Customer Reviews

Don't You Forget About Me: A Novel

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jancee Dunn's new novel is the only book I have managed to finish in two days all summer! It is funny, angst-filled, endearing, and replete with characters to whom we can all relate. This book will appeal to those readers who had both good and bad high-school experiences, and despite the years in between, those feelings may still remain. It captures perfectly the feelings many of us have when we revisit old friends from high school, or even attend the dreaded reunions, and the "what-ifs" we all harbor if things had been different. Dunn creates scenarios that are filled with self-depricating humor and are peppered with anecdotes from the '80s that bring the reader right back to what some of us still remember as the glory days.

Don't You Forget About me was...in a word...awesome. I actually read it this past weekend as my husband and I were traveling up North to his twenty year high school reunion. The book was timely, for sure.
Great summer read. It brought me back...it could have been my high school...or any of our high schools if you grew up in the eighties.
Fantastic pop culture references throughout. A favorite!

I thought Jancee Dunn's memoir (But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous) was a very enjoyable read. Now with "Don't You Forget About Me," she quells any doubts about being a one-hit wonder. Her fiction is as winning as her non-fiction. It's a work steeped in 1980s memories. I'm five years older than the author, but the humor and insights resonated pitch-perfectly.

Dunn shows some neat inventive chops here - she creates a talk show hostess, Vi Barbour, with an impressive backstory - movies, books, TV shows, friends, ex-husbands, and B- through D-list guests with back stories as well. Very impressive stuff.

It's left to protagonist Lillian's older, introspective, brainy sister Ginny to provide the key insight: the yawning gap between Liilian's reverent memories of her halcyon days of high school vs. the reality ("You were miserable most of the time"). I think that'll resonate with more than a few readers.

At thirty-eight, Lillian Curtis has a satisfying, if placid life in New York City, with both a job and husband that fit her like her oh-so comfortable "Socks to Stay at Home In." When Lillian's husband surprises her by asking for a divorce, Lillian takes a sabbatical from her job and temporarily moves back home to live with her parents in New Jersey.
Lillian's return coincides with her 20-year high school reunion, and Lillian throws herself back into her past, replicating high school friendships and cliques, and even reigniting a romance with the boyfriend who dropped her after senior year.
During Lillian's sojourn to the past, she discovers her memories of high school glossed over some of the unpleasant realities and Lillian comes to terms with her past and her future nearly simultaneously.
The eighties theme of "Don't You Forget About Me" creates a fun and nostalgic backdrop, and references to popular 80's songs develop an emotional context. "Don't You Forget About Me" is well written, engaging, with several laugh out loud moments.

I give this book 4 stars merely for its amazing ability to transport any woman who graduated from high school between the years 1985-1988 back to being 15 again.

I was compelled to pick this book up after reading some reviews of it and its intense 80's feel. I grew up in the 80's as well--although I graduated 2 years earlier than Lillian (the main character in this novel). I have to hand it to author Jancee, she hits the nail on the head in this one--right down to the clothing/makeup/cologne Lily recalls loving to the incredible music--The Cure, the Smiths,The Simple Minds, Squeeze, Duran Duran, etc. She also manages to invoke the pleasure and pain that was high school, although Lily can't seem to wrap her mind around the fact that it was terrible!

Definitely chick lit, but a short and fun--and surprisingly emotional. Not bad!

I had forgotten how screwed up my perception of myself was in high school until I read Jancee Dunn's book. I felt great sympathy and plenty of cringing as I read about a girl who could have had a great time in high school and after, but never did, because she was so outwardly directed. Jancee told the story with humor and kind understanding. Being over 70 myself, I was sure to acknowledge Vi's tips for enjoying life.

Do you remember your high school years? If so, were you one of the popular crowd or one of the smart kids? Were you a cheerleader or did you play in the band? Did you blaze new trends? Or did you do your very best to blend in with the crowd? If you could revisit that time in your life, would you? These are the themes in this very funny and relatable book.

