(Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn

 I was trying to write my reviews in order of when I read books to somehow manage to get back on track with them, and I was doing an okay job at it, but then I read (Don't You) Forget About Me by Kate Karyus Quinn and I instantly had to skip ahead. I needed to share my thoughts on this book right away, because honestly, I absolutely adored it. And sometimes it's just really nice to write a gush fest about a book that you love, and for me, this is one of those books.

(Don't You) Forget About Me is a gorgeously written, eerie novel about Gardnerville, a place where nobody gets sick and nobody dies. Of course, there is a cost for that and every four years strange urges come over the teens in the town and it doesn't stop until people end up dead. Those who caused the damage are sent to the reformatory, a strange building where nobody comes out the same. Four years ago, Skyler's sister Piper lead 16 of her peers into the river, and she's been missing ever since.

Skyler is not a narrator you can trust. She keeps forgetting things, which isn't helped by the pills she's started taking ever since Piper disappeared. There are a lot of unreliable characters and weird things going on in this book, but somehow they all fit perfectly into place. Quinn's storytelling reminds me a little of Nova Ren Suma in Imaginary Girls but this is an even more magical story, where it is clear from the beginning that things are different in Gardnerville. The writing itself is gorgeous and there are tiny perfect details that just made me fall more in love with the words with each page. If I had one small complaint, it's that it is a bit predictable at times, but there are enough twists and turns that there were still a few small surprises in there as well.

(Don't You) Forget About Me is filled with creepy moments and surreal images. Past memories that Skylar has with Piper are told through short chapters about the past between each present tense chapter. This kind of technique can be annoying, but Quinn uses it so well, and the chapters themselves are short enough, that I really felt like it added to the story and helped to reveal all the pieces rather than being distracting. As a result, I really felt like the book flourished in the second half as things started to come together. There is a hint of romance, but to me it was not very important to the book.

Overall, (Don't You) Forget About Me is an amazing book and one of my favourites I've read so far in 2014. I am so excited that Quinn has an earlier novel which I will definitely be picking up, as well as whatever she writes next. Highly recommend this book!

Release Date: June 10th 2014 Pages: 336  Format: Egalley
Source: Edelweiss  Publisher: HarperTeen  Buy It: Book Depository