Book Review: Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Don't Even Think About It
Author:  Sarah Mlynowski
Publisher:  Delacorte Press, 336 pages
Publication Date:  March 11, 2014
*Received ARC from publisher via NetGalley

From Goodreads:
We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.
So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

Review:
I enjoyed this book about a group of high school students who suddenly can hear everyone's thoughts, including each other's.  It obviously creates problems for some (girl who cheated on her boyfriend and friends who have occasional mean thoughts about each other), but also frees others (shy girl who was always afraid of what everyone was thinking about her).  So it's high school drama with this additional complication.

The plural writing was a little hard to get used to at first, and there were so many characters (twenty-two students get the flu shot that leads to them having ESP) that it took me awhile to keep everyone straight, although there were about five of the students that the book focused on.  Once I knew who was who, I did enjoy the humor and the realistic reactions and situations.  Suddenly students are sitting next to the smart people in class so they can cheat during tests, and they're excelling at chess tournaments and sports.  I thought it was pretty hilarious when the twins were supposed to wrestle each other and both of them could hear each other's thoughts so they basically just stood there because they were mentally wrestling.  And one student who can't help but overhear what her parents are thinking when they're having sex.  Umm…awkward.  So on the one hand, they realize it's such a cool power.  On the other hand, they can't hide their own thoughts from each other and they can't help but hear everyone's thoughts, whether they want to or not.  Would you really want to know what everyone thinks about you, no filter?  

Creative, fresh, funny, and smart, I was thoroughly entertained.

Posted by:  Pam