David Levithan – The Last Reader

Edition : Kindle (274 pages)
Publisher : Mira Ink (October 2012)
Genre : Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
Source : Amazon
Date Read : May 2015
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“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.

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?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

My Thoughts

I seriously don’t have any idea that this is a christmas-themed book. I have a Kindle edition and the cover don’t have any signs on it.

The concept of this book is brilliant and entertaining. The bookstore, the red moleskine notebook, and the exchanging of clever and exciting dares. Not to mention the chocolate pizza!

I always love reading books with different POVs especially if they’re from the main character/s and this book is one of them. Dash and Lily are both intelligent and daring. They are quite different from each other but they perfectly fit together. The other characters are also lovable and funny. I personally like Boomer because he is really a good friend, Langston for being a cool brother, and Greant-Aunt Ida for being simply awesome.

I was glad that I’ve read the Kindle edition because it made easy for me to check the definitions of those big words. There are a lot of them. It was my first time reading Rachel Cohn’s work and it’s impressing. I will definitely read their other collaboration (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List”) in the future. This book proved that Cohn and Levithan can work totally good together.

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares is a fun, sweet, and fast read. It reminds me that it is okay to step out of the box once in a while and experience new things.

My Rating

Editon : eBook (204 pages)
Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers (2011)
Genre : Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction
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In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him… messing with him… threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he’s been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan’s starting to believe it’s Ariel that’s behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself.

My Thoughts

I keep reading because I’m eager to know what will happen in the end and I tried to finish it in one sitting but I wasn’t able to. So I spent another day to find out where the story will take me.

Evan, who suffers is on his way home from school when he found an envelope on the ground that has a photo inside. He started getting more photographs where some of which he is in and most are of his best friend Ariel. He starts to think that it’s Ariel who’s doing it in order to punish him. He then asked Jack, who is also their friend, for help. As they unravel the mystery behind the photographs, Evan discovers himself more deeper.

What i love about David Levithan’s way of writing is his talent to create an uniquely incredible concepts and interesting characters that can bring out all the the reader’s emotions. I like his writing style, especially in this novel where some lines are crossed out ~~using strikethroughs~~ when Evan is talking to Ariel in his head or when he’s talking to himself. ~~I can somehow relate because I also do like that in some of my blog posts.~~

Evan is struggling with the loss of his best friend Ariel and he feels that he’s responsible for it. He is more than depressed and hopeless without her. We didn’t get to know more about Ariel and what exactly happened to her except she’s not with them anymore.

This novel is told with words and photos which made the story more intriguing and msyterious. I’ve read in the acknowledgements that Jonathan Farmer provided the photos randomly to David Levithan who continued on writing about it. Neither of the two know what the other was doing. This novel shows how brilliant their collaboration is.

This is one of my favorites from this author though I didn’t give a five-star rating. I felt that maybe the story could be a little longer or maybe a good twist can be added on it. But all in all, this novel is haunting and it gave me goosebumps while reading. Not to mention the photos are somehow creepy. I would still recommend this book.