(Don't You) Forget About Me

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4.3 (1)

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Author(s)

Kate Karyus Quinn

Publisher

Harper Teen

Genre(s)

Age Range

13+

Release Date

June 10, 2014

ISBN

0062135961

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Stephen King meets Tuck Everlasting in this eerie, compulsively page-turning tale of a girl haunted by the loss of her sister—and trapped by the mysterious power that fuels her small town. Gardnerville seems like a paradise. But every four years, a strange madness compels the town's teenagers to commit terrible crimes. Four years ago, Skylar's sister, Piper, led her classmates on a midnight death march into a watery grave. Now Piper is gone. And to get her back, Skylar must find a way to end Gardnerville's murderous cycle. From Kate Karyus Quinn, author of Another Little Piece, comes a mesmerizing and suspenseful novel that will thrill fans of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys and Brenna Yovanoff's The Replacement.

Editor reviews

4 reviews

Overall rating

4.3

Plot

4.5(2)

Characters

3.5(2)

Writing Style

5.0(2)

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Whimsical, but with a serious bite.

September 16, 2015

Overall rating

4.0

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I loved Another Little Piece and was very excited to see what Kate Karyus Quinn had in store for this novel. Again, I adore her world building. The town of Gardnerville is like nothing I have encountered before. Magic simmers just below the surface and erupts with volcanic power and devastating consequences. I am a huge fan of the premise that great magic requires great sacrifice and the way KKQ has created an idyllic small town with a very dark secret was whimsical, but with a serious bite.

Each inhabitant of Gardnerville seemed more interesting than the last. Each had their own story and I loved seeing them play out through Skyler's story. I found it hard to sympathize with Skyler as she numbed her pain with pills but I could see how she struggled to maintain a grip on a reality she had spent so long altering. I was not a fan of the love interest and could really have done without it or him. Likewise, the "Bad Guy" (whose name I have forgotten). Perhaps I could have enjoyed his character a little more, had it not been for the fact that he was a teacher who was (at one point) involved with a student. The ick factor on that one is just too high for me and I cannot deal with it nor get past it.

KKQ's manner of storytelling continues to be unique and intriguing. We chase Skyler's memories through the rabbit hole and end up in a place that is even more dark and disturbing than the Gardnerville we had thought we had known. I will say, though the twists were interesting and well-planned, I did figure them out far in advance of the plot. This is certainly not meant to be a deterrent for another reader, I just was so hoping for a shocking surprise and didn't get it.

I love Kate Karyus Quinn's writing and will be signing on for anything else that she writes.

Elizabeth Drake, Staff Reviewer Top 100 Reviewer 66 reviews

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Magically Bizarre and Wonderful

October 01, 2014 (Updated: October 01, 2014)

Overall rating

4.7

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A memorable read with a few surprising twists and revelations. From the first chapter, Kate Karyus Quinn sets up an unsettling mood, that kept me turning pages.

Gardnerville is an isolated town where sickness and death have disappeared. But this town has a secret. There is a sense of mystery about the town, like it is dying to be figured out. The characters are surprsingly real yet at times a complete puzzle to figure out. I didn't want to put the book down, each chapter reveals a little bit more about Skyler and the people of Gardnerville that it is hard to close the book and leave that world behind.

The plot moves necessarily slow at times, but this helps but the suspense and tension in the story. Throughout the book it is hard to figure out how reliable the narrator truly is, and what is going on- but that is part of the fun. Things are not told in chronological order which might not be for every reader. This book is a giant puzzle and it was so much fun going along with the ride to figure it out!

I am very impressed with Kate Karyus Quinn's world and character building. I will definitely be reading more of her work.

Joanne Mumley, Twitter Manager Top 50 Reviewer 217 reviews

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User reviews

1 review

Overall rating

4.3

Plot

4.0(1)

Characters

4.0(1)

Writing Style

5.0(1)

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Weird, But Awesome

November 15, 2014

Overall rating

4.3

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MY THOUGHTS
This was one of my most highly anticipated reads, but I oddly enough didn't have high expectations of it. I liked the author's other book, Another Little Piece, but it didn't wow me. Along with that, this book doesn't have an extremely high average rating on Goodreads. But the fact that I didn't have high expectations made me love this book even more. I was not disappointed by this book at all.

This is an extremely weird and creepy book, but in a good way. I loved how weird this book was. The town was insanely creepy, but full of mysteries. What I really found interesting was how perfectly normal this town was to those living there. The 4 year thing where normal kids go crazy is just a part of life. The inhabitants of the town even have special abilities and that's not considered strange at all!

The way this book was narrated was interesting as well. The book is told in dual point-of-view, but by both by Skylar. Every so often we would get a memory of Skylar & Piper that would give us hints of what's actually going on with Garnerville and it was a very interesting way to tell the story.

One thing that I have been loving lately in books is unreliable narrators. Yes, this book definitely has that. Skylar, our main character, has a very questionable memory. She takes pills called forget-me-nots that actually causes her to forget things, so yeah, not a very reliable narrator. What's so great about books with reliable narrators is that it makes a book more mysterious and every plot twist even more shocking! And yes, we get one of those! (and I loved it!)

Of course, this book wasn't perfect (just like Gardnerville isn't), there were some things that I had issues with, but not many. I felt that this book was a bit slow at times, even though I do understand why. I also felt that the ending was rushed. The climax was crammed into a little chapter and that was a bit much for me.

IN CONCLUSION
I definitely recommend this book! If you're in the mood for a weirdly awesome standalone, pick up this book! While I will be waiting for more by Kate Karyus Quinn.