Premiered in early November, Dash and Lily is an eight-episode series on Netflix, taking place in New York City in late December before, during, and after Christmas. It follows two teenagers, Dash and Lily, and their experiences shared through a red notebook with the words “do you dare…?” written on it.

Dash has a difficult relationship with his family and finds himself spending the holidays alone, in a penthouse in downtown New York. His previous Christmas’s consisted of dinners with his father and memories associated with his parents’ divorce. His closest friend, Boomer, works at a pizza restaurant, which is where Dash spends his time.

Along with the restaurant, Dash spends his time at The Strand. The Strand is the Book store where Dash initially finds the red notebook, which was left there by Lily’s older brother in an attempt to fix Lily’s perspective on the unusually lonely Christmas season.

Lily is more of a home body and associates Christmas with her family, her favorite books, and comforting memories. This Christmas, however, her parents decide to spend in Fiji, leaving her and her older brother alone in their apartment. Lily is mature for her age, mostly spending her time with adults (usually caroling during the Holidays). She never “fit in” as a child with her other friends, so when she was able to meet people who understood the books she read, she jumped on the opportunity to connect with them.

Dash and Lily are opposites in how they were raised, what social circles they run in, their opinions on the holidays, and their families. That, however, is the appeal of the friendship. Despite having very different lives, they share a love for the books at The Strand. The relationship formed between them through the notebook is very Yin and Yang, and codependent. Dash shows Lily the realistic side of life, and pops her bubble of the fairytale ending, while Lily shows Dash the glass-half-full side of life and pulls him out of the doom and gloom world he lives in.

Aspects of the series got confusing at times, connecting smaller details from prior episodes to one another. There are also more than a few characters that are mentioned in the beginning that make an appearance towards the end, so paying attention to small plot lines is important.

Writing to each other every day in the notebook creates a unique story with many twists, turns, and adventures neither character expected to go on. Definitely a fun series to binge, especially to get into the Holiday spirit; Five stars!