Name: Forget You
ISBN: 9781439178232

Forget You

Stefanie Sugia

** short review:
i had high expectations for this book, but somehow i'm disappointed when i finished reading. 
The plot is basically about a girl named Zoey, who got into a car accident, and forgot things - including how she got into a relationship with a guy named Doug, when all Zoey could remember is that she was dating Brandon. The story wasn't all that good for me, because there are lots of unimportant details included in the story. But the plus in reading this book is Doug <3 :D I don't know if such a guy exist, but he's definitely charming ;) 

Overall, all i had to say is this book doesn't quite satisfy me. :(

Alexandra Mellas

Jennifer Echols 'Forget You' features Zoey, swim team captain, all round nice girl who is dealing with more than the usual amount of teenage drama. Her father has left her Mother for 24 year old pregnant Ashley, and her Mother attempted suicide. To top it all off, she is in a car accident and loses all memory of the night and when everyone starts acting differently she is determined to know why. Her new boyfriend, Brandon, is barely around, her best friends, twins Keke and Lila, are constantly fighting and Doug, a boy who has visible hated her since his return from juvie in the 9th Grade, is acting like her boyfriend.

What happened that night?

Echols writes well, and Zoey's confusion, over her Mother's suicide attempt and her Father's brusque treatment of his former family, is written with sincere and realistic emotion. The events leading up to, and of, the accident are curious and capture the Readers attention.

Unfortunately, that is where the appeal stopped. Zoey is selfish, over dramatic and fickle. Despite worrying about her Mother, there is little to no mention of her, expect her fear that people would find out that her mother was 'insane'. Zoey says she has no experience with sex and decides to try it with Brandon after the incident with her Mother. 
Sex then becomes an obsession. She wants to 'go parking' whenever she gets the chance, and after the accident, she finds herself admiring Doug and feeling the same way towards him. Acknowledging the drama in her life, Zoey uses sex as an outlet, but Echols uses it as a chapter filler. 

The events leading up to the crash, from Zoey and Doug's interaction at the football match, to their surprising interaction at her home the next morning, are gone from Zoey's memory. Yet, as the events of the night unfold, nothing seems realistic. Doug's attitude changes from sarcastic to adoring, his is admiring and scornful. No one, no matter how long they have or haven't liked a person, goes from hating them to being in love with them. 

When Zoey does learn things about the night, learns that she has been lied to, she has barely any reaction. She has a moment of pure drama, then relaxes and returns to her sex obsession. For a girl who lost her virginity a week earlier she is very pushy as she uses sex as a tool and a weapon.

My last critique of Echols is how she over does the voices of the male leads. Brandon is a player but he still thinks he is in love with a girl after a few days of sex. Doug is a love hate flip card, and is constantly revealing unnecessary information so that he and Zoey feel closer. Firstly, most teenage boys are not that emotive. They don't tell their girlfriends very personal things after two days. Secondly, if you go to school with a boy, and are on a team with them, for years you know a few about him. His heritage for one thing; especially if everyone else knows it.

I couldn't enjoy this novel, and when I finished I wondered if I had somehow missed an entire chunk. The space between the last chapter and epilogue leaves the reader floating and unsure.

Becky

I enjoyed this book. Again, another predictable but heartwarming story which gave me the warm and fuzzies. I did wish there had been greater character development and better explanations for people's actions than there was. I spent a lot of time wondering how things happened and kept looking for explanations that were not given. I didn't like how the twins were portrayed, I get there were being shown as a bit childish at times, as we all are. But I feel like they provided no real characterisation, just filled a purpose in forcing the storyline along. I did enjoy the story though, mostly.

Jessica Nottingham

I’ve read that people were caught under a spell while reading this book, and I have to say that I can see where they are coming from. It is very easy to get deeply involved with this book without even really realizing it. Still, there were parts of the story that jolted me out of the peaceful reverie I was enjoying, and that definitely limited my delight with this book.

First let me talk about what I liked. Doug. Doug was one of those characters who has a harsh outer layer, and a super sweet inner layer. The type of guy that I enjoy reading about because it takes a bit of effort to crack his surface, but once that happens you can fall in love with him instantly. By far he was my favorite part of the entire story! Every scene he was in made me sigh with contentment.

I also really enjoyed the depiction of the characters on the swim team. Although I was never part of a swim team, I was part of the high school band. I know the camaraderie and silliness that comes along with a group of people who all love the same thing and I think Jennifer captured that perfectly! Reading about the antics of this group of characters made the story really enjoyable. A few times I even laughed out loud, which always makes me happy!

What I didn’t enjoy was Zoey, the female protagonist. The entire first half of the book I was frustrated with her lack of common sense. I kept reminding myself that she was under a lot of pressure, and people under that type of pressure often make bad decisions. However as those decisions flew by, one after the other, I wanted to reach in and shake some sense into her! We are the masters of our own destiny Zoey dear, that means you have choices. For a character who considered herself so intelligent, she had a hard time showing it. It was because of this in particular that I didn’t feel fully invested in the story. I'm thinking that maybe this book was aimed at those a bit younger than my group, and maybe others would feel more invested in Zoey than I was.

Overall, I can say that for the most part this was a sweet and interesting read. If you are lover of romance books, I can see you enjoying this story. It seems like a great summer read because it is a fast read through! At the points when I was immersed in the story, I read voraciously.

Forget You

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