Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

One of my third quarter books was Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. It is a new take on how to find love, when sixteen year-old Lily leaves a red notebook with clues on how to get into touch with her. Dash finds it and responds with a dare for her, their continued correspondence leads to adventures and romance all around New York City. The novel does have an interesting plot and characters, but I do not believe it will be read one-hundred years from now. Although, teenage romance books will never go out of style, this particular one does not have the je ne sais quoi that it takes to go the distance. It's main problem is that it lacks substance, it does not form strong enough connections with reader, and it has many unrealistic elements. Not to say that it isn’t an enjoyable read, the story is very light and heart-felt. The characters are also quite peculiar and erratic, it is entertaining to see how they will react to challenges. Despite all these good attributes, I believe for a book to grasp people’s attention generation after generation, it needs to make people think. The book needs to have people on the edge of their seats, analyzing not just the characters, but themselves and the lives they lead. Otherwise, you end up forgetting about, but it more difficult to forget if the book taught you a lesson or made you feel something. Unfortunately, this novel lacks that important quality so, if in a hundred years this book is still read, it will be because of it's accomplished authors.