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

Don’t Even Think About It  by: Sarah Mlynowski (Tomorrow: March 11, 2014)

336 pages

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Paranormal

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Source: I received a free ARC from Netgalley and The Publisher for my honest review. Thanks!

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads 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.

My Review

Don’t Even Think About It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I certainly don’t regret reading it. This book turned out to be a fun read that got a few big hearty laughs out of me and managed to hold my attention from start to finish.

I want to warn you that when you first start reading Don’t Even Think About It the writing may seem a little weird and a little off, but don’t let that discourage you. This book is told from the point of view of the group of kids who have telepathic powers, a collective voice of “we” is primarily used. They are telling us their story together. There are about 20 students who are a part of this group. I know that seems like a crazy large number and you may be worried that you will get confused while reading, but that won’t be case. At first it was a little rocky for me, but then the author mostly just focuses on a small handful of these 20ish students and all of the students are pretty extinguishable form each other. I give Mlynowski props for attempting, and I believe succeeding, in writing this unique point of view.

Don’t Even Think About It does lean towards the younger teen audience, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. If you go into this book knowing that it is going to be a light read that isn’t overly deep or complex, then you will be able to sit back and enjoy what this book has to offer. The characters can be immature at times and I’m not sure they are the kindest or brightest, but they were interesting and they made me laugh. Some I liked more than others but that is the case for every book I read. The telepathic powers were fun to read about, but there wasn’t even a lot of complexity or explanation going along with them. Like I said, this book is pretty simple. (I’m not saying its simplicity is a bad thing but something that people should know about before starting the book in case that isn’t what they are looking for.)

A quick opinion on the cover: I’m not a fan of this one, it just doesn’t seem to fit (compared to the story), isn’t unique and doesn’t stand out in any big way.

Don’t Even Think About It is short, sweet, simple, and entertaining.  Give this one a try when you get the chance. It’s a great choice for teenagers on the younger end of the spectrum or for older people who are looking for a light read. I had trouble deciding between a 3 and 4 stars rating for Don't Even Think About It. In the end I decided to give the book a very solid 3.5 well earned stars. I'm thinking I may even need to check out this author's other books now. :)