| Title | : | Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0061701246 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780061701245 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 |
| Publication | : | First published June 7, 2011 |
2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.
If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.
In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) Reviews
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I actually put off reading this book for a while, I now know why. My subconscious mind was telling me it was not worth my time, but silly me I decided to read it. This book is okay, if you want to read it go ahead, if you were considering reading it and are sitting on the fence read it and don’t read it.
My advice, don’t. Not worth it, it wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t a good book either. It was mediocre.
What the book was about:
The book started with one of the last scenes, after a party, when her parents are coming home. The book then goes back around 3 months where we learn April, the main character’s father and step-mom are moving away, they plan to take her with them, this leads to her convincing them to let her stay with her (crazy) friend Vi. While her father and stepmother are away April does many things, stuff she probably shouldn’t have done, hence the title.
What I thought of it:
The book was okay; sure, it kept me entertained, except there were many slow areas in the book. The characters were good and all and I could imagine most of them as living breathing people. But the main character, I don’t know why, but she just annoyed me.
Most of the time I felt like=
There was just something in the way she acted and spoke that annoyed me. In saying that a lot of the side characters like Lucy, Vi and Hudson were believable and likeable enough.
The story it self had flashbacks throughout the book,
saying stuff like 3 months ago, ect. I didn’t mind this and we got to learn about the character, except towards the end it really started to annoy me, so much, so that I found myself skipping those parts.
I wouldn’t say to any one don’t read this, but I also wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It just wasn’t that great. It was more okay, the story, the characters, they were all mediocre, none of them really jumped out at me. And by the end I found myself not caring about the characters,
I was reading just so I knew how it ended.
Overall... it was okay, not bad or good, just okay and defiantly only worth a three and that is only because the book kept me interested enough to keep reading.
[image error] -
Read this review on my blog! -->
Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
I really love this book! It was so funny and bittersweet and different that I wanted to do something different for it. So here it goes....
Ten Things I Loved (and you will love too)
1. Mermaid impressions while drunk.
2. Best friends who will lie to your parents for you.
3. Paying in installments.
4. The Hula.
5. Brothers. Especially ones named Hudson and Dean.
6. Donut.
7. Babysitters with model good looks.
8. Lightning.
9. Authors who write about birth control options in their books.
10. Authors who write about the possible consequences of having unprotected sex into their books.
Ten Things I Didn’t Love (and wanted to punch in the face)*
1. People who find your friends obnoxious.
2. People who are so insecure they have to hook up with somebody because they think you might be doing it too.
3. People who get overwhelmed by the possibility of meaning so much to somebody they end up letting things happen at a beach with someone else.
4. People who have to be reminded when Valentine’s Day is.
5. People who aren’t good enough sports to participate in demeaning boy pageants at parties.
6. People who are insecure and accuse you of flirting.
7. People who are jealous and call you a slut.
8. People who lie.
9. People who give you The Chlam.
10. People named Noah.
*Disclaimer: I don’t really consider this list spoilery because I had a bad feeling about said People, person, whatever, throughout the whole book and think that if you read it, you’d agree with me on this . If you feel I’ve ruined this book for you in any way, please accept my most sincere apologies. :) -
Someone should burn this cover
Let's just say the very first thing that needs to be said: UK publishers, what the hell have you done to this book? What happened to the cute girl/boy chick-lit cover and, more importantly, what happened to the original title? The actual title - Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) - conveys the whole "ooh, we're so baaaaad for doing that, but it sure was fun!" that this book is pretty much all about. This UK imposter title fails to hit the joke. And back to the cover... sometimes, yes, less can be more. But, in this case, less is just boring and white and scary pink and just really rather juvenile looking.
And then there's the story...
Okay. I think I would have rated this novel higher if the big, what-on-earth clanger hadn't been dropped half-way through the last chapter. It wasn't even a smooth clanger. It was a sloppy clanger. And kind of silly. Plus, it ruined what I had built up in my mind as being the whole point behind this book. I'd formed some idea along the way of what message I believed
Sarah Mlynowski was trying to send about sex and relationships and the message that I thought was being sent I could understand and appreciate. Then she took her last chapter and scribbled over what the rest of the novel had been built upon.
Sorry, I'm talking in riddles so I don't give too much away, but if you're not going to read this book:
Maybe it's because I don't have any kids or because I have an insanely laid back mother, but I've always preferred teen books that have a positive attitude towards sex. You know, "be wild, be young, have fun but always use a condom". I'm a strong believer that most teenagers will have sex if they want to and can get away with it, regardless of what their parents say, it's human nature. So I think that instead of spouting "you will get HIV and you will get pregnant and you will DIE!!!" it's better to just give advice on contraception and let them get on with it.
