy to review as fantasy or paranormal because not only have I only just started reading contemporary, but most of the time, I feel I can seriously relate in one way or the other.

A snarly boy named Dash finds a red moleskine notebook right next to his favourite author's books in The Strand*, this notebook has been written by the sensible and quirky Lily. In the notebook, Lily has written clues, but instead of putting the notebook back on the shelf, Dash takes the notebook and starts his own game with Lily. The result is hilarious!

The book is told by both Dash and Lily's perspective and I loved how distinct and fresh both of their personalities were. I was a bit worried as to how this would turn out as it's written by two authors, but they've managed to have the same voice and writing style whilst setting their character's apart from eachother.

The setting - Christmas in New York. OH, HOW CLICHE' you say! (Would you look at that, I'm a poet!) No, this is perfect as we have Dash who can't stand Christmas and couldn't care less, and we have Lily who is to say the least, obsessed with Christmas. It's really great though, because Christmas Day isn't even that much of a big deal in this book. It's the lead up to Christmas that is hilarious and what makes each of the character's personalities shine through (like freakishly busy department stores and seeing Santa) and what happens to the character's after Christmas that makes you love these two.

The minor characters are great and again, have completely distinct personalities. BOOMER! Hahahaha! I love Boomer! And how over enthused he is about everything! Every bit of dialogue from Boomer has an explanation point! What was great, was that whilst it was always "!", it still didn't feel overdone or stupid!

Overall, I thought this was a really cute, fun read and it was perfect because whilst I haven't been reading much in the past two weeks (believe me, I'd rather be reading!), this kept me occupied and made me smile so much :)
I'll leave you with a few quotes I loved...

"We all just took the bookstore at its word, because if you couldn't trust a bookstore, who could you trust?".
So true, Dash. So true.

"Dear man, you are a genius. I'm so glad my father forced me to marry you and allow you to impregnate me every year."
Oh, Lily, your comments about these sorts of things make me laugh and don't come across as if the author is trying to shove her beliefs down your throat. Plus, from what I could understand, I'm generally on the side of the author!

"I expected Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austin to be thumb wrestling in the corner."
HAHA! The visual I got from this sentence was incredible, and sorta weird...


*I googled The Strand and died a little inside. I am now making it my personal goal to not only travel the world, but to go to New York and spend hours browsing the shelves at The Strand and to bask in it's greatness. I don't know if it's true, but it apparently has 18 miles (28km for those who, like me, don't understand miles, lbs etcetc) worth of books. 28000m worth of bookish pleasure. *starts daydreaming*.