COHN & LEVITHAN, Rachel and David (2010), Dash & Lily’s Book Of Dares, Ember.

                                                 By Ainara Vasquez, 2º ESO A

It is Christmas in New York and Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a shelf from her favourite book store, waiting for just the right boy to come along and accept its dares. Dash is on a trip to his favourite book store, when on a shelf he finds a red notebook full of challenges. He decides to accept them, and by exchanging dares and stories Lily and Dash begin to fall in love. But will the image they have in their head of one another live up to real life?

                   This book is a young adult romance novel, though its other themes also include friendship, family relationships and trying to figure out who you are and how you fit into the world.  The part I found most interesting is when Lily is at the Irish pub with her carolling group. I found it interesting because it’s when we really see how Lily has changed, she moves from the shy and awkward teenager and she lets loose. She actually has fun and socialises.

                   I loved this book because it was fast paced and entertaining, but what I most liked about it was that although the plotline is quite unrealistic, the characters are not. The way they all act and treat each other is very much like the way real teenagers in the real world act. Also, although it is a romance novel, throughout the book Dash and Lily’s relationship is more like a friendship, and treated as a normal crush that most teenagers feel and can relate to, whereas many other teenage romance books are all about love and can be quite over sentimental and too romantic, with its characters experiencing feelings that most people don’t feel until they are adults, which therefore makes it quite hard to relate to.

                  I would recommend this book to teenagers from the age of thirteen to sixteen as it is a teenage romance novel and people of this age will be able to relate to the characters and how they feel.