Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Title: Forget You

Author: Jennifer Echols

Publisher: MTV Books

Release Date: July 20, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

WHY CAN’T YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU FORGET...AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER?

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. Feeling like her life is 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 detail of her life--a life that seems strangely empty of Brandon, and strangely full of Doug.

I first discovered Jennifer Echols when I read Going Too Far. When I found out that she had a similar book coming out I got excited because I just loved Going Too Far. I can now say that I had the same reaction to Forget You. I just absolutely loved it. The story was great, the characters were great, I just couldn’t put it down no matter how sleepy I was getting. Jennifer Echols just has a way of writing that completely draws the reader into the story, and in my books that makes for some pretty awesome writing and story telling.

Zoey always has to be in control of everything and no one can find out about the real problems in her life. It’s bad enough that everyone knows her dad got his twenty-four-year old mistress pregnant and is leaving her mom to be with her, now Zoey’s mom has had a total nervous breakdown and is being kept at the mental hospital. Then Brandon, a super popular and hot football player, takes interest to Zoey things seem to be looking up. But a car wreck later, Zoey can’t seem to get a handle on things again: Brandon barely speaks to her, she can’t remember anything that happened the night of the crash, and of all people, Doug Fox, seems to be the only one who knows everything that’s going on with Zoey.

I felt like I could relate to Zoey throughout most of the book. Her whole thing about being a good listener to everyone’s problems, been there done that. Being team captain without necessarily being the best on team, been there done that too. But unlike her, my parents are still together and my mother has never been institutionalized. Zoey was really great though I did get exasperated with her at times, especially when she kept on going on about being Brandon’s girlfriend just because she’d slept with him once. I’m sorry but randomly hooking up with someone, in most cases, does not make you that person’s girlfriend or boyfriend. Especially when you know said person has been hooking up with girls all summer long and talking to you about it. But other than this I really liked Zoey.

Doug was pretty awesome too, I’ll admit it. I loved discovering that he wasn’t at all who Zoey thought he was. He wasn’t exactly who everyone thought he was and that’s something I really like about a character. What I liked the most about Doug was how much he cared about Zoey and wanted protect her from different things going on...though if he could have done that without omitting certain facts it would have been even better. I can say for sure that I liked him a whole lot better than I liked Brandon, but if you ask me that’s not something that’s very hard. Brandon was a jerk. I’ll leave at that and stay polite.

I also really liked the story itself. This is only the second book of Jennifer Echols that I’ve read but I already love the way she tells stories. Forget You completely drew me in and I wouldn’t have put it down at all if I would have had a choice. Sure there were some elements of the story that I saw coming but that didn’t make me like the story any less. It was amazingly written, fast paced and absolutely amazing.

Anyone who has read anything by Jennifer Echols should most definitely pick up Forget You. Anyone else should pick it up, it’s that good of a book. It will find a way to shock you but you still won’t want to put it down.