Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have)

My Thoughts: I haven't read anything else by Mlynowski but I hear she has some great books! We are introduced to April who lives with her father and his new wife. Her mother and little brother moved to Paris to be with a guy her mother met. They wanted April to come with but she decided she'd rather stay and live with her dad so she could stay around her friends and boyfriend. Things have been ok for her. She's happy. Until one day her Dad announces they are moving to Ohio! April says "NO NO NO" she is not moving. He is not doing this to her! She can't leave her boyfriend of two years and all of her friends behind. Plus its halfway through the term, she must finish the school year.

She ends up thinking up a plan. To stay with her friend Vi. It sounds like a good plan, right? The only problem is Vi will be on her own too because her mom is going to be away. What is April going to do? Whats the logical thing to do here? She sets up fake email accounts and pretends to email back and fourth as her Dad and Vi's mom. Her dad thinks that she is going to stay with Vi and her mother so there will be adult supervision. WRONG!

Her family moves away to Ohio and she and Vi have their own place. They can do "whatever" they want. Her dad also gives her a monthly allowance ($1000.00)!

The plan works out smoothly except for all the small problems in April's life. For one, she's dealing with losing her virginity to her virgin boyfriend Noah. She wants to do it but she's never had much alone time with him. But now since she has her own place, that is all about to change. Than there is the new guy Hudson who keeps coming around with his brother who is Vi's best friend. Hudson clearly liked April but she was too blind to really notice. Yes, she thought he was hot, but how can a drop dead gorgeous guy like him really like her?

She has Noah but I just didn't connect with him. I liked Hudson from page one. I also liked how he would drop everything just to help her out of a jam. A true knight in shining armor.

Throwing a party can be fun especially when there is a hot boy contest. Throwing a party can be hectic, especially when you have no idea your dad is coming the next morning!

Ten Things We Did was funny and cute! I loved reading it. It was so much fun, between getting to know Hudson and what his "real" job was, learning more about her cute cat Donut, and being around her friends. Let's not forget to throw in grocery shopping, hot tubs, parties, and STD's, Ten Things We Did was an amazing read and I can't wait to read more from Mlynowski!

Overall: Loved! Loved! Loved! Loved! I loved the girls, I loved the drama, I loved the cuteness, I loved the boys, and I loved all the adventures April took me on.

Cover: I love the cover! I love the guy and girl on the cover and they look so adorable. One of the best covers ever!

What I'd Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes

Review Based On Hardcover Edition

Taken From Princess Bookie (blog)

Also reviewed on my blog, the Vintage Bookworm. ([...])

This is my first book by Mlynowski. I have been wanting to read a book by her for a while, I have always heard great things about her books including this one. So when I found it at the library I happily grabbed it and brought it home with me. When I finally got around to reading it, it didn't disappoint me.

Ten Things We Did absolutely rocks. It was a very fun and cute book and the writing kept you flying through the pages. When I first read the summary, I thought "How cool would that of been when I was a teen?!" I would have LOVED to live with a friend, have no parents around, and have money deposited into my account at the beginning of each month. I mean, what teenager doesn't? That's the ultimate dream, right?

The characters were really developed and fun to read about. April was a really fun main character. I think the only person who bugged me and I didn't really connect with or care much about was Noah. I would take Hudson's side any day. Loved how he was always there when April needed him. *swoon*

Overall, this was a very fun book to read. If you want something light and fun to read this is definitely a book for you. I greatly enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to reading it again in the future. I'll be checking out more of Mlynowski's books soon.

And isn't that cover gorgeous?! Would love to have it on my shelf. =)

"I closed my eyes. Then opened them. Two half-naked boys in the great room. One in a tiara. More half-naked boys in the bedrooms. A hundred empty bottle of booze. And Vi's mom nowhere in sight."

The last two years haven't been the best in April Berman's life. Her mom had an affair. Her parents got divorced. Her dad got remarried. Her mom got remarried - to a French man - and moved to Paris, taking April's little brother with her. April stayed behind in Westport with her father and his neat-freak wife. Through it all, April has had her boyfriend, Noah, and her friends, Marissa and Violet - to turn to, to lean on, to make her feel safe and loved. So when her dad asks, all casual like, 'How would you like to finish high school in Cleveland?' April's answer is an unequivocal 'Absolutely not.'

