Review: Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Forget You by Jennifer Echols

There’s a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked up his twenty-four-year old girlfriend. Like Zoey’s fear that the whole town will find out about her mom’s nervous breakdown. Like darkly handsome bad boy Doug taunting her at school. With her life about to become a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, using her famous attention to detail to make sure she’s the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player Brandon.
But then Zoey is in a car crash, and the next day there’s one thing she can’t remember at all—the entire night before. Did she go parking with Brandon, like she planned? And if so, why does it seem like Brandon is avoiding her? And why is Doug—of all people—suddenly acting as if something significant happened between the two of them? Zoey dimly remembers Doug pulling her from the wreck, but he keeps referring to what happened that night as if it was more, and it terrifies Zoey to admit how much is a blank to her. Controlled, meticulous Zoey is quickly losing her grip on the all-important details of her life—a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

Review:

Wow! Forget You was a brilliant, intense, and romantic novel that left me anxious to read her previous release, Going Too Far, right away!

Zoey was a main character different than any I’ve ever read about. She had a unique personality that left me unsure of what she would do next. She was thoughtful, yet impulsive, and was dealing with a lot. Her father had left to be with his 25-year-old pregnant mistress and her mother was slowing breaking down. Trying to keep her cool and controlled manner, Zoey has no one she can trust to talk about her unraveling life. Her best friends, Keke and Lila, aren’t serious and trustworthy enough to keep her mother’s mental issues secret and her boyfriend Brandon is too carefree. Then there’s the hostile and moody Doug who has hated Zoey since freshman year….

The beginning of the novel was excellent and built up to the climax- a car accident where Zoey suffers from amnesia. The problem is, she doesn’t know who to turn to because Brandon is suddenly never around and Doug is….always around. On top of dealing with her family troubles, Zoey now had to struggle to act like she knew what happened the night before the accident when she really has no idea.

This was a really emotional and intense time for both the reader and Zoey, as they get to experience everything she’s going through first hand. Not only is Zoey clueless about what happened that night, the reader doesn’t know what happened either. It’s suspenseful and almost scary trying to figure out what actually happened, as only little clues are revealed until the end. I couldn’t relate to what Zoey was going through, but I could feel for her. Obviously something very unexpected happened that night, and she’s having a hard time trying to poke around and find out the truth.

I really liked Zoey’s character even though she could be a bit impulsive at times. She was dealing with a lot but still managed to keep control and order in her crazy life. Doug was a terrific guy and I loved how sweet he was to Zoey. He was also dealing with a lot back home, so could understand Zoey’s need for secrecy and understanding on his part. His brother, Officer Fox, a police officer, played a large role in the novel and without him and his Chief Zoey may never have realized what happened the night of the accident. I couldn’t stand Mr. Commander, but Zoey’s mother was a nice and normally in control person that just was dealing with a lot when her husband betrayed her. Brandon was a sweet, albeit clueless, guy who just didn’t understand commitment. He was a good friend to Zoey though. The other secondary characters were also well developed and readers would feel as though they were a part of the story.

The romance was amazing in Forget You. Intense, slow growing, and sweet; Zoey and Doug’s relationship was one of my favorites. The scenes where they were together were extremely well done and you could feel the passion and tension between them. Just be aware, some scenes in this novel are not appropriate for younger readers!

Overall, I loved Forget You. It was a romantic and dramatic read filled with suspense and strong emotions. The ending was great, and the last 50 pages were very intense. The only other book I’ve read by Jennifer Echols was her Simon Pulse Rom Com, The Ex Games, which was completely different from this! I’m very eager to read Going too Far now as I’ve heard it’s even better!

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

July 20, 2010/MTV Books/292 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Author (ARC)

Other books by this author: Going Too Far, The Ex Games