For the largest part of
Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done there was a very relaxed attitude towards sex and a full run through of all the possible methods of contraception (t'was highly informative). Bravo. Very good. So, here's me thinking that I get it, I understand that
Sarah Mlynowski is on the same wavelength as me when it comes to teenagers having sex and whatnot... well, talk about mixed messages. Shit hits the fan, things go wrong, you might be getting some idea of what probably happens, yes? Or maybe you read the spoiler.
Oh, and hang on, your boyfriend cheats on you with another girl and she's the whore???
Yeah, so, is the author's actual message that you shouldn't have sex if you're a teen? I am clueless. Also, mild slut-shaming is still slut-shaming... give me a break girlies and grow some ovaries asap.
Though I will say that I think I'm in the minority (again) about the humour in this book. Well, I laughed. Come on, some parts were worth a little chuckle or two at least. I did appreciate the humour and I enjoyed the exploration of different relationships going on. I liked Dean, he was funny, sexy and a nice guy, with a bit more focus given to him he could be a potential
Dave-the-laugh (and we all love Dave).
I liked it.
Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done is a pleasant, mindless beach-read kind of book. I have issues with it but I can't deny that I found it entertaining. -
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 . There must be a moral here somewhere, but I am not really on board with it. But at least she , 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. -
I could sum up this book in one word: HILARIOUS!
I had a whole lot of fun reading this.
It was crazy.
Everything they did was crazy.
Maybe that was the reason I had fun reading it.
I didn’t do the things they did when I was their age.
I wouldn’t do it even if I could.
You guys must be curious why I found this book so entertaining.
April’s dad just blurred out one day that they were going to move to Ohio.
Devastated April didn’t want to move to Ohio.
She didn’t want to leave her friends.
Her school.
She didn’t want to leave Noah, her *cough* boyfriend.
She and friend Vi planned a scheme so that she could stay in Connecticut.
Funny thing was it actually worked!
April get to stay at Vi’s house.
No parents.
No rules.
Fat bank account.
No curfew. (There is but daddy is not going to find out because no one was going to tell him! Hahaha.)
Party galore.
Drinking spree.
Alone time with bf.
These girls get to do whatever they wanted without adult supervision.
Fun right?
It is.
Until something happened and she gets hurt.
Things weren’t that fun anymore.
This book tackles teenage struggles.
* FAMILY!
April may seem to be okay with it but she was pretty distraught with the split-up of her parents.
She felt betrayed by both her mother and her father.
Her friends and boyfriend cough*, Noah were the ones who were there to get her through the tough divorce of her parents.
She felt attached to her friends because of that.
* SEX!
SEX!
And more SEX!
It was funny how April and Vi planned how they were going to lose their virginity.
Its weird reading about it like that maybe because here in the Philippines we are a bit conservative regarding those things.
We do not talk about SEX if we can avoid it.
But for these kids, it was a pretty big deal for them.
I mean yeah it’s a big deal but not THAT big of a deal.
I may not be comfortable with what they did but it is reality.
There are a lot of teens struggling with the same thing: When they were going to do it.
*LYING!
No matter how hard you think you could hide the truth, it would come out in the end.
You can’t get away with lying.
Fate has a way of letting the truth out.
April and Vi lied but this is not for them.
Someone else was lying in this book and I would let you guys guess who that f*ck is.
The characters were believable.
I liked April.
She’s made stupid decisions. (A lot of them)
She was immature. (Planning sex was immaturish for me)
She was disrespectful towards her mom. (I understand why though)
Why did I like her?
Because she learned from those mistakes that she made.
Also she was very funny.
I liked Vi too.
She was just like my best friend.
Marissa was the opposite of Vi.
Marissa and Vi balances April which was good.
Both of them were good friends.
Hudson and Dean were cool.
I liked them immediately too.
Especially Hudson.
Who would have known that that was his secret?
I’m impressed!
Then there’s the boyfriend.
*Cough*
I don’t even want to talk about Noah.
F*cker!
Let’s skip him shall we?
The characters were like real people.
They were flawed.
I LOVE IT!
The author’s writing style was superb.
I loved it.
Especially the little titles during back flashes.
I will definitely be reading more books with your name on it Ms. Mlynowski!