But how is she supposed to get out of it. Her mom is already gone, so it's not like she can move back in with her. Her dad has a new job. He's moving, THEY'RE moving. There is no way April can stay behind in Westport. Not unless she can convince her dad to let her live with Vi for the rest of junior year, at least. Which, somewhat amazingly, he's willing to do. Except her dad doesn't know that Vi's actress mom is going to be out of town for the next few months, on the road with a traveling production of Mary Poppins. Which leads April and Vi to #1 - Lied to Our Parents. After that, things just kind of happen. Over the next three months, April and Vi will do all sorts of things they probably shouldn't. Some are just slightly irresponsible (#4 - Bought a Hot Tub), some are actually illegal (#10 - Breaking and Entering) and all are guaranteed to get April into loads of trouble with her dad, should he ever find out.

I loved this story, told in April's wonderfully honest voice. There are moments that made me laugh out loud, others that made me cringe and a few that made my eyes tear up. The book is just so very real (always excepting the notion that the girls could pull off the deception in the first place). As the weeks pass and April learns to stand on her own two feet, she finally starts coming to terms with the feelings she's suppressed since the end of her parents' marriage. I completely lost myself in Ten Things We Did, I can't recommend it highly enough.

P.S. If you want to find out about the $3000 donut or the wild party that ended with a half-naked boy in a tiara, you're going to have to read this amazing book yourself.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I really struggled to get through the book. I enjoyed the premise from the summary and picked it up but I just couldn't get into it by about the middle of the book. The book started off interesting with April being busted by her dad and waking up next to a stranger. Then we go back in time to see what April did that lead up the events. April stays in California for her senior year while her family moves pretty far away. The circumstances wind up that April is living with her friend and not the adult that she tells her dad.

I think what made it harder for me to get through was the flashing back and forth to talk about the past, present and future. April started off as a interesting lead but then took on some unattractive qualities as she obsessed over things and seemed a little flat. I will also say that her slight obsession with sex does get a little old as she has a lot of inner dialogue on the matter. I think these two things together are what disappointed me in the book. I liked the concept of showing the past and starting at the end but it does get a little confusing. So it wasn't the plot that necessarily made it difficult to get through. It was more the characters and the style the book was written in.

I didn't really care a lot for the supporting characters either. Usually a book like this has a strong cast of supporting characters to make the story more interesting and I really didn't care for the majority of the characters. I did not like Noah and I did not see the attraction between the two of them or the degree of devotion that Sarah feels for him.

Overall I wasn't a huge fan of this book. It wasn't awful but it didn't stick out from the rest of the YA literature either.

This was one of those stories that was just plain fun! I became a fan of Sarah Mlynowski with this book because it reminded me of high school in such an authentic way. I would have made the exact same choices April made, made the same mistakes, fell for the same guy issues, and probably would have also taken the opportunity to lie to my parents so I could stay in a house alone with a friend for the summer. Hate to admit it, but it's a fact.

But while April did break many rules... her experiences living alone probably grew her up more quickly than if she hadn't had them. Although it can be fun and games to live alone with your best friend, sans parents, it's also probably a pretty quick way to learn how to take care of yourself, the bills, and the groceries. You have to... because otherwise no one else will. So yeah, she broke a lot of rules, but she learned a lot of important life lessons too. Would I kick her ass if she was my daughter? Of course I would!! :-)

Her relationship with her friend grew stronger, and her taste in guys changed. She learned a lot about what makes a good guy and what doesn't. And may I just say that the guy she ends up with was exactly who I would have picked too. I kept waiting for "the moment" (if you've read the book, you know which one I mean) and it didn't disappoint. I loved this guy. And the two of them together were magical, sexy, and meant to be. Sarah Mlynowski created great tension between these two that just continued to build throughout the story. I can't wait to get my hands on another one of her books!!

There are always moments in life, when you do something that you immediately regret. For April, there were ten things specifically that she did and would come to realize that they may have not been the best ideas. From lying to her dad to buying a hot tub, April's life is pretty crazy. Then again, her mom left and took her brother to Paris and her dad moved to Ohio and left her behind at her friends house. Though, he did think that Suzanne, her friend's mom, would actually be home not off doing theater in Chicago. This is April's story about how she kept her life from falling apart...sort of.

This was a very fun read, perfect for the summer. There were a couple parts that were not as fun, but April's misadventures quickly turned things around. If you like E. Lockhart's books then you will love this one. Very quirky and girly and just a laugh. I loved April, even if she was pretty spoiled at the beginning of the book. Actually by the end she was still sort of spoiled, but at least she was a little more self-reliant. Vi and Marissa were fun sidekicks, I do wish there was more with Marissa though. It didn't seem like April and Marissa hung out that much, but maybe that was just a comparison because Vi and April lived together and hung out constantly. This story was full of bad ideas and hard mistakes. It was just like real life ;) I would recommend that you pick this up before summer's end and breeze right through it. There are teen heartthrobs, parties and other fun and games. I'm sure there's a moral or two in there somewhere also.

