Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson

[Allthatwegotisthispalebluedot]

I know she gets very mixed reviews on mumsnet but I was wondering if there are any other 36 year olds (or similar!) out there who are just so excited to read this? I’ll be first in the queue! I’m going to an author event on Wednesday and I have even re-ordered the other four ‘girls…’ books in the series to refresh my memory and get stuck in.

The extent of my excitement is really surprising to me. I am very much a ‘proper’ grown up these days. I roll my eyes at Disney adults, can’t bear Harry Potter and rarely have the time or inclination to feel nostalgic about anything at all. But FUCK ME, next weekend will be spent on my sofa, wrapped in a blanket of 1999 feelings, reading about Ellie, Nadine and Magda. I can’t wait!

I had no idea about this OP! Thank you for sharing this as I absolutely loved JW as a child. Something very nostalgic about them, I think I had every single one - hardbacks were for birthdays or Christmas. Happy times! (The only one in my view that doesn't hold out well these days is Love Lessons...ick)

I am indeed very excited.
I also got the 4 originals to re read. I haven't quite finished yet so I better hurry up.

I cannot wait for this book, already reread the original 4 ready (although we may not get along as I am a Disney adult to the extreme and regularly reread my Harry Potters) 🤭😜
Just loved Jacqueline Wilson as a kid and so excited I still get to enjoy her as an adult xx

You’re welcome! Enjoy!

I can’t believe how excited I am. I am glad there are others out there who feel the same way.

I am 35 and can’t WAIT!
I loved her books so much when I was in primary school, and can’t wait for all the nostalgia 😊

My books have arrived today! That’s my weekend plans sorted. I wonder how they stand up to a re-read as an adult.

I'm 35 and I'm really excited about it too! I think I'll re-read the Girls books too but I've long since lost my copies, maybe can get some from the library.

Intrigued that Ellie is a single mother, I hope it isn't Russell's baby - realistically she would have binned him off and then had a number of other relationships since school.

I see a lot of these jokes on social media among younger people that JW's books are traumatising. While I agree they deal with heavy themes and different books of hers are appropriate for different ages, as someone who had a reasonably ok childhood, it was good for me to read about children who had lives that weren't like mine and experienced difficulties. I was also bullied as a child and young teen so a lot of her books were an absolute lifeline for me in that sense.

I hope Ellie binned off Russell! I re-read the books this weekend and he’s a right arse.

The other four ‘girls…’ books are so of their time! The CONSTANT fat shaming, low level gas lighting from men and boys, pressures to not be frigid but also not be a slag, the older boys, semi-sleazy flirtatious dads, and the constant fretting about having a boyfriend from 13 onwards. I know this has led to some criticism from readers more recently but it’s genuinely how I remember being a teen in the early 2000s (and I was quite a confident and secure teen).

I don’t think they would be written today, but I do suspect a lot of those pressures are still there for teen girls but they present slightly differently now due to how the world has changed since then. I hope girls are a lot more secure in their feminism and awareness about some of the issues in the books.

I am so interested to see how JW writes an adult book in the year 2024. I haven’t read her more recent children’s/YA books so I have no idea if the way she tackles subjects is the same as it was in the late 90s.

Has anyone read it yet? I really loved the character of Alice - I thought she was so well drawn. Wendy also felt very convincing. I wish they'd had a much bigger share of the plot, because the rest of it did feel contrived in places. It was enjoyable as a nostalgia fix but it started to feel as if Wilson was just recycling old characters for the sake of it. I don't want to say any more in case of accidental spoilers!

I've read it and I was so disappointed! I was excited in anticipation for this book like you all were and reread the Girls series but this book just didn't really work for me. I liked some parts, and I felt like JW got Ellie's 'voice' spot on again so you could believe it was the same person as in the earlier books, but I agree with @ketzeleh that it felt contrived and the ending was obvious from very early on. I also spotted several continuity errors from the original series (e.g. a fairly major character's name had changed, the way they became friends with Magda was described differently and a few others), which surely shouldn't have been too hard to get right. I personally found the references to other JW books a bit cringy too ("I read a book when I was a kid about..." "Me too, I loved that book!") though in other reviews I've read most people seemed to like this, so maybe just me being a misery! I would have liked to see more of Ellie's family as well as Nadine and Magda as well. I won't say any more In case of spoilers but overall it was a disappointment unfortunately.

Haven’t finished it yet so can’t comment o the rest of your post but when you say the reference to other JW books - I assume you are talking about Lottie? If so, that’s an Easter egg from one of the earlier books! I re-read them all last weekend in preparation, and in one of the earlier books Ellie talks about reading a book with the plot of TLP (not by name - just talks about reading a book about a girl called Lottie who does a project about the victorians). I actually thought it was quite subtle and adorable.

Is the name change continuity error Mr. Windsor? (No spoilers).

