Review: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Don't Even Think About It

Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Release Date: March 11, 2014

Summary:

Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.

So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Review:

I really love the concept of this book.I like Mlynowski's sense of humor. But somehow it wasn't quite what I expected. Somehow it missed the mark. Somehow, though it was nice, it failed to excite me.

I love the concept. It's clever and fun, well thought through and worked out. I love the little details Mlynowski thought of; the eye colour, crying and sunglasses and many other bits.

The storyline is sweet. Quite straight forward but I find in a way that's Mlynowski's strength. Straight forward, sweet stories that make for light and cute entertaining.

The character building was ok. We talking 22 MCs here. And frankly I was worried I wouldn't remember them or get confused. Cause we all know my name memory is atrocious at best. But I had no problems keeping up- which in my opinion says a lot about Mlynowski's skill as a story teller.
Naturally having 22 MC's means we didn't get to know them in dept. They are your typical high school students- so you have the popular girl, her bestie, the shy girl, the nerd, the cool fun dude, the achiever - you name it they there. And they have typical high school kid's problems. Being in love with your bestie, cheating, first dates, parent getting divorced ect. Again this covers a whole spectrum of issues. None of them are in covered with debth but they there- and somehow it all feels quite real and very realistic.

So all of this is the making for a good book, right?
Right, except after finishing the book I have to say- it should made more of an impact. Because Mlynowski did touch on some interesting issues. And the whole ESP thing was really well thought through. I mean; what does it mean if a bunch of kids suddenly do get ESP? But well, this didn't make me dwell on that, I just thought wow, yeah that would be crazy and moved on. Then if you expect loads of gossip - that doesn't happen either, no it's kinda brushed on and that's that. The different characters issues, Mlynowski touched on, but they never touched me. I liked the MC's, but never really cared.

My biggest issue was the writing style. Let me first say, I like Mlynowski's prose, I've read previously released novels of hers. And this has her signature light hearted humor and is definitely her way of telling a story. It's just that the way this is written, somehow did make me fail to connect with the characters.
And after thinking about this, the only thing I can say- the POV is to blame.
This is written from the POV of all 22MCs- in we form. Yep. And while at first I thought it was quite fun and so clever- after having finished the book. Well it kinda didn't work for me. And I can't quite explain why. It just somehow didn't.
Yep, we have the worst possible scenario. Writing style is the most important thing in a book for me. Sadly Don't Even Think About It is proof of this. Because though I can't quite fault it, the writing style wasn't my cup of tea.

Though in theory I should really love this, and there are many aspects I did love, overall this was a good read. But it didn't know me off my socks nor did I feel particularly attached to a character. No, it kinda washed over me, it was entertaining but when it was done, I happily moved on to my next read. Not even a second lost in thought.

So I can recommend this for someone who is looking for a light fun read. And got to say this is one definitely for a younger audience- I think the 12-15yrs old kind of audience will adore this book.


Rating: 

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