First Lines:
"I bolted awake. A police siren. The police were outside my house."

Favorite Lines:
"Did I smell? Discreetly, I sniffed my underarms. I did not think I smelled. Had there been hidden garlic in the pasta sauce?"

Contemporary YA isn't always my thing, but I loved Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) with a fiery passion. Sarah Mylnowski's writing is real - as wonderful and messed up and loving and heartbreaking as it always is. Mlynowski pulls no punches, allowing for real life consequences to follow common decisions and effect her characters in realistic ways, all while remaining highly entertaining.

Ten Things We Did chapter structure follows the list of the ten things April and Vi do that may or may not have been the best decisions. Each choice leads them down the path to where they ultimately end up and all are relateable decisions. They lie to their parents. They play I Never. They skip school. They throw a crazy party. They lose their virginity. All are decisions teens are making in their own lives. Sometimes the result is funny. Sometimes the result is awkward. But always, the result is somewhere between possible and probable.

April is a great character and plays off of Vi nicely. While the two live together, April's boyfriend worries that she's becoming to much like Vi, but in reality Vi's influence helps April become who she truly is - beyond her family, her boyfriend or her friends. Much of what April does may seem wrong, but her her decisions shape her into who she becomes. Life isn't always clear cut. It's messy and April's experiences perfectly showcase that messy may not be fun, but it isn't the end of the world either.

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is a wonderful novel. It's hilarious with just the right amount of uncomfortable mixed in. It was absolutely delightful to read and I'm be looking forward to reading more from Sarah Mlynowski in the future.

Teen novels are normally not my favorite thing to read but this one was good. I read it in half a day. I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know what April and her friends were going to do next and if they were going to be caught.

April's dad and stepmother tell her they're moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 10 days. No way does April want to move. She wants to stay with her friends and finish out the school year, not to mention her boyfriend, Noah. So she begs them to let her live with her friend, Vi. Only if her mother agrees. What her dad doesn't know is that Vi's mom is in Chicago for a play. With the logistics all worked out April and Vi end up all on their own and April learns it's not all fun and games.

I couldn't help but like April and feel for her. Even though, I thought she was being a bit blind to things. Still though, when we want something so bad isn't easy for us to turn a blind eye.

I enjoyed this. I couldn't help remembering what it was like to be a teen while reading this. The characters were so believable and you could almost remember yourself living through some of these moments. I actually, did live through one of these moments. The dishwasher bit. I've definitely done that.

A fun book about rejection and rebellion and behaving like an unauthorized teenager. As a mother and adult, I do not agree with the behavior displayed in this book, and am a little bit disappointed that there weren't stronger consequences for the girl's actions, even though there WERE consequences...sometimes some pretty harsh ones at that. But so much could have happened, people could have been hurt, killed, or a whole slew of things.

More than the disappointment I felt for some of April's decisions was the way April's mother handled the situation. Sure she was across the ocean, but I feel like she still should have done something. Then her dad, who was completely gullible and happily blind to all of April's lies. But this is the point, isn't it? April and Vi both have parents who have ceased to really care about them. Maybe not completely, but in many of the ways that matter. They [the parents] all have their own lives and concerns, and April is almost an adult after all...it was sad, in my opinion. And what teenager in their right mind would turn down a crap load of money and parental freedom indefinitely?? There was a secret part of me, that regardless of my shock at the situation itself didn't want them to get caught either.

The reader in me - taking out the mature adult and responsible parent for a moment - was entertained. The characters were fun and goofy, and sometimes very serious and mature...sometimes. I felt like guy/girl relationships didn't seem as meaningful as they were intended to be. I felt no chemistry between April and Noah, and likewise I barely felt sparks between her and Hudson. On the flipside, the "girlfriend" relationships seemed to be strong, and forgiving, and ever growing and evolving. All of the girls had open minds, were willing to discuss important matters, and were even willing to let the crazy girl, Lucy, into the group. In the end, I would say that it was the bond between these girls that made me enjoy this book the most.

