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

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Paranormal
Rating: ♚♚
Pages: 336
Published by Delacorte Press on March 11, 2014
Amazon | B&N

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.

NOTE: I received this review from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pointless. I'm sorry, Mlynowski, but it was. I was really excited to read Don't Even Think About It when I got an email from NetGalley saying that I was pre-approved for this title, but once I started reading it, I wasn't so sure anymore. This was definitely a fast read regardless of it lacking plot, and I appreciated that, hence the two stars/crowns. I felt that its pace needed to be recognized. And the writing was good, which also deserved a star/crown. The lack of the other three stars is the characterization, world-building, and my emotions throughout the novel.

For one, I felt no attachment toward the characters by the end of Don't Even Think About It, and I wasn't okay with that. There were two characters that I liked: Tess and BJ--BJ more than Tess. I just didn't agree with the way that Tess thought/did things. She mind slut-shamed Sadie, which was not okay, and she was always talking about how she wanted to lose weight so badly...and then she'd eat cheeseburgers, a milkshake, and fries. BJ was hilarious. Besides the fact that his name is BJ for the stupidest reason (because he thought it was funny), I liked him as a character. He was nice to Tess.

Two characters I couldn't stand at all would be Mackenzie and Pi. I just couldn't with those two. Mackenzie was pompous, and she thought everyone lived to serve her. Same thing with Pi. And that ending? What the heck, Pi? She ruined the ending for me. (Actually, they all did.) I just couldn't stand her character or her. She admonished the others for cheating on tests and then she goes and cheats, using her powers to read the smartest kid in school's (the one she envies) mind during a test. Hypocrite much? It's not his fault you didn't study!

There was practically no world-building. All the kids know is that their powers came from a batch of flu shots. By the end of the book, all the kids know is that their powers came from a batch of flu shots. Can you see the problem here? Literally nothing is explained by the end, and I wasn't okay with this just like I wasn't okay with the characters.

This ties in with my lack of feelings for the characters, but I could've cared less about these kids. The entire novel was a drama-infested high school, and it made me want to hurl, maybe even rip my hair out. It was annoying, and it irritated me to listen to their thoughts. They had nothing interesting to say. Ahem, I mean, think. I was excited to read about super powers, but this book lacked in that department too. And everyone was trying to be funny, but they just weren't. A character would say something "funny" and another character would laugh. But me? I didn't. I didn't laugh.

In all, I didn't dislike this book so much that I'm never going to read another Mlynowski book. I haven't completely written her off. I still enjoyed her other novel, Ten Things We Did. I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend this book for anybody unless they're looking for a drama-driven novel.

Mini Reviews: Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Branson Sanderson + World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Series: Reckoners #1
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 386
Published by Delacorte Press on September 24, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

There are no heroes.

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

This was just a random read for me. I was using the app Overdrive, and I had downloaded this book as a test for using the app. I didn't actually plan on reading it anytime soon (I had three weeks to get it read, and hey, 300 pages is easy). But then one day I was at school, and I didn't want to read the book that I brought with me (Eat, Brains, Love), and so I pulled my phone out. And it took a lot of restraint to not open the Nook app and read Shiver or The Darkest Minds, because those were some titles that I'd been wanting to read for a while. But no, instead of opening those, I opened Overdrive, and I had a moment of weakness where I opened up this book and read it.

Hell, that was one of my best weakest moments ever. This book was great, and I definitely didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Yes, there are cliffhangers. Yes, there are twists. And yes, there are bamf'ing girls and guys in this book. There was only one thing that I could've guessed by the end of the book, and that was a certain somebody's actual identity. Other than that one thing, I couldn't have guessed any of the other stuff at all.

Brandon Sanderson definitely knows how to write a great superhero-esque novel that knocked my socks off (figuratively). I saw on Goodreads that he has another fantasy series. I'm definitely going to be getting that book so I can buy it and enjoy it.

World After by Susan Ee
Series: Penryn & The End of Days #2
Genre: Angels, Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 314
Published by Skyscape on November 19, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose? 

This book, although a bit slow at first, ended amazingly. I just felt like there wasn't enough. Raffe wasn't present for the majority of the book, but the appearances that he did make made his final appearance even more impacting. This book wasn't as strong as Angelfall, but it was amazing nonetheless. There were twists and turns that I never expected, which I loved. (I hate guessing the plot by the end of the book. I'm big on the whole "reveal" thing at the end of books.)

The characters were constructed carefully and flawlessly. Penryn is very relateable with the way that she's afraid of her sister as well as her yearning for Raffe and the truth. Raffe's sword is a big deal in World After, and its name Pooky Bear is just wonderful. I loved this sequel so much, and I think it's well worth the read.

Lindsay goes into more depth about her reasoning for loving this book in her review, which you can check out here. And you can also check out her review for book one, Angelfall, here.