Ten Things we Did (and Probably Shouldn’t Have) is definitely a favorite!
It maybe a funny novel but then it also has lessons that you could learn from.
There was more to this book that kids planning on when to have sex or lying to their parents.
MORAL LESSON?
Before you decide to have SEX with someone, make sure he/she is clean.
Hahahaha.
Just kidding.
I gave this a 5 because I had a blast reading it.
It made me laugh, it made me smile.
Hahaha.
I just love it.
I recommend it for anyone who wants a good laugh. :D -
It's okay- a quick read. It's almost the same as watching a teen flick. The writing is plain and direct. It's just like reading the diary of a 16 year old rich teenage girl. The narrator says anything she wants to say and there are several times I got really annoyed over her silly repetitions but I guess it's just but appropriate for the character so I have no huge qualms about the writing style. I liked it just enough and I think it's adequately enjoyable for its genre.
-
one point for the cover,
one point for the title,
and two points for the nice story.
This story gave a lot of knowledges to me, such as :
1. Don't easily give away your virginity to everyone.
I don't know why but me and the book have truly different preception in the meaning of virginity and sex. I vote for sex after marriage. For me, losing our virginity means to give the best to our husband in the first night after we get married, not before marriage, or the worst is we gave it to our boyfriend who we don't certain whether he's goin to be our husband or not. Maybe people will say I'm old school or what, but still for me, lose your virginity to your husband is million thousand better than to ur boyfriend or a friend of yours.
The affect of losing ur V to ur bf :
- u get pregnant.
- ur bf isn't ready for having a baby, so he wants you to get an abortion
- u get abortion coz of no choice, and it means that you kill ur own baby without leave him/her an option whether he/she wants to live or not.
- like the case of this story, the boyfriend got drunk and slept with someone else who apparently had a disease. then April,the main character who doesn't know about the sleep-with-someone-else made sex with Noah, she got pills and condoms, but one day they run out condom, so they just did it. The result : April's 100% suffered from Chlamydia.
Here some infos about Chlamydia :
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. When transmitted through sexual contact, the bacteria can infect the urinary and reproductive organs.
Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics but often causes no symptoms, so someone can be infected without even knowing it. Untreated chlamydial infections can lead to more serious health problems, such as infertility, so it's important for sexually active teens to be screened for chlamydia at least yearly by a health care provider. It's also important for them to take the precautions to prevent chlamydia, and if it's suspected, to seek treatment as soon as possible.
Symptoms
In many cases, chlamydia causes only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. So an infection can last for weeks or months before it is discovered.
In females, chlamydia symptoms can include:
* vaginal irritation
* vaginal discharge
* lower abdominal pain
* burning feeling with urination
Just like in females, chlamydia may be completely without symptoms in males. When present in males, chlamydia symptoms can include discharge from the tip of the penis and a burning feeling during urination. Untreated infections can lead to epididymitis, an inflammation of the coiled tubes in the back of the testicles. This can result in testicular swelling, pain, and even infertility.
#source from google.
2."You can run but you can't hide forever." Same meaning as "There are no lies that stay in the shadow forever."
April is lying too much to her parents,esp her dad. Lies won't give you happiness. Once you start to tell lie and nobody noticed it, you'll easily tell lies to everyone eversince. But you don't realize the effect if one day people found out the truth. They mad and upset, and you die. So don't lie too much. It's naive if ppl said they never told any lies, but many lies will bring you to chaos.
Actually there are many things that I wanted to share with, but better read it by yourself, bet you won't be bored coz the story is well-written and well-described.^^ -
Un libro que leí hace años, olvidé que lo hice, lo compré recientemente y no me di cuenta de que ya lo había escudriñado hasta que llegué al epílogo.
Una novela más, pero con un argumento muy interesante. -
This book had its good points and its bad points. I definitely do NOT recommend for kids under 15, and I'm saying that as a 14 year old.
MY SYNOPSIS:
What is this book about? Well, love, sure. There's romance. But its not just that-- there's more to it than just girl-likes-boy-but-girl-has-boyfriend.
April is faced with a crisis when her Dad announces that they're moving to Cleveland. She's got everything she's ever wanted where she already lives. A sweet boyfriend, great friends-- which is why in desperation she says she wants to live with her friend Vi.
One problem. Vi's mom isn't going to be there. But does her dad need to know that? Pssh! Naw!
Together Vi and April establish a genius plan to avoid getting caught. And before they know it, they have the world to themselves. No parents, no plans, to rules. Well, okay, there are a few. To be ignored.