Fun, snarky, entertaining. All words I'd used to describe "Ten Things We Did". But it also had some serious messages about safe sex, abstinence, loyalty, friendship and honesty. I don't believe the situation was *all* that realistic -- April convinces her father to let her live with her BFF's family yet the BFF's mother is away. I don't believe any parent, even the most flighty of them, would allow their teenaged daughter to live at home alone while traveling the country acting in a play. It was believable, however, that April was able to con her father using technology into believing the mother would be present at all times. Anyway, the story follows April as she and her BFF and all their friends enjoy the spoils of being home alone. But it's not just one big hot tub party (though there are plenty of those) it's got a message about safe sex. April has been saving herself for her boyfriend Noah and now that they have a place and no supervision the reader follows as they navigate the "should we or shouldn't we" question.

As i mentioned, this was a fun read. It had great wit and humor and still managed to provide a message to readers. Not the kind of message that beats you over the head with the preachy but rather one that I personally believe teens will listen too. April has a real and relatable voice that I think they'll connect with.

Ten Things I Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is one of the funniest books I've ever read. The title of this one really had me wanting to read it. Before it was released, I kept seeing awesome reviews and raves on Twitter for Ten Things I Did. Of course once I read it, my feelings on it coincided with everyone else's.

Ten Things I Did totally brought me back to my time in high school. This is one of the books you recognize yourself in. I did really crazy stuff when I was April's age, crazier stuff than April or any of her friends did for that matter. All of the characters are relatable to teens (and to adults like myself who are reminiscing).

On a more serious note, Sarah Mylnowski touched on situations regarding sex besides pregnancy. She showed us readers what it's like to go to a doctor to get on the pill, I know I've never read a book that took us through that whole process before. I have to give kudos to Sarah for that. This book is funny for the most part, but April still has to tackle serious issues.

Ten Things We Did is one of my favorite reads so far this year! It's a book I hope to re-read sometime in the future. I do have one complaint...I wanted more Hudson in this book! He was one of the nicest and sweetest guys in a book I've ever read! I would love to see a book number two just for him!

Ten Things we Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is super fun. I suspected as much based on the title and synopsis, but I was surprised to find that the story is also quite sweet. April's adventures - including the adoption of an adorable kitten named Donut, frequent parties, sex, and purchasing a flamingo-pink hot tub named Hula - are as ridiculous as they are hilarious. Fortunately, the craziness of April's lifestyle is grounded by her normality, realistic struggles with interpersonal relationships, and family issues.

Ten Things we Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) contains some very touching, emotional moments relating to April's scattered family and abandonment issues. It never approaches tearjerker territory, thanks in large part to the humour and sense of teenage debauchery that infuses each sentence, but the depth and development of its characters keeps the book from being merely a fluffy, funny attention-diverter. I also liked the cutely creative narrative quirks Sarah Mlynowski integrated into the book, such as random mini-flashbacks and aptly-named chapter titles summarizing the ten things April and her friends did (and, you know, shouldn't have).

The romance is fairly predictable. It's definitely cute, I liked the "mystery" surrounding one half (third?) of the love triangle, but there seems to be too little build-up for what happens at the very end of the novel. Nevertheless, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is endlessly entertaining, with an endearingly teenage narrator, a refreshing lack of stereotypical side characters, and quirky-cute writing.

Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn't hav) by Sarah Mlynowski I have to say I really enjoyed this book! It was so funny and really kept me entertained! What sixteen year old wouldn't jump at the chance to live with out parents! I loved the journey this book took me through, the only thing is I would like a follow up book!!! Did she come back from Paris? What happen with Vi and Dead??? Lucy? Corinne???

This is just the perfect summer read! It will have you laughing from the start and thinking that maybe living with a friend at age 16 is more complicated than first imagined. April learns that her dad and step-mom are moving and she panics. She doesn't want to leave her town, her friends, or her boyfriend. Her and her friend Vi come up with a plan that seems perfect..or...maybe not.

April begins living at Vi's house, even though her mom is away doing a play. April's dad doesn't know this, of course, and the entire time he thinks his daughter is being well cared for. Obviously, as we can imagine, April and Vi have a blast living together. They throw parties, buy a hot tub, skip school. Ya know, all the fun stuff! But all of this turns out to be a little too much for April to juggle at once.

April was a wonderful young character. She wasn't too extreme on any level --not too good, or too bad. She's what I picture as a very typical teenage girl. Vi is a little more adventurous and she brings out some of the wild side in April. They talk about everything possible and even the hard issues of love, sex, and family. In many ways they soon had a sisterly bond, which was exactly what they both needed.

Noah was April's first love and they had been together for 2 years. Noah isn't thrilled with April's living arrangements and they eventually start having issues in their relationship. But, there is much more to Noah than meets the eye. I was pretty surprised by some of the revelations that took place throughout the book. But, I could see why April fell for him and how it would seem they were the perfect pair.