Yep, there is one for The Lottie Project and also a reference to The Illustrated Mum. I missed the Lottie Project reference in the earlier book but I do remember Ellie referencing The Suitcase Kid (in Girls Out Late I think) when Russell is talking about spending a week with each of his parents when they split up. As I said, it's probably just me being miserable as I know that most people like it but I just find it a bit cringy 😁

And yep- it's Mr Windsor!

I was also a bit disappointed... Really nostalgic, very Jacqueline Wilson, and I think Ellie was bang on. I think the book tried do a bit too much. The stalker subplot especially was totally pointless. Ellie's main relationship was boring and repetitive and took up so much space which I'd rather have spent with Nadine and Magda. I know having then see each other as often in their forties as when they were teens is unrealistic, but I really missed them and both their storylines felt unresolved for me. I'd still read Think Again 2 though!

I'd really like a sequel for Love Lessons though. Justice for Prue after all the victim blaming in the original.

Just finished this. No spoilers but the ending was so obvious it was painful. And it sort of just ended quite abruptly in the end.
Wanted way more about Magda - i thought she could be a really senior in recruitment / head of sales for a big company and that would be a good plot development. I thought something interesting might happen with her relationship but no. Equally not enough about Nadine's background.
Her main relationship was so weird. I know it was meant to be a bit cringey and creepy but wasn't fun reading.
Just felt like there was loads of setting up for plot lines to take off but nothing really did.
Still didn't hate reading it. Just wanted more!

37 and read it last week and really did not enjoy it to be honest.

I haven't read it but dd and I went to hear JW speak last week. I only really know the Hetty Feather series from listening to it in the car when the children were small, and a few other books from dd reading them. I really enjoyed the talk. She is very engaging, and dd got the last question in!

The tickets included a signed copy of "Think Again" each, so one of ours has gone to the school library.

I’m another one who is sorry to say I was disappointed by this book.

I found the sex descriptions so cringey and thought the writing was a bit lazy tbh. Very repetitive about the lift and feeding the cat. I don’t think Ellie having an adult daughter really added much to the story either.

I didn’t think Ellie, Nadine & Magda acted like 40 year olds at all. They still seemed like their teenaged selves just playing grownups, or at a stretch, they acted how I would have in my early twenties.

The continuity errors really bugged me too. The description of how Ellie, Magda & Nadine became friends was different to what happened in the original books.

They found out Mr Windsors first name was Guy in Girls Out Late. And yet in Think again his name is Gary and they all say they didn’t know what his name was and tried to guess at school.

In Think Again Ellie also describes her art teacher before Mr Windsor as being an old lady, but in Girls Under Pressure the art teacher is a young woman who goes off on maternity leave and Mr Windsor takes over her job after Christmas.

I found Ellie’s relationship really icky tbh and it made me a little bit uncomfortable. There was no natural build up of attraction and sexual tension between them, it all felt a bit forced and rushed. The time they spend together is very repetitive and gets boring pretty quickly.

It also felt like the relationship Ellie ends up in at the end was a little bit rushed as well. And the character she ends up with was written to be a bit too perfect for her. I can’t relate to characters that are too perfect, they need some flaws to be believable!

I think JW should just stick to what she does best. I adored her books as a child and tween and she does write really well for younger readers. As far as adult books go though, this unfortunately is not one I would recommend.

I haven't read it but those continuity errors?! Seriously?! That's just painful! I won't bother now, it sounds a bit crap. I was hesitant anyway. I tried the Tracy Beaker ones but only got as far as her working as an antiques dealer or something... I couldn't imagine anything less suited to the character I'd imagined her to be.

Was there also a point where Mr Windsor called for an uber?!? Is that a thing, surely you just use the app, or was that another mistake???

Yes there is! I screenshot it to send to my sister (why the lines around are blocked out so no spoilers were sent). I actually found that mistake quite charming in a way. Like she knows people get Ubers from their phones not taxis these days, but doesn’t quite know how it works. It’s something an editor should probably have picked up on.

@toastofthetown ha ha amazing! Who edited this book? I guess jaqueline doesn't really get ubers much - bless her. Also her description of the 'trendy' outfits made me laugh a bit.

That reminds me, her 90's books occasionally had a character who would use the term 'saddo' as if it was an affectionate term for someone feeling low, 'What's wrong my little saddo?' type thing. I don't know about the rest of the UK but where I was from 'saddo' was a deadly insult akin to 'loser', favoured by playground bullies.

Correct me if I'm wrong here guys? I always felt a bit embarrassed for her trying to use a 'relevant' term for the youth of today (yesterday!) but getting it wrong. Maybe the word was used differently elsewhere though?

@SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter
I never noticed the saddo comments but you are definitely right in how the terms meant to be used! Maybe we noticed these things leads as we read them young?!

I saw Jacqueline Wilson at a book festival earlier in the year and I thought she was really engaging and fun. Just googled, she's 78.
I also watched a documentary about Judy Blume, another amazing author tackling subjects no longer taboo.