Forget You by Jennifer Echols

There's a lot Zoey would like to forget. Like how her father has knocked-up his twenty-four-year-old girlfriend. Like her mom's nervous breakdown. Like Doug, the darkly handsome bad boy, who taunts her at school… Worried that her life is becoming a complete mess, Zoey fights back the only way she knows how, by making sure that she's perfect - the perfect daughter, the perfect student and the perfect girlfriend to ultra-popular football player, Brandon.

But then Zoey is in a car crash and can't remember anything about the night it happened. She should have been with Brandon, but he doesn't seem to know anything about the accident - and, more confusingly, doesn't seem to care. Only Doug, who saved her from the wreckage, has the answers Zoey so desperately needs, but he's the last person she wants to rely on, especially as he's acting like something happened between them that night. Which can't be true, can it? But with her thoughts full of Doug and strangely empty of Brandon, Zoey starts to question her feelings for the two boys and whether being perfect is more important than following your heart.

I seem to have a hard time relating to Echols's female characters, but I was extremely fascinated with Doug in this book. And also with the town the story was set in.

Echols is certainly a champion at writing teen angst. I think she has it down pat. There were too many times I wanted to shake Zoey because I felt like a lot of drama could have been avoided if she'd just told the truth. But then again, I can see why she hid some things. Her father wasn't exactly supportive. He was a total prick.

I liked the book well enough, but I had a hard time getting interested in Zoey. I was way more into what was going on with the people around her.

I like Echols's writing. I think she does a good job of setting the scene and describing the setting without going overboard. It was easy to visualize the sea, to see the earrings lying in the junkyard, and to smell the chlorine in the pool.

I've read that people were caught under a spell while reading this book, and I have to say that I can see where they are coming from. It is very easy to get deeply involved with this book without even really realizing it. Still, there were parts of the story that jolted me out of the peaceful reverie I was enjoying, and that definitely limited my delight with this book.

First let me talk about what I liked. Doug. Doug was one of those characters who has a harsh outer layer, and a super sweet inner layer. The type of guy that I enjoy reading about because it takes a bit of effort to crack his surface, but once that happens you can fall in love with him instantly. By far he was my favorite part of the entire story! Every scene he was in made me sigh with contentment.

I also really enjoyed the depiction of the characters on the swim team. Although I was never part of a swim team, I was part of the high school band. I know the camaraderie and silliness that comes along with a group of people who all love the same thing and I think Jennifer captured that perfectly! Reading about the antics of this group of characters made the story really enjoyable. A few times I even laughed out loud, which always makes me happy!

What I didn't enjoy was Zoey, the female protagonist. The entire first half of the book I was frustrated with her lack of common sense. I kept reminding myself that she was under a lot of pressure, and people under that type of pressure often make bad decisions. However as those decisions flew by, one after the other, I wanted to reach in and shake some sense into her! We are the masters of our own destiny Zoey dear, that means you have choices. For a character who considered herself so intelligent, she had a hard time showing it. It was because of this in particular that I didn't feel fully invested in the story. I'm thinking that maybe this book was aimed at those a bit younger than my group, and maybe others would feel more invested in Zoey than I was.

Overall, I can say that for the most part this was a sweet and interesting read. If you are lover of romance books, I can see you enjoying this story. It seems like a great summer read because it is a fast read through! At the points when I was immersed in the story, I read voraciously.