Don't You Forget About Me

This was a sweet romance with a serious message at its core. I found Georgina an endearing character, and rooted for her all the way. The pop-culture-strewn style of humor, which often leaves me cold, was in this case amusing and the verbal banter well-judged. Somehow, even with a number of truly awful characters (boss, ex-boyfriend, housemate, and stepdad from hell) the overall tone was still comic and uplifting, maybe because they were balanced out by supportive friends, relatives, and coworkers. I'll definitely read another McFarlane and hope it makes me smile as much as this one did.

I really enjoyed this - it's sort of Bridget Jones-ish, but less self-destructive and more finally dealing with trauma and getting your life together? That makes it sound pretty heavy, and there are CWs for sexual assault, death of a parent, and a possibly abusive relationship, but this is the furthest thing from dark or grim. Georgina is a great narrator and a fun main character, and I liked her friends as well, though I do wish they were a bit more fleshed out. This was a lot of fun and I definitely want to read more by this author now!

3.5 stars, so I'm rounding up. This felt more chick-lit to me, with romance as a secondary plot. I was frustrated by the characters' failure to talk about things, to just clear the air–a problem for me with a lot of books–but Georgina felt authentic and her actions in line with someone who has gone through some $hit and someone who is young and inexperienced. Her reveal at the end was a surprise to me, and it think it helped better explain Georgina's thinking, but it felt a bit too late. Ultimately, I wanted more romance and that's probably an issue with me personally and not the book. But I'm definitely going to check out McFarlane's other books.

I don't go into a chicklit/light romance expecting the Next Great Novel; I merely hope for some entertainment and a few Calgon moments. And when an author has gained relative notoriety in these genres, I also expect that an editor may be involved prior to publishing.

With “Don't You Forget About Me,” none of these light expectations were delivered. The author seemed to have 4+ stories she wanted to write about and jammed them all into one book. Dead Daddy issues. Emotionally unavailable/manipulative semi-boyfriends. The (Nerdy-as-a-Teenager-But-Devastatingly-Handsome-as-an-Adult) One That Got Away. Wanna-Be Writers who fail at a series of short-term jobs (but don't write at all for 12 years or do much of anything but worry about a pink coat).

The story just did not make sense. Mhairi McFarlane is not without talent; the book starts off with a flashback that does its job of hooking you in. But, even at the end of the flashback, Georgina, whose supposedly head-over-heels in love with her secrete boyfriend and planning to lose her virginity that night, decides to leave the dance with the “hottest guy in school” because he said hi to her and wants to show her something. At the end, we learn that Georgina was sexually assaulted right after she goes into the bathroom with this guy. While I am not suggesting that it's her fault she was assaulted, why did she leave the room with him at all? It isn't as though she'd been dating him or was even friends with him and in the same room is the guy who she claims she's crazy about. Then, Georgina is super surprised and devastated that her secret boyfriend is making out with someone else when she returns to the dance. 12-years-later Georgina acts as though secret boyfriend should have know what happened and that he's basically at fault for not finding out why she let the dance with someone else.

The family side stories are strange, as is the semi-boyfriend storyline. The only consistent bit is that Georgina is flaky, has communication issues, and is hoping for a wealthy man to fix things for her. With editing, this book could have been an okay read, perfect for the beach. But, as it stands, it's rather awful.

3.5 rounded up.

First read of the new year, woohoo! This one had a very slow start for me compared to the last McFarlane novel I read. It was also a whopping 430 pages and I really feel like it did not need to be that long?

Also, overwhelmingly British. Not a fault of the author but good lord I gave up even trying to google phrases about halfway through.

Overall it was very cute and I enjoyed the story and most of the characters (shoutout Nana Hogg).