Twelve Days of Dash and Lily by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Electric Monkey
Pages: 240
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: 2.5 stars 
Note: We received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Twelve Days of Dash and Lily is an unexpected sequel to Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, one of the first books I remember reading when I first joined BookTube. In a way, I loved this book as just a nod to the nostalgic days of 2013, and when I was still in the habit of reading seasonal books in their appropriate season. (Will this finally be the year that My True Love Gave to Me is appreciated?) But what else did I enjoy…?P  L  O  T

Following a pattern similar to Book of Dares, Twelve Days takes on the structure of the classic Christmas song, and different charged objects pull the story forward. The list element really helps the pace of the book. Once one part of the song is done, like ‘Five Gold Rings’ there’s always somewhere to go next.

This book definitely followed the quirks of other co-authored works by these authors. The characters were classically funny and got up to some shenanigans with characters we already know from the year before. I mean, when I first opened this book, I had no clue I’d end up at a gingerbread man orgy. (Yes, you did read that right!)

R  O  M  A  N  C  E

While Dash and Lily’s characterisation was consistent to the first book, I was confused with the pit falls of their relationship that were causing so much drama. Basically, Lily didn’t think that Dash loved her anymore because he didn’t say it very often. I mean, to be fair to the guy, Lily only said it once and then got freaked out when he didn’t respond with the same sentiment.

So, the whole conflict was fabricated from miscommunication. Lily’s mum was the voice of reason and sniffing out the bull crap in Lily’s logic, which I appreciated. Me and Lily’s mum were on the same page. The book wouldn’t have happened if only they’d just talked to one another.

Still, I’m a sucker for grand gestures of romance and Dash definitely delivered. A lot of the sections had me going ‘AWWWW!’ which is never a bad thing.

I think I would have liked to know more about Dash and Lily’s relationship in the year we didn’t hear about them. This is only their second Christmas together and it didn’t feel like they’d got much further than they had at the end of the first book.

V  E  R  D  I  C  T

Because this is such a short book, it’s hard to have a lot to say about it. I definitely enjoyed how central love and romance were to the book (and it totally fit with the Christmas season). It’s the kind of book that can still be enjoyed even if it isn’t the middle of December. BUT, that doesn’t detract from the fact that the main drama of the story was based on miscommunication, my biggest pet peeve of YA romances. Overall, I’m happy with where the story ended, and the directions that all the characters, major or minor, are headed in. Would I read another Dash and Lily Christmas adventure? Yes, I would.