Christmas Review – Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (Spoiler-Free)

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.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…. Because Christmas reviews!

I’ve been waiting all year for this moment, guys 😭😭😭 I don’t know about you but I just love Christmas stories, especially those really cosy, fluffy ones that just make you feel all the feels ❤

Last year I read the sequel, The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, so this year I decided to try the book that started it all. I didn’t actually remember much from it, so there was no fear of spoilers running my experience. (Thank God for my crappy memory!)

We have Dash, who’s the most pretentious hipster teenager I have ever met and God, I loved him. I think we’ve all met a Dash once and kind of ended up falling head over heels with him. He was witty and charming and kind and absolutely adorable while also being a complete idiot – but in an endearing way. I’m sure he’ll annoy tons of people, but thankfully I wasn’t one of them.

Lily was a bit less easy to like. I guess because she was so likeable. A complete goody two shoes who didn’t swear, lie, did anything wrong really, and got along with her family as if they were her best friends. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, it just felt harder to relate to her. She wasn’t completely flawless, though, and I did like how we’re told a bit of her backstory, which explained why she was the way she was.

Mrs. Basil E., Lily’s grandpa, Boomer, Sofia, Mark, and all the other supporting characters were delightful in their own quirky ways and spiced the story really nicely.

Levithan wrote Dash’s chapters and Cohen Lily’s. They then proceeded to email them to each other with no actual planning involved. One would assume that to lead to chaotic disaster – but the end result was actually brilliant!

You can definitely tell from the beginning each POV is very distinct, and that provided a much more fleshed-out account from both characters.

Again, I preferred Dash’s POV. I felt he was funnier and more interesting than Lily in many ways, though I also liked how her chapters were so naïve and heart-warming and how they made me feel fuzzy inside. It was a nice contrasting balance.

The pacing was engaging and really kept me hooked. I could not stop smiling and wanting to keep reading to find out what happened next!

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is such a cute story! I mean, even if it borders on unrealistic most of the time (how they figure the clues out oh so quickly and conveniently, and how most things work out so easily every time) it was such a lovely twist on a classic romantic trope. One that I absolutely love, no matter how cliché and predictable.

It was also funny and surprisingly deep when it came to exploring family dynamics, friendships and one’s fears/identity/place in the world.

The ending! Ugh, I wanted so much more from this book and it ended so abruptly I actually flipped through a couple of pages to make sure I hadn’t missed any. It felt so incomplete, so careless, I ended up feeling kind of cheated.

I guess I’ll have to re-read The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily now.

This was the perfect book for this time of year! It was adorable and my only complaint, really, was the ending. Everything else was great, and I’m so glad to have chosen this as my first Christmas read!

I highly recommend Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares if you want a fluffy story about young love, taking chances and following along on a cute little treasure hunt. Yes, it’s predictable and cliché and a wee bit unrealistic but it’ll warm your heart and soul. Pinky promise.

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