The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily (Dash & Lily, #2)

by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

'After reading this I wanted to read it all over again' - Zoe Sugg aka Zoella.

This glorious new collaboration from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist was personally selected by Zoella for the Zoella Book Club. A teen romance set against the magical backdrop of New York City in December. It is the ultimate Christmas book.

Dash and Lily have been dating for nearly a year, but when Lily’s beloved grandfather falls ill, the repercussions take their toll on everyone. Even though they are still together, somehow the magic has gone out of their relationship and it’s clear that Lily has fallen out of love with life.

Action must be taken! Dash teams up with Lily’s brother and a host of their friends, who have just twelve days to get Lily’s groove back in time for Christmas.

A warm, wintry read that is guaranteed to be a favourite Christmas book for many years to come.

Look out for David and Rachel’s other young adult novels:  Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List.

Also by David Levithan, Every Day, Another Day, Marly's Ghost, Two Boys Kissing, How They Met and Other Stories.

David is the New York Times best-selling author of Boy Meets Boy and Marly’s Ghost. While among his many collaborations are Will Grayson, Will Grayson with Fault in Our Stars author John Green, and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist with Rachel Cohn, which became a major film. Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, now has his own novel: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story. David is also a highly respected children’s book editor, whose list includes many luminaries of children’s literature, including Garth Nix, Libba Bray and Suzanne Collins. He lives and works in New York.

Rachel Cohn was born in Maryland, but later moved to New York. Her first novel, Gingerbread, was published in 2002. Since then she has gone on to write many other successful young adult and children's books, several in collaboration with David Levithan. She now lives and writes in Los Angeles, assisted by two very cool cats.

Reviewed by lizarodz on

4 of 5 stars

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Ah, how I've missed you Dash & Lily! I adored the Dash & Lily's Book of Dares and it left me hungry for more. Now, six years after meeting these amazing characters, my wish finally came true!

The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily starts a year after the first book ended. Yes, they are still together and very much in love. but things have been tough.  Lily's grandpa had a heart attack and she's put Christmas on hold.  She's overwhelmed, tired, and afraid of change.  Her lack of Christmas spirit is upsetting all around her.

Dash is trying to be supportive of Lily, but he's at a loss of what she need from him.  This is how Langston (Lily's brother) conspire to give Christmas a kick start.  I adore Dash (short for Dashiell).  He's bookish, self-less, a good friend, a great boyfriend.  Dash and Lily are such a cute couple. They complement each other perfectly like a puzzle.

“From the time I was a baby, my mom took me to the library at least once a week. Librarians were like Mary Poppins to me. They always knew how to match a book to my mood or to whatever I was going through at the time. I could always find peace in books."

The cast of characters from the first book make an appearance here, which I really appreciate.  I mean, Lily's family is huge! Mrs. Basil (Lily's great aunt) and Langston are my favorite.  Mrs. Basil is eccentric and tell it like it is and Langston has a Puertorrican boyfriend (Yay!).  Boomer is Dash's best friend and a hoot, it seems like his mind is always up in the clouds, but he has a big heart.  He's now going out with Sofia (Dash's ex), and everyone is okay with that.  It was nice to see more of Lily's parents as they were absent in the first book.

The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily did not suffer from the second book syndrome and didn't loose any of its charm and is just as good at the first.  I laughed out loud, and was smiling like a lunatic, I'm sure.  I also loved that the plot itself kept the same magic, allure and playfulness. It was full of surprises, changes, Lily's crazy family, Dash's crazy friends and nasty dad, dares, and love.  It also deals with other serious issues, like depression, sickness, old age and divorce.  Cohn and Levithan are amazing together :)

“I love you, and it's driving me crazy to see you so upset. I want to fix it, and I know I can't. But what I want to do is rewrite this whole world so you can fix it. I want to come up with a story that all the world will choose to celebrate, and in it, the people we love will never get sick, and the people we love will never be sad for long, and there would be unlimited frozen hot chocolate."

Overall, I'm sure you can tell that I love Dash & Lily. Period.  I would be happy indeed if Cohn and Leviathan continue writing a book with these characters every year for Christmas.  Do yourself a favor and read the series :)This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 13 January, 2017: Finished reading
  • 13 January, 2017: Reviewed