Book Review: Don’t You Forget About Me by Liz Tipping

Don’t You Forget About Me by Liz Tipping
Release Date: 6th June 2016
Publisher: Carina UK
Buy: Kindle
Rating:

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 80’s 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…

Cara Dunham is pretty much your average girl. Obsessed with John Hughes movies, fed up with feeling trapped in her hometown and struggling to decide what it is she wants to do in life, things looks set to take an interesting turn when she is invited to her school reunion. This must surely the chance that Cara has been waiting for – the reunion could even give Cara her much-dreamed-of happy ending (after all DANIEL ROSE aka her school crush will be there!) If only Cara could be like the legendary Molly Ringwald… In order to make this happen and grab the life she has always dreamed of, Cara enlists the help of her friend Stubbs. But the real mission on Stubbs’ mind is to make Cara see that she might just be perfect the way she is…

I was MEGA excited to start reading Don’t You Forget About Me for a various number of reasons. Firstly I love Liz Tipping. Secondly I loved her debut novel, Five Go Glamping and I had very high expectations for her latest and I also love 80s movies – all the signs pointed towards this book being flipping fantastic and I am delighted to confirm that it completely and utterly lived up to all of my expectations.

It was funny, sweet, romantic, smile inducing and an all round cracking story in each and every way.

The 80’s themed aspect of the story was done so, so well. Authentic and intriguing it really gave the story that edge and needless to say if you’re an 80’s fan yourself then this book was made for you.

I also need to express my love for Cara. She made such a wonderful heroine and I adored her. I think a lot of readers will be able to identify with her and the situation that she has found herself in, feeling stuck in a dead-end job and trapped in her hometown. She’s always desperately trying to escape from the past but in doing so she seems to have lost some of her present-day identity. She has moments of self doubt like any girl and despite being doing insanely silly things sometimes (Yes, I was shouting at her through the pages) she is very real and a hugely likable character. Talking of likable characters I also loved Stubbs. He was such a sweetie. But would Cara see that for herself? You won’t be able to stop reading until you find out.

Liz Tipping is such a fantastic writer. Her style of writing is an absolute joy to read and the stories that she crafts are clever and so easy to follow. She has created a sweet, heart-warming and gripping tale in Don’t You Forget About Me which is perfect for a sunny afternoon in the garden. It’ll make you smile, snigger and swoon.

Bring on more from Liz Tipping…

A huge thank you to publishers Carina & Liz Tipping.

Liz Tipping is a writer of romantic comedies.

As well as reading and writing novels, Liz enjoys John Hughes films, science fiction box sets, reality television, Irish sausages and ginger beer. She lives in Birmingham and has a degree in Communication where she specialised in Film Studies and Photography.

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