Which then brings me to Mr. Awesome-- Hudson. Ahh, he was like a breath of fresh air. Hudson has to be one of the sweetest male characters I've ever seen in a book. His maturity and kind nature helped April see another side of things.

When I picked up this book I was looking for a light read with great characters and a funny plot. This fit that perfectly! Although it does contain some very serious issues and lessons, I was laughing out loud many times during the book and wishing I could go back to high school just to have fun like that again. Not that I did the 10 things they did..but, ya know. :)

If you are looking for a book that has teen drama, romance, and hilarious situations, pick up Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have). You won't regret it!

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski is a book that I really wanted to like. Its a book that I'd heard several people that I trust rave about and so I was eager for the opportunity to review it. Sadly, I think my expectations were a bit too high for this one. One big point in this books favor though is that it was a really quick read. I managed to read it in just 2 sittings and the pages flew by.

The story centers around the improbably plot that April Berman would be allowed to remain in Westport, CT even though her mother lives in France and her father is moving to Ohio. I have to say I wasn't a fan of April's parents. Her mother seems to only want to be her friend and agrees to keep secrets from her father as she knows it will get April in trough with him. And her father doesn't respect her enough, or think she's mature enough, to inform her that the family is moving until its 9 days away...but then he just leaves her behind after she and her friend Vi concoct this scheme where she pretends to live with Vi and her mother. When the reality is Vi's mother is leaving town herself....so what you get is yet another YA book with no parents.

The plot itself is a bit muddled in that it goes back and forth in time as April has memories of events that have shaped who she is. All of which happen at cliched intervals to make the segue into memory seem like a poignant event but just got old....fast. That and April's obsession with having sex. The only plus side to those painful inner monologues was the mentioning of safe sex practices, reasons why its not a light decision (although Vi character then blows holes into that), and real life consequences.

Most of the characters in this book annoyed me, April with her fixation on sex, her boyfriend Noah who was rude and intolerable with a secret you could see from a mile away, Vi with her control issues and insecurities, Marissa with her moralistic behavior, and Lucy with her creepy behavior. The only characters I liked were Dean and Hudson but they really weren't in it enough to carry the show. There were also way to make coincidences and conveniences that happened solely to move the plot forward and just lacked believability.

The ending of the book was even more improbable than everything that came before and the whole thing just left me wondering what the big deal was. As for me the only saving grace for it was how quickly I read it.

When April decides she really doesn't want to move to Cleveland with her Dad or go to Paris with her mom, she has limited options for where to live out the remainder of her junior year. At least until circumstances align to let April stay at her BFF Vi's house. Without any parents. Or supervision. On their own. What starts out as a fun adventure turns into a lot of disasters of varying sizes as she and Vi do a lot of things that would not fly with parents around. Too bad those things also wind up being things they probably shouldn't have done.

This was a kind of strange book. I liked it, the writing was funny and April was okay as far as heroines go. I was engaged enough to want to see what happened. But the novel also felt a bit like a train wreck. That is NOT to say the book was bad but more like April's life was a disaster and I couldn't look away. (I spent most of the book wanting to shake her and tell her to get a grip.) For various reasons April and her story were hard for me to connect with--I wanted to but I just couldn't get there. (April's relationship with her boyfriend was especially problematic for me on so many levels that I can't address because of spoilers.) So even though the book is fun and will appeal to lots of teens it was a bit of an anomaly for me.

The title speaks to character transformation but the ending was almost too abrupt to really appreciate how much April (and her friends) grew over the course of the story. Ten Things We Did has an original plot and a clever structure. But it didn't come together as well as I would have liked.

by Tirzah Price

When her father and step-mother announce that they're moving to Ohio, April is adamant about staying in her Connecticut hometown. But with her mom already living in Paris, she really doesn't have many housing options. So she concocts an impossible, crazy plan with her friend Vi, and two fake email addresses and a few dozen lies to their parents later, the girls have their own house, a sweet monthly allowance, and complete freedom. But getting through the semester without their parents finding out about the deception might prove to be harder than the girls initially thought, especially when they're so busy with their boyfriends (and boys who aren't their boyfriends), buying a hot tub, avoiding the nosy daughter of their high school counselor, and generally just doing things they probably shouldn't.

