Don't You Forget About Me: An escapist, magical romcom from the author of CONFESSIONS OF A FORTY-SOMETHING F##K UP!

by Alexandra Potter

A laugh-out-loud, magical romcom from the author of CONFESSIONS OF A FORTY-SOMETHING F##K UP!

After a bad break up, doesn't every girl wish for the same things?

* For her ex-boyfriend to stay single forever.
* Or maybe emigrate to a remote, uninhabited island?
* Better still - that she'd never met him in the first place!

But what if one of those wishes came true?

Tess is heartbroken when Seb breaks up with her and can't help blaming herself. If only she'd done things differently. If only she could make right all her regrets. Drunk and upset on New Year's Eve, she wishes she'd never met him . . .

But when she wakes up to discover this dream has come true, Tess realises she has a chance. To do it all over again. And to get it right this time.

From the bestselling author of ME AND MR DARCY, this heartwarming love story is for every girl who has loved, lost and dreamt of getting her man back.

• ISBN10: 144471211X
• ISBN13: 9781444712117
• Publish Date: 19 July 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder Paperback
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[SilverThistle]

I liked it. I wasn't sure at the start and got a bit lost with the mechanics of the wish fulfillment but by the end I was hooked and couldn't wait to see how it all came together.

It's the story of Tess who has recently been dumped by her boyfriend and she's heartbroken. She makes a wish on New Year's Eve that she'd never met him so that she doesn't have to suffer the pain of losing him and her wish comes true! It's as if they didn't meet. However, it's everyone else who forgets she ever met him, Tess herself doesn't forget and when she's given a second chance to do it all again, with knowledge of all the mistakes from before she's thrilled.

I have watched my fair share of 'RomCom' in movie form and this book is just like watching one of those. (I think this would transfer really well onto film and I'd definitely pay to watch it). All through the book there are little clues dropped and loose ends and it's not until the very end that they all fit together and tie up and along the way there's plenty of laughs and misunderstandings.

I did guess the ending within the first 3 chapters but that didn't spoil anything for me, I just looked forward to it happening. There are a few other twists throughout and I guessed a couple of those too but it was still a great read. I liked that all the loose ends were tied up nicely.

Some of the characters were hateful and I loved how they were dealt with in the end, likewise I liked how the underdogs were treated too. I just liked it all around really.

[Leah]

A new Alexandra Potter book is always something to celebrate. She’s only of the only Chick Lit authors who puts a magical spin on her novels, and she’s always successful at it. She manages to make it plausible when any other author would make it sound silly and unbelievable. I suppose it’s the simplicity of her ideas. From Heather wishing on heather in Be Careful What You Wish For, to Lucy, Nate and The Bridge of Sighs in You’re The One That I Don’t Want, her ideas are simply explained and simply and easily executed. In her newest book (and first for two years, would you believe) Don’t You Forget About Me, Tess finds out what happens when you get a second chance at making the man you love fall in love with you.

Much like her previous novels, Tess’s predicament in Don’t You Forget About Me is not preposterous/silly/whatever you want to call it. In fact, it’s an excellent idea. Who wouldn’t LOVE the chance to make a better first impression on someone? To do over your entire relationship to make it better than it was? Sure, there are pitfalls. But just the general idea of getting a do-over is awesome. So to see Tess do over her relationship with Seb is brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed how we got to see firstly how Tess did it the first time then how she changed things to make sure she did it better second time around. I’m sure there’ll be people who poo-poo the whole idea and say you should never change to impress someone, but I am not one of those people so I loved the idea. If you love someone so much, you’d jump at the chance of doing it all over again, and making it right, and I loved seeing Tess do it.

Did I expect it to work for Tess and Seb? Well, no. In a word. It was fun seeing Tess try, but I wasn’t entirely convinced, though I didn’t mind how it did end. The novel wasn’t just about Tess and Seb, and I quite liked getting to see Tess’s life. Her job as a PA (a very bad one at that), her friendship with her boss, Sir Richard, her friendship with cheeky-chappie Irish courier Fergus. Most of all, though, I loved Tess’s grandfather. He was a shining light in the novel, and I loved all scenes including him. I also liked Tess’s rather scatty flat-mate and best friend Fiona, though her need to be Posh grated a little. I very much enjoyed the novel. It was a great read, and it’s so good to see Potter back with Don’t You Forget About Me. Here’s hoping her next book is just as magical and does not take two years to come out!