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

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Genre: Young Adult - contemporary
Rating: 2 stars

Review: This book was a bit of a disappointment, for me, personally. I do not think it’s a bad read at all, because I quite enjoyed my time reading it, but for some reason, for me, it’s very forgettable. While the premise is interesting, the execution lacked, and while the writing is good, it didn’t “speak” to me. I also felt like the characters were not introduced or developed well enough, to the poifnt that I feel like I never got to know them that well.

Overall the whole story didn’t seem realistic and believable enough to root for. Maybe it’s because two writers worked on this – that could perhaps have had an impact on the story’s delivery and development? I’m not sure, but for some reason, the two sides of the story – using two narrators and all – didn’t seem to work. In fact, it seemed contrived and forced, and obvious that actual authors are speaking, and not necessarily the characters themselves, if that makes any sense at all.

I really wanted to like this. The idea of two strangers turning into lovers all because of a dreamy bookstore and a beautiful city sounds so wonderful. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.

10 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that You didn't like this book. I wanted to read it just before Christmas, to cheer myself up for the holidays, but you got me thinking...
    I still think i'll give it a try though. Maybe we'll have different opinions. We'll see.:)

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  2. It's a shame you didn't like it! I really enjoyed this one. I thought Lily was adorable.

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  3. Bummer! I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. :(

    I really found this one lighthearted and whimsical.

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  4. What a pity you did not love this book. I thought it was so cute. Definitely one of my favorite contemporaries. I thought it was much better than Nick&Norah as well.

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  5. I'm not sure if I would have liked this one as much as I did if I didn't read it at Christmas time. I'm at my most sappy around the holidays and even then Lily was too sweet for me.

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  6. What a shame, it does sound lovely. And the cover is so pretty!

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  7. ooh, I don't like forgettable books!

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  8. I have this on TBR list because like you thought, the premise sounds to interesting! Too bad it didn't work out. You are so right, for some other books I'd read, the writing is fine but just doesn't speak to me for one reason or another. Thanks for the honest review.

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  9. Thats too bad, I have been eyeing this one.

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