The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily
Authors: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Grade: C
I really enjoyed Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares. It was a great little Christmas story. Very sweet. Very fun. So I was looking forward to this one because I could use some Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, this book really didn’t do that.
I get into spoilers below. Not so much story spoilers as one of the characters moods. Just a warning!
Lily has had a rough year. Her grandfather is very ill and she doesn’t have any Christmas spirit this year. So it seems like most of the rest of the characters are around simply to make Lily feel better.
Look, I can relate a lot to Lily. Especially when it comes to Christmas and when she comes to the realization that she had always believed Christmas was the time of year that was meant to stay the same when in fact it’s the time of year that simply highlights how much things change for a person as they grow older. I get that.
It was pretty much her behavior otherwise. She loves Dash. She wants to take a break from Dash. She runs off and stays out all night without telling her family anything. She knits him a hideous sweater that she tells him he doesn’t ever have to wear and is then upset when it’s ruined. It’s not even just Lily so much as it piles on. She tries to do something nice and only winds up getting several people wounded and sent to the hospital.
But that doesn’t seem to matter because everyone loves Lily so what’s a little blood when there are parties to be had! Lily was just all over the place and I don’t even think I would have minded that so much, or at least I could have gotten over it, but it really did seem like everyone else existed to serve her or attempt to make her happy. And be cutesy. I don’t remember everyone being so super cutesy in the first book.
Dash? Dash was okay but honestly I didn’t see much character growth for him. He loves Lily. Doesn’t like his father or really have a great relationship with either of his parents. Loves books.
This book did have some cute moments. It did have some great New York moments with it’s descriptions of the holiday in the city. (Personal goal: One day I’m going to be in New York at Christmas time!) I did appreciate what seemed like an attempt to make Lily grow up. I just felt like it was too unbalanced with that character and I wound up really not liking her.
Recommend: 50/50. This isn’t a bad book. But honestly, it did take some of the shine off the first book for me.
Leave a Reply