J.A. Belfield

There are a lot of words that sprang to mind whilst reading Dash & Lily—like sweet, fun, cute, intelligent …. But I think the word that describes it the best is endearing.

Because this is book is quite possibly the most endearing book of the year from my read pile.

And I don’t just mean that Dash and Lily were endearing—though they most certainly were.

I mean, the plot in its entirety, the genius way in which it was woven together. The level of imagination and careful thought it must have taken the authors to come up with each challenge both Dash and Lily are set by the one another. The way in which it’s teased out without coming boring. I wondered at one point if they’d ever meet, and if the story would be challenge after challenge, and we’d be made to wait until the final chapter for the union that my mind had pre-decided would be magical. And then even when a physical meeting occurs, circumstance assures there are still more hurdles to be jumped—which only keeps you reading and yearning and sharing the hope Lily holds in her heart.

On top of that, we have, not just Dash and Lily but, the characters. Each and every single character in this book is full of awesome in their own way. Seriously. Full bodied. Well rounded. By the end of the book, I had a decent grasp on the personality of every character we meet, as well as their relationship with the MC(s), and getting to know them all was an absolute pleasure. And whilst the entirety of Lily’s family (bar her parents) oozed eccentricity, both Dash and Lily had it in spades. Because I loved the way the entire narration and dialogue and left messages dripped with bottled up intelligence, almost as though waiting for the right person to share it with—whilst the entire time, one cannot deny the youthfulness of the tones. How the authors successfully entwined such a great balance of the two, without it reading like the characters are bi-polar, is beyond me; because it was so gracefully done, it was almost flawless. And the innocence. Let’s not forget the innocence. Though this far more strongly relates to Lily than to Dash, I’d imagine most would suggest the word could describe the book as a whole.

So those are my thoughts. If it sounds as though I loved it, it’s because I did. But I want to say one more thing before I wrap up completely—one very important thing:

Most young readers of today plough through books as though they are about to inhale their last breath and they need to absorb as much as possible of all the amazing transcribed journeys right now! Butplease … don’t do that with Dash & Lily. They deserve so much more respect than that. I urge you to take your time with this book, to spend moments to ponder passages, to get to know these young characters, to appreciate the relationship … to simply enjoy. If you don’t, you will regret it—because within seconds of reaching the end of their tale, I found myself saddened, as though I was leaving some amazing friends behind. And that, my friends, is the mark of a great book.