Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 Meet Dash & Lily: Dash - 'persnickety', 'snarly', sarcastic, intelligent, a little bit cynical, but with a whole lot of heart. Lily - quirky, nerdy, completely sweet, a little bit naive, but with a whole lot of charm. 
 Both teens find themselves spending the Christmas holiday without the company of their parents. Neither of them is happy about it. Lily spends her time singing in a caroling group, baking cookies, and bantering with her brother. Dash spends it mostly being negative, bantering with his best friend, but also browsing away for hours at the Strand - his favorite bookstore. 
 One day, while at the Strand, Dash comes across a red notebook stashed away on the shelf of a favorite author. He opens it to find a note from a mystery girl he will soon know as Lily: 
 "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." 
 Dash embraces the challenge of solving the clues out of an undeniable curiosity. This is where Dash & Lily's incredible, and HILARIOUS, journey together begins. 
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 Ten reasons to read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares: 
 01.) IT IS HILARIOUS! This is easily the funniest book I have ever read. I could not stop laughing. Some parts even had me in tears! For the hilarity alone, you should read this book. 
 02.) Dash & Lily, of course. These two each have an incredibly distinct personality. The building of their characters was fantastic! We got to know them without boring paragraphs full of 'blah blah blah's. It was like an inner dialogue - the characters themselves were telling us random stories about their pasts, and of course we got to know them through the notebook exchanges. It was perfect and interesting. 
 03.) While I am on the subject of characters - the supporting characters were also wonderful! There are so many of them, too. Lily apparently has the biggest family in New York, and Dash has the most interesting band of friends there is. You'll love each and every character. 
 04.) The banter. Oh my gosh. Not only the banter between Dash & Lily, but the banter between ALL of the characters. 
 05.) The fact that Dash & Lily were smart, and had interest in things other than partying or making out. I know a lot of authors make their characters into book lovers, but it always seems to run parallel to immaturity and/or shallowness. This definitely wasn't the case here. Their intelligence was, while maybe unrealistic at times, a refreshing change from the norm. 
 06.) It's Christmas-y! This was actually the main reason I chose to read it. I was on the hunt for some YA Christmas books, and this was near the top of a listopia list, so I snagged it from my local library. I totally enjoyed all of the Winter and Christmas descriptions. I've never been to NY, let alone around Christmas - but this book sort of made me want to make a visit. :) 
 07.) It's written, alternately, from the PoV of BOTH characters. Lily & Dash each have their own chapters. I, personally, always enjoy multiple PoV's. 
 08.) The action. Yes, action! I won't even try to explain it. You have to read it to understand. ;) 
 09.) Boris, the giant dog of destruction. 
 10.) Most of all though, the personal journey both Dash and Lily make. Each one of them is going through something pretty major in their lives. Through the notebook and the events surrounding it, they each make personal discoveries - about themselves, each other, and life in general. It was really quite moving. 
 Overall: 
 If you want a unique, witty, and inspiring book, you need not search any further! Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is what you need! It's a fresh, clean, and fun YA romance. It's in my top 5 reads of 2011. ^-^