Book Review - Think Again

For the girls who grew up reading Jaqueline Wilson books are now squealing at the thought of her creating her first adult fiction book. From the Tracy Beaker days to now Think Again. The story has been continued from the original Girls series. Here at Luna we finally got round to reading the first new one of the series. 

This contemporary fiction story follows Ellie who is in her late thirties. She isn't particularly happy with how her life is at the moment. Even though she is a mum, a cat mum and has a fabulous group of friends. She has her little flat and is pretty content but her love life is non-existent. When her fortieth birthday arrives everything changes. Surprises loom and diversions come along the way. Deciding to think again. 

From reading the series in my teens you would always wonder where did the story go? The group of friends that Ellie has been involved with from the start are all involved within this story. Which is so fun to explore and answers some of the questions I had when I was younger. I wish on reflection that they had more involvement but on the other hand does this not reflect real life? Friendships change as we get older and this shows the reality of this. They are there for her but as the story evolves you can sense that while Ellie is changing, they don't see underneath who she really is. 

With being single comes dating, this was frustrating. Ellie does become involved with a partner that you grow to hate. Well personally I did. Lovebombing was present in its purest form. I felt I couldn't picture them working together and when you kept reading Ellie was in constant doubt then would change her mind. It made you feel uneasy in the relationship even though he was looked at as the perfect man. You couldn't help but only feel like he wasn't. 

Along with her male lover was a new female companion. This character was the part at the beginning that got the ball rolling. It opened Ellie's eyes to the world and from this brought feelings up she didn't know she had. This made the book have a modern approach from the teen books. That Ellie could be experimental and feel free, like getting tattoos and trying new coffee spots. This shadowed over her dating life as she could see things more clearly and start to realize where she fit within the LGBT community. 

As much as I enjoyed this book it was an every day read, it wasn't intense or page turning. It was slow in parts and now I realize why. It felt like the everyday life realities. It was like a personal diary for Ellie and I enjoyed that. Sometimes I just wish there was a bit more fire so I'd be more prone to pick it and read it for longer. 

At the end you were left on a cliffhanger which was good for myself. As it meant another book and the love story wasn't truly finished. Overall, I would rate this 3 out of 5. This year at Luna it is our mission to read Picture Imperfect and see where the story goes.