WHAT I LIKED
First things first, the dialogue. Witty and well-written. I laughed out loud several times during the book. Also, Mlynowski created characters that you can really love. I fell for one of the main characters. Not Hudson, no (you may be surprised) but I actually really liked Dean. He was cute, and funny, even if he was a little perverted. I liked the entire plot. I liked the emotion, .
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
There were a lot of sexual references in this book. And, yes, I understand that it is a teen book and all, but I still think its not necessary to bring the subject up every two pages. There were no explicit scenes, and for that I commend the author. But there was still a LOT of referencing. I mean yeah, it had to build it up for the end. But, hey, I guess that' s just not my cup of tea.
Final Rating
Was it my favorite book? I guess no, but I'll remember it and keep it up there on the list. Would I recommend it? Not to anyone who might be offended easily. Would I read again? Maybe in a while.
Did I enjoy it?
Hells to the yes :) -
Hahaha! This book was so cheesy and kind of all over the place, but I had a great time reading it! It's a quick read (especially the second half) and I laughed out loud several times!
-
Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars
No one is perfect, but we all do the best we can. I guess you have to forgive when you can, move on when you can’t, and love your family and friends for who they are instead of punishing them for who they aren’t.
4 girls, 3 guys, 1 cat, 1 hula tub, 1 crazy school year and 0 parents = 10 things April did and probably shouldn’t have. Despite this story being highly unrealistic, I found it engaging and pretty funny. There were times where I wanted April to just get caught for her deception, but somewhere around the middle of the story, I found myself rooting her on and hoping she’d get away with absolutely everything she did, but probably shouldn’t have. I guess that’s because I could clearly see how she was growing up, albeit it was while making bad decision after bad decision, but in the end she figured out a way to take care of herself. I liked that.
This book is filled with some pretty awesome secondary characters. I even started to like Lucy, despite her weird, stalkerish tendencies. She should have been a shoe in for most annoying character, but nope, not at all. April, Vi, Marissa and Lucy all blended well together and each did such ridiculous things, I couldn’t help but enjoy their moments. Dean, Hudson and Noah played some pretty interesting parts as well, and I have to say Hudson was hands down my favorite for obvious reasons. It was pretty funny to hear his “big” secret and it just made him more adorable in the end. I won’t say much about Dean or Noah because I don’t want to spoil anything, but they definitely played their parts well.
The plot, as I mentioned before, involved a highly unlikely circumstance, but in the end it worked quite well. Mlynowski covered some important YA topics such as love, loss, intimacy and responsibility. However, I’d say this book is for the older YA crowd because of some of the scenes that involve some heavy decisions.
Overall, I enjoyed it and I continue to be a fan of Sarah Mlynowski for her fun and light approach to writing a teenage girl’s struggle to just try and figure it all out.
Thanks to Nic for sending it all the way from down under with a beautiful bookmark and big hugs and thanks to Crystal for touring this book with the Street Corner. XD -
I so eagerly awaited Ten Things We Did. And honestly, I was more than a little disappointed. Mlynowski gave the teenagers in her book a bad reputation, and I know for sure that I won’t be picking up anything else of hers any time soon.
I get that this book was supposed to be funny, what with its unrealistic situations and one-liners. I get where Mlynowski was going, but the way she approached her subject made me disgusted and appalled.
Before I get to April, who wins the Stupidest Character of the Year award, can I just ask you one question: what kind of parent would willingly leave their daughter in a different state – never mind a different country – with a parent of whom you never once console with face to face? Would it not get suspicious if the only way to contact this temporary “guardian” was by email, something anybody could be privy to? I think the characters in this book should be checked for
DPS (check out the link for more information!) because as often as they chatted with April on the phone or via email, they never really were there for her.
April. Yuck. She’s just like the month she was named after: chilly and rainy. April was so, so cold. I could muster no sympathy for her. She lied to everyone she loved! She did any and everything just to be like everyone else! She was stupid, was ignorant, and oblivious to the real world. She said things that would realistically, well, destroy the other person. You know the mean girl in movies? Yeah, that was her “roommate,” Vi. And you know said mean girl’s following puppy? Picture April.
I would have enjoyed the book more than one character was enjoyable – the only one I actually could stand reading about was Dean, Vi’s best friend and boytoy. Vi was as dense as April and Marisa, the one girl who was supposed to illicit a type of sweetness to the reader…she was nothing more than a piece of paper, for how thin her characterization was.
