Dash & Lily's Book of Dares [Paperback]

I'll be honest with you: this is going to be less of a review and more of a love letter to a book. It's not my favoured approach, I'll admit, but as I see it there'll be plenty of objective reviews out there and on this occasion I can't be objective. This book is a love letter to readers. It's only fair that I write one back.

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares opens in the Strand, New York: the bookstore of all bookstores. It's Christmastime, and a boy named Dash is perusing the shelves just because he can. It's there that he finds a red Moleskine notebook that first sends him on a bookish treasure hunt and then prompts him to enter into correspondence with its author, Lily. Soon Dash and Lily are exchanging messages in the Moleskine, sharing stories and compelling each other to seek the notebook out in hiding places around the city. And before long, they're wondering just what they mean, or might mean, to each other.

As in the much-loved Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is narrated by its leads in alternating points of view, with Rachel Cohn writing Lily's chapters and David Levithan writing Dash's. Less cool and a little more contemplative than Nick and Norah, Dash and Lily share that same sweet brand of hesitant chemistry that soon has the reader utterly convinced that these two would be great together. I have to confess I initially found the hopeful and insecure Lily easier to believe in than Dash, whose unfaltering literariness is probably as unlikely as it is magnificent, but eventually I realised that's kind of the point. There's an element of fiction to everyone, even in real life. This book knows it, and so does Dash.

While Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is both captivating and entertaining, most of all it's a book overflowing with ideas. It's a book that will make you think about language and meaning and the nature of love. At the heart of the story are these complex layered relationships between writers and readers: Dash and Lily, Cohn and Levithan, you and all of the above. All these writers endeavouring to communicate ideas and feelings with their words, and all these readers interpreting them, and it's like a celebration of the whole writing and reading process. And at the same time, it's a moving experience because the words are beautiful and clever and sometimes even fanciful. It's never hard work, because it's witty and full of whimsy, but it asks huge and important questions. What exactly do we love when we love someone? What do they love back? How do we know it's real?

I know not everyone will love this book. I know not everyone will find tears (embarrassingly) welling up in their eyes on the bus on the way to work because they find certain passages so darn perfect. I also know I sound like a complete fangirly dork, and I hope you'll overlook that and pick this one up anyway. Because Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is also a book about taking risks and looking for love even though you might not find it. And you might find it here.

I bought this book because it reminded me so much of one of my favourite films of all time. A french film starring the beautiful Marion Cotillard called "Jeux D'enfants" or in English "Love Me If You Dare", although literally it means, "Child's Play". The whole film revolved around best friends Julien and Sophie who dare each other from childhood to adulthood with a tin box that they pass from one to the other as each dare is completed. As they grow up, the dares become more daring and risky. Suffice it to say, it's a great film.

But that aside - I bought the book because it followed the same concept, and therefore, I had a feeling it would be just as great.
I was wrong, because it surpassed greatness.

I have not been obsessed with a book this way in such a long time. This book is absolutely incredible in every way possible. I know I'm gushing here, but I honestly cannot help it! Dash and Lily are both such great characters. In fact, I've decided I'm calling my children Dash and Lily (and not Dash short for Dashiell, but just Dash, as in the connector of words).

Dash is, as Lily likes to put it, quite dashing. And Lily is the perfect teen model. It is extremely easy to fall for the both of them, and from the very beginning you root for them, wanting this to work out so bad. When Lily messed up at one point, I was literally at the edge of my seat wanting to scream, "NO! NO! NO!" Thankfully, it didn't last long, I couldn't have handled it otherwise.

Dash is such a clever, smart-mouthed, witty, yet cynical guy with information flowing out of him in such a remarkable, yet amusing manner that it makes him seem almost unreal. Whereas Lily is a little more believable, more human - if you may. The story takes place around Christmas time, where Dash is being a grinch about it and decides to spend it alone. Only, his solitude is interrupted when he happens across a red Moleskin right next to his favourite book in a second-hand bookstore that he frequents. In that notebook, is a dare. Dash accepts the dare, and upon completing it, issues a dare of his own. And hence, their adventure begins.

Lily, is a Christmas fanatic, loving absolutely every aspect of the season and the holiday, and always looking forward to it. Only this Christmas, her parents decided to take a belated honeymoon vacation, leaving her with her brother to spend Christmas on her own. She is a loner in one sense, but has a huge extended family, who more or less make up for the lack of friends. She loves pets, gets overly emotional when she loses them, loves soccer, reading, and writing apparently.

In fact, a lot of the time spent with the notebook is spent writing. Written are some of the most profound passages I've ever read in a young adult book. In fact, I've marked each and every one of them in order to go back to them time and again.

The book talked a lot about expectations, anticipation, assumptions and how well you can actually get to know a person. Dash and Lily started out as complete strangers, who simply met through written words. Yet the whole connection between them was established through those words. Almost like meeting someone online, only they did it in a more old fashion way. It makes you question and believe the power of words, and whether that is enough to create such a strong connection to someone.

One of my favourite passages was when Dash writes about letters forming words and those words being interpreted differently by people. He writes, "I wish I could remember the moment when I was a kid and I discovered that the letters linked into words, and that the words linked to real things. What a revelation that must have been. We don't have the words for it, since we hadn't yet learned the words. It must have been astonishing, to be given the key to the kingdom and see it turn in our hands so easily" (p.87).

Genius I tell you. Pure and utter genius. Yet so simple. It makes me hate myself for not coming up with it first.

Not to mention all the hilarious, laugh out loud moments in the book. I cannot begin to list them all, but I know I was stifling my laughter a lot of the time while reading it in public. The funniest thing ever in the book, is the Pixar film spoof that Rachel Cohn and David Levithan created, complete with title, characters (which consisted of office supplies), celebrity voice-overs, plot, merchandise, and separate interpretations by both Lily and Dash. Let's put it this way, the paper and the stapler fall in love - need I say more?

Cohn and Levithan, you've made me realise - I want to be stapled too.

P.S. And did I mention how I absolutely loved the reference to Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, when Lily was sitting in the bathroom stall and happened to read Norah's message to Nick?

My first thought when I finished this book were how I wish I'd waited a little while longer to read it. How it would have been that perfect read for Christmas week when all the decorations are up and the festivities are well under way.

The chapters in the book are divided between Lily and Dash, starting with Dash finding the notebook in his favourite book store. I laughed out loud at some of those first dares Lily had set for him. I loved that Lily and Dash were both down to earth, normal if not a little quirky, teenagers and I enjoyed their sense of fun and imagination, their honesty with each other whilst writing in the notebook and also finding out more about them in their 'real' world. Their characters really drew me and made me want to know more. Dash's friend, Boomer was hilarious, as were the array of family and friends bought into the story. All real characters in their own right. I think my favourite sub character was Lily's great aunt, Mrs Basil E. I loved the way she backed Lily up and helped in her mission to find Dash, even when it meant bending the truth a little and using just a touch of bribery.

I must mention the cover, as it's one of my favourites this year. It just looks so Christmassy and it really is perfect for the story.

This is a well written, enjoyable and funny read. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you can get a copy to read over the holidays.