Blog Tour Review: Don't You Forget About Me by Liz Tipping

Don't You Forget About Me by Liz Tipping

Published: 6th June 2016

Publisher: Carina UK

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

An athlete, a princess, a brain, a criminal, a basket case…

Cara Dunham is definitely one of them. But stuck in her small hometown, with no prospects of escape, she's struggling to find her thing. Her life is more book club than Breakfast Club and there is no Judd Nelson in sight!

So when Cara is invited to a school reunion she knows this is her chance to channel her inner Molly Ringwald and grab her John Hughes moment, once and for all. Because her teenage love, Daniel Rose will be there, the coolest boy at school and the one that got away.

But transforming into an 80's icon isn't easy and Cara enlists the help of her oldest friend, Stubbs, to teach her all she needs to know about being cool and quirky – a la Ringwald.

Except Stubbs thinks she’s perfect, just as she is and takes it upon himself to show Cara that her life might not be ‘movie perfect’, but there is always another take to get things right. And maybe the hero she's dreamed of has been under her nose the whole time…

Review

Cara Dunham is feeling lost, she’s being stuck doing the same job for years, she’s waiting to find her dream man and her purpose in life. So when she gets the chance to go to her school reunion she decides to channel her inner Molly Ringwald and find out who she really is an athlete, a princess, a brain, a criminal, or a basket case so she can finally have her perfect moment with her teenage crush Daniel Rose, who is back in town.

Cara enlists friend Stubbs to help her find out who she really is and in exchange she will help him land a date with his dream girl April. So begins so very comical moments as Cara works her way through the roles.  Alongside this madcap scheme to find herself Cara also needs to find a way to save the local video shop where she works and where she relives her eighties fantasies on a daily basis.

I felt an instant connection to Cara whose trying to decide which character from the eighties films of John Hughes she should become. Having spent her school days just wanting to belong and find out who she is, is something I can identify with greatly. I loved she suddenly has these moments throughout the book like lightning bolts where things suddenly hit her and start to make sense.  I think a lot of readers may find Cara an annoying character as she does take being insecure with herself to a whole new level but I found her quite endearing and wanted her to find her happy ending.

Cara’s friends make other great characters. I loved the used of surnames for Stubbs’ and Divvy which seemed to emphasize that Cara still felt she was a teenager waiting to grow up. I loved Verity, she reminded me of myself, loving my kids but desperately needing to get out and be with the grown-ups sometimes.

This is the second book I’ve read this year that has referenced teenage films from the 80s, particularly The Breakfast Club, which I haven’t seen so a few of the references mentioned regarding the film didn’t make sense to me. This didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book however as I still loved Cara and her madcap scheme to find herself.

Can Cara find herself before she meets back up with Daniel? Will Stubbs land his dream date? Will Cara save the video shop? Don’t You Forget About Me is an easy light-hearted read full of comical moments which had me laughing all the way through. It is predictable from quite early one who will end with who and what the secrets are, but I still enjoyed it and think it would make a good beach read where you just wanting something entertaining.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for this copy to review in exchange for honest opinions.