I felt like these characters got it off too easy. How could they screw around (literately!) all semester and never get caught or in trouble or manage to mess up? If that aspect was supposed to be the gotcha, isn’t it funny? moment, the book crashed and burned. Even with the ending that I totally saw coming – for the record – I still believe that TEN THINGS WE DID was a complete misconception of the reality teenagers face today.
There wasn’t a plot to this, which is why I’m talking about the characters. Basically, this girl goes to live with her parentless friend because she’s too chicken to move, and the story revolves around parties – and oddly enough, no schooling, even though I thought the whole point of the book was for April to stay caught up in school – and terribly written sex. The writing style didn’t do it for me, either, as I hated the little captions that implanted themselves almost every time Mlynowski started a new paragraph. The constant flashbacks to – gasp – five seconds before the scene started were uncool and not, in any way, funny or appealing or needed.
I will mention that I appreciated that Mylnowski incorporated the whole aspect of STIs into her world. I haven’t read many YAs – if any – that tackle consequences of sex aside from pregnancy, and although I think the author could have handled the topic better, I’m glad it was at least addressed.
Although I’m grateful to the wonderful HarperCollinsCA for gifting me with this ARC, I cannot say that I will be reading anything else of Mlynowski’s in the near future.
TEN THINGS WE DID (and probably shouldn’t have) by Sarah Mlynowski
Audience: 13+ (drug use, sexual contact, questionable content, questionable language, excessive alcohol)
Rating: 1.5/5
Recommend?: If you like comedy, or are just in the mood for some light reading, then TEN THINGS is for you. -
Got this for like 99 cents on my Kindle back a few months ago, and now I know why it was so cheap. I really hate books that make adults out to be complete idiots, and that's exactly what this book does. It also glorifies casual sex and drinking between underaged teens, lying to parents and getting away with it, and pretty much every other stereotype expected of youth today. Yeah, teenage girls will probably love this book, but I won't be recommending it to any of them.
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Wat een geweldig boek! Ik heb me geen moment verveeld toen ik het boek aan het lezen was. Het is allemaal wel wat onrealistisch, maar dat maakt het boek misschien juist zo leuk. Ik kan me alleen niet voorstellen dat mijn ouders me zo zouden behandelen op deze leeftijd.
-
I don’t know what to really say about this one. I liked it, but I really wanted so much more. I think the beginning and the end were great, but the middle needed more “oh I am so going to be dead when my Dad finds out” stuff. I guess it was just more realistic than I thought it would be which is not necessarily a bad thing mind you.
The story is about April, a junior in High School who just finds out that her Dad, with whom she lives with, has decided to move with his new wife to another state. Understandably April is upset and refuses to go, but how can she stay without her parents? So begins the funny adventure of what happens when 2 teenage girls get to live together without parental supervision unbeknown to their parents. Well correction Vi’s Mom knows that they are staying alone but Aprils dad does not and if he finds out she will have hell to pay.
Their adventures were funny and I did crack up at the fake emails messages that their parents were sending back and forth, but again I wanted more. In my head I thought about the movie The Hangover and it was not on the caliber. But still good none the less.
The one part that really bothered me was the end how April’s dad, I am going to try and stay spoiler free here, discarded her wishes without a second thought after being written as a put your kids first kind of dad. I didn’t see that reaction coming at all and it really kinda ticked me off. I figured out the whole April and Noah situation pretty quickly even though I didn’t guess all of it, but that is okay I think the author intended it to be that way.
Anyway I think the book was a fun fluff type of read and I will probably look into more of her books. -
No sé qué decir realmente sobre este. Me gustó, pero realmente quería mucho más. Creo que el principio y el final fueron geniales, pero el medio necesitaba más cosas de "oh, voy a estar muerta cuando mi papá se entere". Supongo que fue más realista de lo que pensé que sería, lo que no es necesariamente algo malo.
La historia es sobre April, una estudiante de tercer año de secundaria que descubre que su papá, con quien vive, decidió mudarse con su nueva esposa a otro estado. Comprensiblemente, April está molesta y se niega a ir, pero ¿cómo puede quedarse sin sus padres? Así comienza la divertida aventura de lo que sucede cuando dos adolescentes viven juntas sin la supervisión de los padres sin que sus padres lo sepan. Corrección, la mamá de Vi sabe que se quedarán solos, pero el padre de April no, y si se entera, tendrá que pagar un infierno.
