Don't You Forget About Me

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.