Don't Even Think About It

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski is SUCH a fun book to read! I'd read Sarah Mlynowski's previous book, Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done, and thought it was really cute so I was very much looking forward to more stories by the same author. I was definitely not disappointed with Don't Even Think About It.

This book centres around a core group of high school students in the same homeroom who have all received a flu jab. Flu jab? Sure, you'd expect some minor side effects but these 20 or so students are in for a much bigger surprise when one of the side effects turns out to be telepathy.

Honestly, I hope that I'm not going to be really tedious in this review but this book is so much fun. I love the premise. It's about a bunch of teenagers who* can read minds.* I think what's great about this book, besides how awkward and hilarious some of the situations that these characters get themselves into, is that the telepathic powers that they all get only seem to amplify the drama and secrets and emotion that most teenagers go through. I think everyone at some point in time would really want to know what other people are thinking, especially if it concerns you. And while a lot of fun is had and I really loved to see how one particular character grows in confidence there are also other situations in which telepathy might not be such a good thing (like when you can hear your parents having sex!).

There is plenty of drama and secrecy going on here. There's also rifts in friendships and romantic relationships. There are some tricky moral dilemmas about test taking, but there are some rather heartbreaking truths to be learned about family and I love the way some of the characters really thrive with their new found powers and for others, telepathy seems to be the biggest curse of all.

I was a little bit unsure about the structure of the novel beforehand and I think it's worth mentioning briefly. The perspective of the book is told from the point of view of all the students affected by the flu jab collectively. I thought perhaps this hive mind perspective might mean that there was less emphasis on separate characters and that I would struggle to connect to individuals. But Sarah Mlynowski really surprised me with this. Despite everyone telling the story, it does focus on certain characters as they go through more emotional story lines with the added commentary from some of the others. I was surprised but even in this way there were definitely characters that I was rooting for throughout and story lines that really got to me.

I think this book has a lot going for it. I was so amused and horrified by so much of the book that it kind of took me by surprise how emotional it actually is. By far my favourite story lines involved the Tess who had a crush on her best friend, Teddy ... only to find out that he mostly thinks about his crush on a different girl. And also the Mackenzie who cheated on her lovely, long-term boyfriend, Cooper, and was wracked with guilt for weeks before he found out.

I'm reliably informed that this will be the first book in a series and I am incredibly excited to read more! I thought this book was told with a lot of humour and heart. It was a very quick, fun read but with some added depth to it as well. I really connected to all of the characters and I think it'll be great to see different sides to some of the other characters that we only briefly meet in this book. Bring it on!