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is a hilarious, crazy, and utterly absorbing book about freedom, fun, love, and growing up. April is a quirky and smart narrator who is a little naive, but very realistic; her enthusiasm for life and excitement for freedom is contagious, and the ups and downs of her life without parents is entertaining and endearing. The girls do get a little crazy when it comes to partying (they even go so far as to buy a hot tub), and they have plenty of boy drama. But anyone who has ever struck out on her own will find humor in this story as April must learn how to do laundry, go grocery shopping, and adapt to the responsibilities that come with the freedom she desires. While this book is a lot of fun, it's not without its more serious moments as April struggles with feelings of resentment towards her mother for her parents' divorce and deals with some unforeseen consequences of her relationship with her boyfriend, Noah. Mlynowksi has created a world that many teens would love to live in, with lots of laughs and plenty of delicious boy drama, but at the same time deals with those ever-present family issues that no one can hide from. All in all, Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) is a humorous and smart read about growing up and figuring out life, one crazy mistake at a time.

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

Over Christmas break, April's dad and stepmom drop a bombshell on her: They're moving to Cleveland and want her to go with them. April has no intention of packing up her things, leaving her friends and boyfriend behind in Westport, and starting over in a new city, so she convinces her dad to let her move in with her best friend Vi and her mother Suzanne. The thing is that it's just Vi and April there because Suzanne is traveling and her dad doesn't know this. Boy troubles will be had, long-simmering issues will explode, and April will use the wrong product and cause a flood, among other things.

When you find a quote like "...and--um, where were my pants? Why was I in bed with a guy who was not my boyfriend without any pants?" (ARC p. 2) in the very beginning of a book, it's almost assured you're in for a fun ride. And I was--there were a lot of moments where this book made me laugh or at least giggle. If I had been in a bad mood while reading (which I was not, thank goodness), this would have made for a great cheer-up read, something fluffy and undepressing I could try to lift my mood with.

Despite the fluffiness, it does get serious at times. April has issues with her parents over their divorce that she doesn't like to think about, but those issues become intertwined with her problems with Noah. Her relationship with him is one of the only things that hasn't changed since her parents' divorce and she's desperate for at least something to stay the same, but they're growing apart and she can't handle it. Change is difficult to deal with and anyone who feels the same way as she did will connect with April, though her layers of deceptions and manipulative moments may keep them from liking her.

But it says something for the characters when my favorite turns out to be Donut the cat instead of a human. Most of the characters are pretty unremarkable except for April and Vi, the latter of whom was remarkable for being a bad person instead of for anything good. The only scene in the entire book where I really felt invested and cared about what happened was Donut-centric. Otherwise, I floated through the book and I don't doubt that in a month, I'll barely recall anything but Donut.

The book is mostly about sex, though the blurb might lead you to think it's about something more. Nope, most of the book is focused on preparing for sex, freaking about the thought of it, actually having it, having it some more, discovering how sex can change relationships, and dealing with some of its consequences. If reading about sex makes you uncomfortable, don't even consider this book. After the last book I read, reading such a sex-positive book was like a weight off my shoulders, and they even discussed birth control and condoms and safe sex! This book taught me more about sex than my sex ed class in high school (but then again, anything teaches more than my sex ed class did; my school taught the "abstinence-only" way.)

There isn't going to be anything ground-breaking when you read this book, but you're probably going to be entertained and smile at least once because April makes some pretty good quips throughout the book. If for nothing else, pick up the book because of Donut the cat. She's such a sweetheart that only a hardcore cat-hater could hate her.

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I wanted the teen angst and all the drama when you involve boys, girls, high school and no parents! I had seen this book all over the blogging community, so I was excited for the chance to review it. As soon as it arrived, I dove into it!

April's Dad and Stepmother announce that they are moving to Cleveland. April has no desire to leave her school, her friends, or her boyfriend Noah. When April and Vi come up with a plan to convince their parents to let April live with Vi and her Mom, they put the plan in motion. When April's Dad agrees to her moving in with Vi for the last half of the school year, April is worried about lying to her Father, but she is also excited to be on her own! Vi's Mother is on tour for her acting job, without April's Dad knowing, so April and Vi are basically left unsupervised with no adults. What started out as a fun and crazy plan, ends up not going the way they had planned. Things go awry and have consequences, all things that began with one thing leading into another that never would have happened with supervision.

I am on the fence with my feelings on this book. While I loved the plot, the characters and the teen angst, I wasn't a fan of the constant flashbacks and flash forwards the chapters did. On one page you will be reading present story, then you turn the page and it is 10 minutes earlier. Then after that flashback, we flash forward to present and back again all within a matter of pages. It got to be a little confusing at times and not to mention a little annoying. I would have enjoyed this so much more if there would have been less time warping and more present day action.

The book wasn't a bad book, but I think with a little more tweaking of the timelines, it could be so much better. With just a few of the scenes worked differently and adjusted through out the book, it could be a real hit in the teen genre.

