Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

Don't Even Think About It
By Sarah Mlynowski
Published: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Stand-Alone
Pages: 336

Contemporary teen fiction with romance, secrets, scandals, and ESP from the author of Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have).

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.

*Novel provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 2 stars

My Thoughts:
This was my first Sarah Mlynowski book and I have heard good things about her better known book, Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have), so I had high hopes for Don't Even Think About It.  Unfortunately, it did not quite live up to those expectations.
The title is actually quite clever because the kids have ESP, so they hear what you're thinking.  I thought it was a pretty stupid title before I started reading it because I didn't know what it was about at all, but once I got into it, it all started coming together.
This is a stand-alone and I felt that it could've been longer.  I liked the ending, but I felt like there were a lot of things that weren't really explained at all.  If you're going into this book expecting it to be super sci-fi-y and figuring out why they have it and things then you are going to be sorely disappointed.  This is really just a contemporary novel, but the kids have ESP.  It's very overly dramatized and every little thing is a huge deal to them, the way it really is when you're in high school.  I would say that this book would definitely be more enjoyable for the 12 to 14 or 15 age range rather than being good for people all the way up through their twenties.
I liked most of the characters.  I found Mackenzie to be very overly bitchy at times, which normally wouldn't have bothered me because every book needs a character like that.  What really irritated me about her was that she kept telling people how sorry she was for being so mean and superficial but she never actually did anything to change it, she just kept apologizing over and over again.
I also had a few issues with Cooper.  I thought that yes he was a nice guy, and he was funny and attractive, but he was so naive and then when he develops ESP and he's hearing everyone's thoughts and he just freaks out and goes crazy, I was just like, really?  Are you really that naive?  So that was pretty annoying.
On to a more positive note.  I really liked BJ and how he was super super perverted and all of his lines were super hilarious, some of them even made me laugh out loud.  He also showed a more sensitive and sweet side towards the end with Tess and Teddy and I really liked that, though I wish  had seen more of their relationship.
Overall,  I thought that Don't Even Think About It was an okay book, but it wasn't really the kind of thing that I enjoy.  I thought the writing was kind of sloppy and the story didn't really explore the points that I wanted it to.  I would recommend this to people who are really into the high school drama side of things but if you're looking for a good sci-fi read, don't waste your time.

Thanks for reading!
Amber