Melissa Writes Fiction: Book Review - Dash and Lily's Book of Dares and Book Signing Recap

Last week I went to see Rachel Cohn and David Levithan speak/sign at Barnes and Noble. More on the signing in a minute, but first, a review of their new book Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.
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Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

This book was everything I would expect after a blurb like that. It kept me laughing the entire time. My favorite part of the entire book was the characters. Even the characters who had a bit part, like Dash's friend Priya, seemed to jump right off of the page. Simply put, I could not get enough of this book.

The whole story takes place during the few days leading up to and after Christmas. However, don't be turned off if you hate the season, because there's something in there for you, too. The book starts off with a bang and had me wondering how Dash and Lily would ever get along in real life because they are complete opposites. Dash thinks the holiday season is the work of the devil while Lily relishes in it. Can they make it work? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out!

I think it would make a great gift for that hard to buy for teen on your list.

Now, onto the signing. First I will say a few things about Rachel and David to make you love them, then I'll end on something writers will hate about them (just kidding - okay, maybe not).

David and Rachel are so nice. I wanted to just scoop them up in my pocket and take them home. This was only my second author signing and I was kind of nervous, but they seemed so genuine and happy to be there that I felt at ease asking them questions. Here is a recap of some stuff they talked about:

How do they write? They think up two characters and just go with it. Once a chapter is finished, it's sent off to the other person. That person picks up where the other left off and they almost never edit each other's work (except when one of them writes in the POV of a dog).
How did they meet? community service - picking up trash on the side of the road. (Even in real life they are full of LOLs) No, really, they met while David was editing Babysitter's Club. Rachel wanted to write something similar (which she admitted that, in hindsight, was a Really Bad Idea) so her agent hooked them up.
How many drafts does it take to get the characters voice so unique and funny (WARNING: this is the one that will make you hate them)? Just one. Yes, that was really their answer. Let me just go cry into my WIP now.

Like a dope I didn't bring my camera to the signing, so I took some pics of the signature pages for you book nerds to ogle.