Ten Things We Did is a heartbreakingly sad story about a 16 year old girl who is desperately searching for some stability in her life. Her divorced parents have each moved on to new partners and new lives. The main character, April Berman, is angry at her mother's infidelity and her decision to move to Paris, France, taking her younger brother with her. April chooses to stay in her hometown of Westport, Connecticut with her father , close to her friends and boyfriend, Noah. This is why it is particularly devastating for April when her dad announces that he and his new wife are moving to Cleveland, Ohio, halfway through April's junior year. When April discusses her dilemma with her friend, Vi, they come up with a plan that will allow April to remain in Westport. Their situation would seem to be perfect for a couple of teenage girls but ultimately points up the need for parents to be parents and teens to be teens.

I found this story heartbreaking because I feel it reflects too accurately the way many parents handle their most important job. They either want to be a friend to their teen or they want to abdicate their responsibilities and allow the teen to make adult decisions that they aren't prepared to make. Unlike many stories of this sort, April is forced to face the consequences of some of her actions, including dealing with an STD. If this book achieves nothing else, it should serve as a warning to parents about following up on what their teens are telling them and about putting teens in situations that they aren't mature enough to handle.

There was an abundance of sex, underage drinking, deceiving parents, and profanity in the book. I couldn't decide if the story was supposed to be a lighthearted tale of teen romance or a sadly serious story of a young girl who desperately wanted to feel the love and structure of a stable family. Overall, this isn't really a book that I would recommend.

-Janeth
ReadingTeen.net

Content:
Profanity: Heavy
Sexual Content: Heavy
Violence: None
Other Notables: Underage Drinking
For more details, check out Ten Things We Did on Parentalbookreviews.com

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski is a book that I really wanted to like. Its a book that I'd heard several people that I trust rave about and so I was eager for the opportunity to review it. Sadly, I think my expectations were a bit too high for this one. One big point in this books favor though is that it was a really quick read. I managed to read it in just 2 sittings and the pages flew by.

The story centers around the improbably plot that April Berman would be allowed to remain in Westport, CT even though her mother lives in France and her father is moving to Ohio. I have to say I wasn't a fan of April's parents. Her mother seems to only want to be her friend and agrees to keep secrets from her father as she knows it will get April in trough with him. And her father doesn't respect her enough, or think she's mature enough, to inform her that the family is moving until its 9 days away...but then he just leaves her behind after she and her friend Vi concoct this scheme where she pretends to live with Vi and her mother. When the reality is Vi's mother is leaving town herself....so what you get is yet another YA book with no parents.

The plot itself is a bit muddled in that it goes back and forth in time as April has memories of events that have shaped who she is. All of which happen at cliched intervals to make the segue into memory seem like a poignant event but just got old....fast. That and April's obsession with having sex. The only plus side to those painful inner monologues was the mentioning of safe sex practices, reasons why its not a light decision (although Vi character then blows holes into that), and real life consequences.

Most of the characters in this book annoyed me, April with her fixation on sex, her boyfriend Noah who was rude and intolerable with a secret you could see from a mile away, Vi with her control issues and insecurities, Marissa with her moralistic behavior, and Lucy with her creepy behavior. The only characters I liked were Dean and Hudson but they really weren't in it enough to carry the show. There were also way to make coincidences and conveniences that happened solely to move the plot forward and just lacked believability.

The ending of the book was even more improbable than everything that came before and the whole thing just left me wondering what the big deal was. As for me the only saving grace for it was how quickly I read it.

Sarah Mlynowski has wrote a page-turning teen summer beach read. "Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have" is simply a fun book, that makes you want to run out and at least rent a summer house for a week (hot tub included) with your best friend.

April, our narrator, is living out every teenage girls (keyword girls, not boys) fantasy of living with her best friend in a house with no adult supervision. Oh and lets not forget a significant monthly allowance. Parties, Boys, Alcohol, it's a fantasy for sure, but is it the ultimate good time? It's a page turner, I thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through April and her best housemate Vi. Every page, I was waiting for something unfortunate to happen to these careless girls with baited breath and thankfully the author does not let them off completely scot-free. There is plenty of drama and trouble and repercussions. The repercussions are not un-needlessly harsh, though, there is no excessive moral story being shoved down your throat - just fun!

Pretty much the entire plot of this book revolves around sex. Oh, and lying to your parents in a major way for an extended period of time. Add a lot of heavy drinking and partying into the mix, and that's this book.