Sus aventuras fueron divertidas y me reí por los correos electrónicos falsos que sus padres enviaban de un lado a otro, pero nuevamente quería más. Pero sigue siendo bueno, no obstante.
La única parte que realmente me molestó fue el final de cómo el padre de April, voy a tratar de mantenerme libre de spoilers aquí, descarté sus deseos sin pensarlo dos veces después de ser escrito como el primer padre de tus hijos. No vi esa reacción en absoluto y realmente me molestó. Descubrí toda la situación de April y Noah bastante rápido, aunque no lo adiviné todo, pero está bien, creo que la autora pretendía que fuera así.
De todos modos, creo que el libro fue una lectura divertida y probablemente voy a leer más de sus libros. -
- 2.5 -
Este fue un libro con el cual encontré lo que buscaba: pasar el rato. Iba sin expectativas ya que era poco y nada lo que sabia del libro, así que estuvo bien. Como dije antes, es un libro para pasar el rato, nada espectacular, ni del otro mundo ni que te deja marcado. Y a pesar de que para mi gusto tiene demasiadas paginas, las cuales sacaría un montón, fue un buen libro y me divirtió.
En cuanto a los personajes, April es una chica que no logre comprender y tampoco me pude conectar mucho con ella. Lo único rescatable de esta chica es su sentido del humor y que me saco varias risas, pero no mucho mas. Era una chica tonta e inquietante. Me parecía que hacia cosas sin sentido, y que me daban muchísima bronca. Ademas del hecho de que se quejaba por absolutamente todo, cuando todo lo que tenia y su vida era prácticamente perfecta. También me hacia enojar mucho el hecho de que no se diera cuenta de las cosas. En fin, no fue un personaje que me agradara.
En cuanto a Noah, fue un chico que nunca me cerro. Al principio, pero bieeen al principio estaba todo bien, pero enseguida me di cuenta que no era lo que decía ser. A ver, no había que ser muy inteligente para darse cuenta (a no ser April, que si no se daba cuenta porque es demasiado tonta). La manera de comportarse de el decía todo lo contrario de lo que decía. Ademas de que su personalidad nunca me agrado. 
Vi fue uno de los personajes que me agrado, tanto por su personalidad por como se comportaba. Tenia sus pequeñas cosas que eran tipo whaaat (¿quien se pone a hacer ejercicio a las 2 de la mañana?), pero NADA que ver comparada con April. Tenia todo lo que esta no tenia. Ademas era la única que le ponía un poco de sentido común a las cosas! Marissa, también amiga de April me agrado mucho, como se ve mas a Vic en esta novela y me gusta mas su personalidad y su actitud me fue mas de mi agrado Vic pero Marissa buen un muy buen personaje también. Hudson me encanto! Me encantaba su aura "misteriosa" y que siempre fuera super lindo con April (y la idiota no le daba bola, agg). Ademas de que aunque no fuera el novio de April se comportaba mejor con ella que Noah (imbécil). Lo único que me rechino un poco fue el hecho de que En fin, me encanto me encanto. Dean fue otro personaje que me gusto muchísimo, me encantaba su sentido del humor y todas las boludeces que hacia. Me gustaba MUCHO MUCHO . El y Hudson (bellos bellos hermanos) hicieron que los amara. 
Como dije al principio, fue una lectura buena para pasar el rato, pero no me marco ni nada. Ademas que una de las cosas que mas me molesto es que no fuera para nada realista. Era demasiado al estilo película americana, y estoy segura que si fuera una película me hubiese gustado mucho mas, pero tan extremo se surrealismo en un libro contemporáneo no me gusto para nada. También de que a pesar de que es divertido, en algunos momentos se me hacia largo, ya que tiene demasiadas paginas para lo simple que es la trama. El final me gusto bastante, era muy evidente que iba a terminar asi, pero fue lindo. Lo único que me sorprendió fue el hecho de que No me lo esperaba para nada, quede como que mierda?¿?¿ Pero también me molesto el hecho de que un tema bastante delicado se lo tomaran tan a pecho, pero bue.
En fin, no es una novela que recomiende si se quiere encontrar algo muy profundo, pero si es buena para pasar el rato. -
On the surface, April is living every teenager's dream. When he's transferred to Cleveland, her father allows April to live with her good friend, Vi and finish out the year at school. She's got a great boyfriend and they're finally ready to take their relationship to the next level.
