Don't You Forget About Me
Ratings48
Average rating3.6
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).
I love Mhari Macfarlane books - really well written and lovely romances that make you feel heady and light-hearted.
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!
A rollicking good read, full of LOL moments.
The hero Lucas's speech at the end made me cry.
So sweet!
A fun read.
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.
CW: Harrowing and detailed flashback description of sexual assault
I've seen some reviews that criticize this book for not being the fluffy romantic comedy that the cover picture and description promise. Blame the publisher for misleading you, folks, not the author. Mhairi McFarlane has written a very strong, memorable novel about a young woman finally taking back her life 12 years after a devastating event derailed it. Yes, we've got the typical Chick Lit set up of “heroine loses her job and boyfriend in one fell swoop,” but the situation is a lot more nuanced than that. Our heroine Georgina has let her family define her as “the screw-up,” and has let men make her feel inadequate, but as she learns the truth about some family secrets and is forced to confront her ex as he basically stalks her, she becomes more proactive about her choices instead of reactive to other people's actions and wishes, and more accepting of herself as well. By the time she literally “speaks truth to power” about the horrible night that changed everything , she has become the hero in her own story, and the fact that she gets a second chance with “the one who got away” is almost secondary in importance.
So if you're looking for a lighthearted feel-good romance, you might be disappointed. But if you want a genuine story about how a woman finally learns to not let the past define her, and oh yeah, ends up with a great guy too, you will be moved and impressed by McFarlane's latest. Mild spoiler postscript:YMMV about whether Lucas is a great guy or not. He really comes through for Georgina in the end, but he is pretty dickish to her at first (not without reasons, he thinks). And he's not without some blame in the events of 12 years ago, although he was admittedly a clueless teenager who was feeling very hurt at the time but took the first opportunity to think the worst of Georgina. Back in the present, he apologizes profusely for not realizing what she had experienced, but I have to wonder how much that night will color their relationship moving forward. I hope they get some counseling!
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.
Loved every bit. Laughed out loud a zillion times and even as reading I knew I'll read it again.
A lot heavier than her other books, this was hard to read at points. It redeems itself at the end.