The circumstances and the behavior of the adults and teens are just too unbelievable. I felt like I was reading about a wild sorority house in college instead of a bunch of 16-year-olds. (Yeah, I'm supposed to believe these high schoolers fool their parents into letting them live alone without adult supervision and daddy bankrolls it by giving our protag $1000 a month...and when our protag confesses to her mom, her mom doesn't care because she's too petty to talk to her ex-husband???)

And I'm sorry, but kids who skip school and get drunk on school nights and don't study do not get full rides into Columbia and NYU. Can we please be a little realistic here?

There's a lot more to teens than sex and getting drunk.

Pretty much the entire plot of this book revolves around sex. Oh, and lying to your parents in a major way for an extended period of time. Add a lot of heavy drinking and partying into the mix, and that's this book.

The circumstances and the behavior of the adults and teens are just too unbelievable. I felt like I was reading about a wild sorority house in college instead of a bunch of 16-year-olds. (Yeah, I'm supposed to believe these high schoolers fool their parents into letting them live alone without adult supervision and daddy bankrolls it by giving our protag $1000 a month...and when our protag confesses to her mom, her mom doesn't care because she's too petty to talk to her ex-husband???)

And I'm sorry, but kids who skip school and get drunk on school nights and don't study do not get full rides into Columbia and NYU. Can we please be a little realistic here?

There's a lot more to teens than sex and getting drunk.

This sad book has a teenager dealing with things she isn't prepared to deal with. Profanity, sexual content, drinking, abandoned by her parents, etc -- I wish I could save this girl from herself, but my child certainly doesn't need to be involved in this. Totally inappropriate, esp for younger teens. My daughter is 12, she took it out from the library but I did not let her read it.

It was just ok...I found myself skipping over many parts of the book because the dialogue and storyline just kind of bored me.

The novel felt formulaic and very predictable...but the writing shifted about 2/3 into the novel and then I found myself completely engrossed in getting to the end and rooting for April to get a happy ending.

This is probably a 2.5 star, but bottom line it was just mediocre.

I did like the author's attempt to educate the reader about Planned Parenthood, STD's and unprotected sex. She also did an excellent job of discussing the importance of love and that sex is a very big step in a relationship and the consequences of unprotected sex. On those points she gets a 5 star.

PG 15
Not a YA Crossover

Like many 80s movies Nd young adult novels, "10 Things" evokes the spirit of being a teenager and not being able to wait for adulthood. But when given an opportunity to finally be treated like an adult, the main character just wants to go back to being a kid.

This book took an unexpected turn. It was all cute and girly and ditzy (with wonderful voice full of snark and color) and then it got real. I was enjoying my nice ride, and then it became an emotional rollercoaster. Really a well written book. Very fun and silly but worth the read.

The title promised adventures and fun, and there was hardly any of that in the book. It was like reading about a girl that got to live with a friend and do mildly interesting stuff. The story lingers on things that do not move the story forward~ such as the cat she got that kept getting out and then got hit by a car. She ends up at the emergency vet's office for hours in a scene that feels like I was actually sitting there for hours, feeling her boredom and slight worry for her dying cat.
I would recommend other books, such as What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones.

Mlynowski has a great voice and tackles some difficult subjects in this. Once I was pulled into the story, I couldn't stop reading. The only thing that bugged me? Wow, these girls grew up fast! But I suppose that was the whole point of the story. Two teenagers without supervision = a lot of mistakes, responsibilities, and growing up fast.

2.5 stars

A very light, mindless, relaxing read.

April's dad is planning to move to another state in the middle of her junior high year. Using some creative negotiating (=lying) April convinces him to let her stay with her best friend Vi to finish school, with no parental supervision. Partying, drinking, skipping school and hooking up ensue...

Contrary to the blurb, I didn't find "Ten Things We Did" to be particularly funny. Or daring. Or romantic. Or profound.

The story tries to touch upon the subject of parental abandonment and broken families, but mostly it is about sex. Probably 75% of the book is dedicated to worrying about losing virginity, planning to lose virginity, angsting after losing virginity and having sex, sex, sex. There is a lot of it here. With the amount of teen sex in "Ten Things We Did" you'd think it will be handled with some insight and sensitivity, but alas one of the main characters (spoiler)chooses to have sex with her equally virgin boyfriend of 2 years after getting on a pill and she still manages to get chlamydia! (end spoiler). There must be a moral here somewhere, but I am not really on board with it. But at least she (spoiler)doesn't get pregnant or HIV and DIE as a punishment for having sex (end spoiler), so I guess I should be thankful for that.

However, I did devour this novel within one day. It should count for something. Rating rounded up to 3 stars for the book's compulsive readability.