Don’t Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski, to be published May 2014 by Hachette Children’s Books.

Read: April 2014
Genre: Young Adult/Sci-Fi/Paranormal
Source: Publisher – this does not affect my opinion of the book.
#Pages: 338

Goodreads Synopsis: This is the story of how we became freaks. It’s how a group of I’s became a we. When Class 10B got their flu shots, they expected some side effects. Maybe a sore arm. Maybe a headache. They definitely didn’t expect to get telepathy. But suddenly they could hear what everyone was thinking. Their friends. Their teachers. Their parents. Now they all know that Tess has a crush on her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper. Some of them will thrive. Some of them will break. None of them will ever be the same…

Warning: this post may contain some minor spoilers.

The Review

I didn’t have high expectations when I started reading this book – not for any particular reason, I just hadn’t heard too much about it and I wasn’t aware of any hype surrounding it, which is possibly a good thing (high expectations can really be a letdown…cough…Paper Towns…cough). This was a pretty average read – it didn’t ask for much from the reader and gave a light story in return. I think the mood you are in when you pick this book up will reflect massively on how you feel about it, if you are after a gritty or intense story this one isn’t for you, but as far as light entertainment goes, read away. There were some key characters and plots that kept me relatively entertained throughout the story:

• Mackenzie and Cooper’s relationship – I was rooting for these guys from the beginning, I actually cared if they made it or not.
• Olivia the hypochondriac – She was a likable character and observing her development throughout the book just made her all the more endearing, but not in a sickly sweet way. It seems there is a follow-up to this novel and it’ll be great to read what happens to this character in particular as she seems to have potential.
• Smart-cookie Pi – while originally quite likable and entertaining, by the end of the story she becomes the one you love to hate, a lot of potential story-lines for this character too.

The Rating

2.5/5

Overall, I don’t have an awful lot to say about this read, good or bad. It was a really interesting idea for a story but I don’t think it was developed to its full potential. It was an OK filler read (books that give you a break from a series, from deep and emotional books and/or give you a little light entertainment between longer reads). I did want to read on to find out what happened, and I do think the book has entertainment value, though the writing style can cause a little confusion – I felt this was targeted towards a slightly younger audience (early teens, maybe?) until close to the end when there’s a little cussing.

Disappointingly, I didn’t come across a great quote to include in my review. I think this read would be greatly appreciated by a young teen (though no longer being a young teen, at times I found it difficult to consider it from a younger perspective). When reading it I was reminded of the likes of The Princess Diaries, I’m pretty sure a younger me would have really liked this. I have got my eye on one more book by this author that I’d like to try, for some good old fashioned escapism if nothing else, and that’s Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have). Watch this space…