Chicklit Club
 

NEW RELEASE

 
 

Don’t You Forget About Me – Liz Tipping (2016)

 

Cara works in a well-past-its-heyday video store in her hometown and spends her days watching 80s movies, talking to movie star cutouts and wishing her life was way more exciting. When she is invited to her school reunion, she hopes she will be able to return in triumph – to transform from the poor “bag lady” who had to wear hand-me-downs to a cool, fascinating chick exactly like Molly Ringwald in her Brat Pack days. In particular, Cara wants to impress her teen crush, Daniel. With her trusted friend Stubbs on hand to help her develop some cool interests, she is meanwhile helping him land April, the girl of his dreams and Cara’s high school nemesis. With Cara desperately seeking her own special romantic moment fit for the big screen, this story - packed with John Hughes movie references - follows familiar rom-com territory. I was disappointed that the actual reunion was only given a fleeting few scenes late in the piece - that may work in a movie but I'd hope for more in a book. Overall, it's all a bit corny – but no doubt that is exactly as it was meant to be. Worth a read for those who remember or love the 80s but just not as unforgettable as I’d anticipated.

Rating 6/10
 
 

Ever wish life was like an 80s movie? Don't You Forget About Me, by Liz Tipping, is centred around a woman transforming herself for a school reunion. The summary says: "An athlete, a princess, a brain, a criminal, a basket case... Cara Dunham is definitely one of them. But stuck in her small hometown, with no prospects of escape, she's struggling to find her thing. Her life is more book club than Breakfast Club and there is no Judd Nelson in sight!
So when Cara is invited to a school reunion she knows this is her chance to channel her inner Molly Ringwald and grab her John Hughes moment, once and for all. Because her teenage love, Daniel Rose will be there, the coolest boy at school and the one that got away.
But transforming into an 80s icon isn't easy and Cara enlists the help of her oldest friend, Stubbs, to teach her all she needs to know about being cool and quirky - a la Ringwald.
Except Stubbs thinks she's perfect, just as she is and takes it upon himself to show Cara that her life might not be 'movie perfect', but there is always another take to get things right. And maybe the hero she's dreamed of has been under her nose the whole time..." Don't You Forget About Me is out in June 2016.

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