If you are anything like me you try your very best to block out any and all memories of high school. Those four years were quite possibly the four worst years of my life. Could I have been any nerdier? Could I have been any more awkward looking? I was too tall, too thin, my hair was (is) uncontrollable, I had braces, and absolutely no self-confidence. While I had friends I can't say that any of them were really good friends. We were just a bunch of girls who sat together at lunch so we didn't have to sit alone. Safety in numbers, right? And after graduation - one of the best days of my life - we parted ways without ever really looking back.

In Jancee Dunn's Don't You Forget About Me, protagonist Lillian Curtis happily "hurtles backward" into her high school years after being blindsided by her husband's request for a divorce. Unlike me and probably most of the rest of the world, Lillian recalls her teen years as some of her happiest and is quickly agreeable to turning back the clock. So at 38-years-old Lillian takes a leave of absence from her job as a producer in New York City to return to her parent's home in New Jersey to lick her wounds and reassess her life choices. Her return also happens to coincide with her twenty-year high school reunion.

Upon her return to New Jersey, Lillian reverts back into her former life of being on the cusp of her friends' popular clique. She drives too fast, blasts mixed tapes of 80's songs, reads old notes she saved in her dresser drawer, and betrays her non-popular friend Dawn (again). She also falls back into an old relationship with ex-boyfriend Christian, and allows him to once again call all the shots in their relationship.

Initially Lillian was not a very likeable character. One would assume that a 38-year-old TV producer would know a whole lot more about how to treat people. But unlike a Mean Girl character Lillian didn't mean to be a horrible person. The problem was that in her efforts to be more appealing to her friends and ex-boyfriend, she was rather harsh to those she deemed at the low-end of the totem pole. Having been at the bottom of that pole at one point in my life, my heart went out to Dawn and to some of the other characters that Lillian treated quite terribly (I won't go into more detail because I don't want to give too much away). I was glad that at one point in the book Dawn found the courage to stand up for herself. One could say I was living vicariously through Dawn instead of through Lillian, as I'm sure the author would prefer!

After some deep discussion with her older sister Ginny, and revelations of forgotten memories, Lillian becomes much more relatable and finally likeable. She realizes her past didn't exactly play out the way she thought it had. She realizes that some things just aren't worth going back to. She also realizes that while being a grown up is hard, it is a much better alternative to the horrible process of trying to be someone you aren't.

The verdict? I loved this book and finished it in just a couple of days. The references to the 80's were spot on and reminded me of my own teen years. Remember John Hughes' movies? What about Wham! and tape recorders? Do you also recall trying to fit in at any cost? Do you remember spending an insane amount of time worrying about what everyone thought of you? This book is sort of a bittersweet look back at things I loved (could count them on one hand) and hated most about high school, which I'm sure many others can relate to. I highly recommend this book for a good laugh and maybe some not-so-good reminders of the past. I look forward to reading the author's other books as well.

Ameena Din
Freelance Reviewer
Fancy That...Fancy This
http://www.fancythatfancythis.com

I read this book in two days because, when I put it down, I kept wondering what was happening to Lillian. She is such a lovingly-created character that she draws you into her world. Most women have an old boyfriend they would like to go back and revisit or have a distorted view of their high-school years, so this was not only interesting to read but it also gave a gentle lesson in reality. I love the way Dunn writes and hope for another book real soon.

A terrific book with great 80's references combined with funny and realistic depictions of life in NYC and New Jersey. Very thoughtful, and also very humorous, story about looking back 20 years after high school and figuring out how to move forward. Great fun.

I'm reading this book now. I can't put it down. I keep forgetting that I'm reading a book. I feel like I'm spending time with a smart, interesting, funny friend.
There is no character that I don't want to know more about. I'm torn between wanting to know what's going to happen next with taking my time because I love the little details that Lillian uses to deal with her sadness.
I want to read everything that Jancee Dunn has written.