Of course, in reality things are slightly different. April soon finds out that her visions of wild parties, endless freedom and lots of time canoodling with the boyfriend are in sharp contrast to the realities of living with her friend and maintaining the illusion to her father and others that there is some kind of adult supervision taking place in their lives. Add to it that at the time when she and her boyfriend should be feeling closer than ever, he's more distant than ever before, except when he's jealous about April's new guy friend.
The premise for "Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)" isn't exactly a new one. We've all seen those special episodes of various TV shows where teens are left home alone and all hell breaks loose. The story opens with April's dad coming by for a surprise visit the morning after a huge party and April trying to figure out how they can clean up in time and how they got to this point. The novel then unfolds, filling in the details of how we got here and the good and bad decisions made along the way. (Good decision: trying to work out a way to stay near her friends for the last part of her junior year. Bad decision: Buying a hot tub).
As a narrator, April brings an authenticity to the story that could be lacking. While the reader may pick up on clues that something is off with her boyfriend, April quickly tries to find ways to gloss it over and write it off. April's voice sounds like an authentic teenage girl and Mylnowski never allows the situations or temptations facing April and her friends to stray too far from what could happen in the real world. The journey April takes as she realizes things about herself and her family is a fascinating, compelling one. Big props to Mylnowski for creating an authentic, believable, compelling and flawed character for the centerpiece of this novel.
That's not to say the book is perfect. But it's enjoyable enough with genuine humor and funny moments interspersed with serious, grown-up moments in which April and her friends must make some big calls and live with the consequences. -
Reading this book is kind of like watching a couple episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians. Was it entertaining? Yeah. Did I learn anything or feel mentally enhanced after reading it? Definitely not. If time-consuming mindless fluff is what you're going for, then check this out. I wasn't expecting anything deep going into this, so I'm not disappointed, but it still isn't worthy of a super high rating, but it was humorous and feel-good, so I'll meet in the middle at 3 stars.
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Trigger warnings: parental neglect, pet related emergency, .
So here's the thing: I never had particularly high hopes for this book. But sometimes you just need a fluffy contemporary book to speed through, and this fit the bill nicely.
This is...yeah, it's a prime example of why teenagers need adult supervision. It's a prime example of why teenagers shouldn't be allowed to make major decisions. It's a prime example of why you shouldn't be friends with your kids when you should be PARENTING your kids.
So basically, April's mother moved to Paris after the divorce, so she's been living with her dad. Except that her dad and her stepmother have decided they're moving to Cincinnati, right in the middle of April's junior year. She doesn't want to go. Conveniently, her best friend has plenty of room at her place. And her mother's just gotten a six month contract in a touring production of Mary Poppins. So they basically concoct a plan to lie to April's father and convince him that he's talked to Vi's mother about April living with them. Blah blah blah, two teenage girls live alone for six months.
A big part of the problem is that April's dad gives her $1400 a month(!!) - $200 for groceries, $200 for rent, and $1000 for "incidentals". Like...DUDE. WTF. And of course, April immediately goes out and buys a hot tub. And a cat. And blows off school numerous times. And throws a bunch of parties. And generally makes terrible TERRIBLE life choices.
I felt for April in that her entire family basically abandoned her. But at the same time, she pushed them all away, so...?? The romance side of things was stupid. April's boyfriend was the actual worst. I was meh on the other guy who crops up in the course of the story.
So...it was fast paced in that I sped through it in a couple of hours. But I also constantly wanted to yell "OMFG WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU" constantly. So. -
Confession: I’ve had this book for YEARS. I’d bought it on a whim and then completely lost interest. Maybe it was the bubblegum cover (so not cute, btw), or the description, or even the title. Who knows? For some reason, I was under the impression that this was going to be a breezy, fluffy read.
That it was not.
From what I’ve seen thus far, it seems like people are criticizing this book for being “all about sex” and then condemning the message the author purportedly conveyed via the sex plot. (unfortunately though, no explicit sex scenes here.)
Personally, I did not see it that way at all. Yes, I suppose sex was a central theme in the story, but it did not define the story. It was actually really, heartbreakingly realistic. What teenager doesn’t think about sex? Having sex, planning sex, regretting sex, enjoying sex? It happens. And just because it doesn’t turn out all rainbows and butterflies, doesn’t mean the author was necessarily trying to send a message to readers that having premarital sex = bad.
