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

Title: (Don't You) Forget About Me
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Genre: YA/Fantasy

Goodreads Description:
Welcome to Gardnerville.

A place where no one gets sick. And no one ever dies.

Except...
There’s a price to pay for paradise. Every fourth year, the strange power that fuels the town exacts its payment by infecting teens with deadly urges. In a normal year in Gardnerville, teens might stop talking to their best friends. In a fourth year, they’d kill them.

Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, was locked away after leading sixteen of her classmates to a watery grave. Since then, Skylar has lived in a numb haze, struggling to forget her past and dull the pain of losing her sister. But the secrets and memories Piper left behind keep taunting Skylar—whispering that the only way to get her sister back is to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.  

Here's What I Thought:
I'll start by talking about what drew me to the book.  As a huge fan of the 80's movie, The Breakfast Club, naturally, I loved the song Don't You (Forget About Me), and therefore, the book caught my interest.  Upon looking at the table of contents, I saw that every other chapter was the title of a major 80's song. This just seemed really cool and intriguing, especially since I love 80's music.

Now for the actual book.  I felt that Quinn grabs your attention right away by starting with Piper's May Day Parade.  There wasn't any intro before the action started.  In the fantasy genre, I find this important because authors can draw out an intro to long at times and take too long to get to the action.  On the other hand, with very little intro to the world of Gardnerville, I found myself asking too many questions with no answers to be found and, at times, was just plain confused.

The confusion, in part, I attribute to the set up of the book.  The numbered chapters are what is currently happening and the titled chapters are flashbacks.  These flashbacks are not in chronological order and jump between 4 years ago to 8 years ago.  That combined with Skylar seeking a drug induced amnesia makes the story very hard to follow at times.

The other thing that caused confusion was that the laws of magic are never really clearly defined.  Okay, Skylar's and Piper's powers came from the Reformatory (the prison for teenagers).  But why? How? Why does no one except the Gardners have powers with the exception of during the Fourth Year? These is never fully explained.

Despite these things, I found the book truly enjoyable.  It was a fast read and the action was fairly consistent throughout the book.  Quinn's dystopian world is unique and creative.  I liked the idea of having different super-charged pills for forgetting, running, stopping aggression, etc.  She also does an excellent job of describing Skylar's world under the influence of the Forget-Me-Nots. 

When the questions I had throughout the book were finally getting answered, I can honestly say I would not have guessed most of revelations. There was one that I was not completely shocked by, although the possibility hadn't occurred to me until after I read it.  I do find it important to note where the parentheses are in the book title as compared to the song title.  This emphasis does actually have a lot of importance.  I don't want to spoil it though, so you'll have to read the book and see for yourself!

Any Thoughts?
Have you read (Don't You) Forget About Me?  Do you agree? Disagree?  Maybe you just want to talk about it a bit more.  I would love to hear from you!


About the Author:
Kate Karyus Quinn is an avid reader and menthol chapstick addict. She has lived in California and Tennessee, but recently made the move back to her hometown of Buffalo, New York, with her husband and two children in tow. She promised them wonderful people, amazing food, and weather that would... build character. Another Little Piece is her first novel.

Links:
http://www.katekaryusquinn.com/
@KateKaryusQuinn