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…
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.
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