Don’t Even Think About It: JK you HAVE to read this!

Title: Don’t Even Think About It

Series: Don’t Even Think About It #1

Author: Sarah Mylnowski

Publisher: Orchard Books

Publication Date: March 11, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Genre: YA; Contemporary; Fantasy; Romance

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.

I’d never read any of Sarah Mylnowski’s work before picking up Don’t Even Think About It.  I read Amber’s (from The Mile Long Bookshelf) very convincing review and knew I had to give it a try.  I requested it from the library and grabbed it yesterday along with a large stack of numerous other reading materials.

I was on my laptop earlier watching Netflix, but was getting annoyed with T.V.  I turned to my stack and was drawn towards Don’t Even Think About It.  Why, I’m not sure.  But here I am a couple hours later having finished the book in one sitting.

I was completely annoyed with the version of the cover my copy has (above, left) but I’ll get into that later.  My copy had a larger font size than I’m used to but I quickly got over that as well.

I was drawn into the story and the characters; it was like they were pulling my along.  I already knew the premise, but it got me excited to see everything play out in the beginning and how everything ended up.  The plot was curiously entertaining and while at some parts, in retrospect, were slightly predictable (obvious foreshadowing), I didn’t pick up on it was I went along.

The fact that the book is told not from one point of view, but by everyone’s, was awesome.  (The POV was everyone at once, together in a group).  Throughout the story there was this great group commentary on the conversations and situations that the characters had gotten themselves into.  (The group narrating narrates in past tense).

All of the characters were intense and amusing.  Their situations were relatable, quirky, and fun to read about.  I had uncontrollable laughter throughout this book, much to the annoyance of my brother.  The thing that I like most about the characters is the way that Sarah Mylnowski wrote their situation.  There was a large number of students who have the telepathy.  In the story, there are characters that are focused on more than others, and that was perfect.  It’s often painful as a reader when authors incorporate way to many characters, and it detracts from the story.  The reader is aware of many additional characters, and test, they are all casually mentioned, but I never felt overwhelmed but the amount of characters.

After finishing this book, I was shocked by how much I had enjoyed it.  I laughed a lot, I was excited for the characters and the way that they story progressed.  I don’t know why I was shocked, though.  Perhaps it’s that I don’t really favorite a lot of contemporary reads.  (Although is this even contemporary?  Fantasy in present day?  I don’t know…)

This is one of the funniest, most entertaining books that I’ve read in a long time.  Readers who like contemporary with a little twist with enjoy this, along with readers who are sick of one person narration or female centered stories.  And ummm, how am I going to wait until 2015 for the sequel?  I haven’t craved more from characters or a writer in a long time.  FAVORITED!

As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of the hardcover cover (above left).  I think that the use of models forces the readers to imagine the characters in a certain way, and with this book it is very unclear which girls on featured here.  With that said, while I do prefer the paperback cover (above, right), I don’t think that either of them does the book justice.  The paperback cover is simpler and I love the silhouette  design, but it’s color and the fact that the silhouette is of a girl is clearly meant to appeal more to girls (not to say that guys can’t like pink, but no one can deny gender stereotypes in cover design).  Anyway, the single girl doesn’t represent the large group of characters featured in this book, and in no way encourages male attention.  This is a book that really represents both genders, and it angers me that a blatant gender stereotype was used in the making of this cover.  This book will lose many readers because of the way that the book is designed.  As much as people like to say “Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover”, everyone, especially cover designers, know that’s not true.  Sorry for ranting, I’ll probably write a discussion about this.