Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

A homeroom in a NYC high school goes to gets their flu shots at the nurses office.  Everyone knows there are potential side effects with flu shots (fever, aches, etc.), but telepathy isn't supposed to be one of them.  The next day everyone in the class who got the shot show up to school with ESP.  "The Espies", as they come to call themselves, know everything you are thinking.  They know everything that each other is thinking.  This is not good if you have secrets that you want to stay hidden.  And it's also not good if you don't want TMI about your school nurse or your mom and dad.  But the upside is you don't have to keep guessing if that boy likes you... and you forgot to study for that big test??  No problem, just sit beside the class brain!

The group decides to keep their ESP a secret.  But how long will this go on?  And what if people find out?







I'm a big fan of Sarah Mlynowski's YA books.  I hard-core loved Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have).  I also thought Gimme a Call was adorable.  This one was equally as cute and had that little extra humor that this author writes with that always gets me smiling... but I felt like it was missing something.

The homeroom that is affected by the flu shot is full of interesting characters.  The main story seemed to focus on Mackenzie and her boyfriend Cooper.  Before the ESP kicks in, Mackenzie had been hiding something from him... afterwards, well it's pretty hard to hide ANYTHING when 20 other people can read your mind.  Cooper finds out the secret, plus a whole bunch of other things he really didn't want to know.  And it really turns him from a happy-go-lucky type of guy to someone who questions the truth about everything.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get into the narration of this book or not.  It's narrated in a first person plural narrative, that I did end up liking.  Everything in this book is told collectively by an all-seeing "we".  And it worked because these kids were all basically all-seeing.  They knew everything that went on with each other, whether they liked it or not.  I found the narration unique and wouldn't mind more books like that if it goes with the story.

Like I said earlier, there were some hilarious moments in this book.  Being able to read other people's minds will definitely bring out some interesting information, and there were plenty of TMI moments.  It was also cool to see how having ESP changed some of the "Espies" for the better.  I really enjoyed seeing how some characters were able to come out of their shells and have more confidence.  Of course for others, almost everything about it became a nightmare, but it was entertaining to read about that too.

The thing that holds me back from loving this book is that not a lot happens.  A few relationships start, a few end, people fight, they make up... that's about it.  I think this book needed just one more MAJOR story line for it to be completely engaging.  The way it is now, it's a nice, fluffy, fun read.... nothing that I'm going to be remembering in a few months.  But no matter what, I was happy to be reading another Sarah Mlynowski book, and I hope she writes a lot more YA in the future!  Her signature way of writing always makes me happy.

OVERALL: I really enjoyed reading about teens who can read everybody's minds!  I just wish that there was more going on in the story.  It was cute, enjoyable, entertaining, readable, and fun, but it wasn't as great as I wanted it to be.  There was still that Sarah Mlynowski writing-magic in it though... and some definite LOL moments.

This Book Contains:

• Relationship Drama
• A Sweet Sixteen party
• A Class Carnival
• NYC setting- Manhattan
• People's hilarious/embarrassing thoughts

Add it to your To-Read List!!

My Rating:

3/4

How I got this book: Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for allowing me to read and honestly review this book.
Date Published: 3/11/2014