A cute, fun read! Although Dash was a little (okay, very, and almost annoyingly so) pretentious, and I got some weird and eye-rolling "I'm not like OtHeR gIrLs, I'm QuIrKy!!!" vibes from Lily, I found myself grinning at their communications to each other and overall invested in the story.
I think the writing, particularly in Dash's chapters, was solid and had a distinct style to it. The setting is in NYC, and while I feel like that could easily fall into cliche writing, I think the authors did a good job of establishing the bustling, festive, sometimes grimy atmosphere that is NYC during December.

My least favorite part of this book had to be the fact that all these teens had a very "easy" time doing what they did. Dash has somehow convinced both his parents (divorced) that he is spending the holidays at the other parents house. I get that this is fiction, but sometimes these circumstances that YA main characters get into are super convenient and fairly unbelievable. Lily happens to have this HUGE family spread all across NYC, and they all have jobs in, again, very convenient places that make the plot a little too easy for my liking. The family also all 'happens' to be on vacation/distracted with something else/very wealthy, which makes it super easy for Lily to get away with a lot of what she does and where she goes.

Again, all in all, it was an entertaining read, and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a feel-good YA romance with a little city adventure thrown in. I think I would read another book with these two characters! ( )

I eventually got around to reading this properly this holiday season. It's essentially Nick & Norah part II but for the overly bookish. I wish. Had been written when I was a thirteen year old girl. The guiltiest of all pleasures ( )

This was the prefect holiday read for readers... i adored the characters and the setting and all the drama that occurred. The characters captured my heart and it was such a fast pace cute read.. hope to read the sequel soon ( )

This was the prefect holiday read for readers... i adored the characters and the setting and all the drama that occurred. The characters captured my heart and it was such a fast pace cute read.. hope to read the sequel soon ( )

This is a delightful young adult meet-cute rom-com featuring an implausible quest and two extraordinarily bright teenagers, set in the fabulous city of New York during the Christmas season.

Dash is browsing in his favorite bookstore, when he happens upon a red Moleskine notebook, with a cryptic “clue” written inside. As he follows the prompts, he gets inspired to leave an equally intricate clue for the original writer. Lily isn’t sure what to make of this turn of events, but she’s game and so the dance / game begins.

It’s charming and clever and the two main characters are very likeable. And I loved the literary references. I even forgive the writers for that somewhat “cliff-hanger” ending, because I really DO want to read more of their adventures! ( )