I can't justify a higher rating than 3.5, but I also refuse to give it any less. It's kind of a bad book. There's one reason, in particular, I want to mention: The dad was a forced douche bag. I feel bad actually, on his behalf, because I don't think he really wanted to be a total dick. But he only has so much control seeing as he's a fictional character, therefore not real, and Echols, who is real holds the pen...see the problem, yeah? She wanted a dick dad, and so he was. Le sigh. All in all, this book is like a good one hour episode of a semi-watchable teen drama.

The reason why I enjoyed my time through Forget You, despite its many setbacks, is Zoey. She seems to be a hit or miss from what I've read, but I have to say -- she definitely hit my soft spot. She was adorable, I couldn't help it! She's a sweet (childlike), hilarious (clueless), polite (goody goody) perfectionist (anal with a hint of OCD). And she totally works. There's something a little off with her, both quirky and unbelieving. She thought she'd be thrown in the loony bin for suffering amnesia (she loses several hours of that night) after getting in a car wreck...like, she honestly believed that...she's 17. Anyway, I don't always know how she ends up wherever she ends up mentally and emotionally; why she feels what she feels, and makes the decisions she makes. You're always left just a bit baffled, like she's either really innocent or quite possibly stupid, but definitely as though she's not quite normal-thinking. But she's cute, so I accept it.

Don't believe me?...EXCERPTS!!!

The next time my dad sent me to the wholesale club for paper towels and soda straws...I also bought the world's largest box of condoms...I gave condoms out to anyone who asked. I gave condoms to people who didn't ask. If I heard rumors about them, I slipped condoms through the vents in their lockers in the break room.

---

I couldn't lie down with him, though. Lying in the back of a police car with him would not be my consolation prize after I couldn't go parking with my boyfriend. That would make me a ho.

I have a feeling Echols is actually a really good writer (in fact, I'm pretty sure as I read Going Too Far and that was quite legitimately good). I believe, if she chooses, she could do some real damage to my emotional stability.

EXCERPTS!!!

In my mind, I was back in my mother's bedroom, trying to fix everything. With two fingers, I brushed her blong hair away from her closed eyes so she'd look better to the paramedics when they arrived.

...except she's writing for MTV Books.