Because, although April eventually does all of the above, this book was more than just sex. It was about April’s underlying familial issues that set the whole ‘sex’ plot in motion. Her parents’ divorce, the cat her mom gave away, the cat she subsequently adopted and saved with $3k (funny/sad story), her lying to her dad, the fact that her dad let her stay with her friend (so easily, and without much of a fight), her mom who cheated and then moved to France, Noah, and so forth.
The story about her cat really wrapped up April's story in a nutshell. The cat was given away (basically abandoned). Hudson (the guy she may or may end up with) gifts her a new kitty; the kitty gets run over by a car -- everyone, including her father and her BF, Noah, tells her to just put the kitty (aka Doughnut) to sleep and out of her misery. They all tell April it's not worth $3,000 to save the cat's life and put the cat through surgery, especially when the vet isn't sure of the outcome. But April clings on to her hope. She doesn't give up. She sees the kitty as herself.
It was a culmination of the aforementioned factors that led to her obsession on losing her virginity. Maybe it wasn’t an obsession on sex – maybe what she really wanted was to be LOVED. To feel wanted, needed, desired, precious, treasured, worthy.
Fast-forward to April loses her V-card. She finally gets what she wants, but it’s not what she thinks. Or, it doesn’t turn out the way she imagined. Sex actually comes with real life consequences and sometimes you can’t turn back the clock. You have to take responsibility for your choices – whether good or bad. Sometimes, people betray you in ways unimaginable, and yet, shouldering that pain is what initiates (or catapults) some into adulthood. Sadly, it’s a part of growing up. I think Mlynowski captured that beautifully.
On a lighter note, the book really did have those “fluffy” moments. The fun times in the pink hot tub (aka “Hula”), the parties (particularly the Mr. Teen contest), moments with Noah, with Hudson, how Lucy ended up in the fold, the conversations April had with her two other besties, the fake e-mailing back and forth – it was all so much fun. The humor was spot on too, and it was very entertaining.
However, I think Mlynowski could’ve pushed it a bit further with April’s abandonment issues. It was only hinted and too subtle, I think. And April herself doesn’t really hash it out. She just kind of accepts it and though she alludes to her underlying familial issues – it kind of gets swept under the rug.
But then again, maybe that was the whole POINT of the book. To sweep all the ugly – lonely – scary stuff under the rug and just have fun. To be young and make mistakes but to ultimately learn from them – to accept them and move on; after all, who can’t relate to that? -
This was entertaining. It was like a Sarah Dessen novel with more personality.
I enjoyed the characters.
It was a fun book. The plot basically was that the main character, April, is told by her father that they are moving and April talks him into letting her stay with her friend Vi. Her father doesn't know that Vi's mother is "on the road" and that it's just going to be Vi and April living in a house alone.
Then the ten things they shouldn't have done are discussed. And a lot of times the book was funny. There were also some deeper family issues and other serious things happening in the book. It was a perfect balance.
I recommend this for anyone who likes contemporary YA books. It wasn't perfect but I enjoyed it. -
4.5/5 ☆
I really enjoyed this. It was so cute and funny that I couldn't stop smiling. It is perfect for summer days <3
But, I also wanted the relationship between April and Hudson to be more developed. -
This relentlessly entertaining story offers an authentic perspective on freedom, friendship, and first love. The perfect summer read!
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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
Taken from princessbookie.com -
3.5/5
Después de haber leído y disfrutado de Gimme a call, estaba feliz de poder disfrutar de otro libro de Mlynowski, sin embargo, no me hacía muchas ilusiones en cuanto a la trama. Por principio sabía que sería divertida, pues es el sello característico de la autora pero, ¿qué más podría ofrecerme 10 cosas que hicimos?
1.- Diversión: La historia es fresca, lo mismo hace reír que compadecerse de nuestras protagonistas.
2.- Ligerita: se lee muy fácil, muy rápido, su narración es muy simple que no aburre ni un segundo. La presencia de los flashbacks son de mucha ayuda para entender el por qué del comportamiento de nuestra protagonista.
3.- Enganchadora: una vez que empiezas a leerla no vas a querer dejarla hasta saber cómo termina todo.
4.- Evocadora: siempre y cuando tengan mi edad y les haga recordar cuando se fueron a vivir solos por vez primera. Yo no tenía problemas con las fiestas, pero sí con las compras, ¡qué lío! Consejo: siempre pongan a tención cuando mamá hace las compras.
5.- Sinceridad: no había. Nuestra protagonista se la vive mientiendo a sus padres y a ella misma. Es muy importante siempre mantener buena comunicación con nuestros padres, yo entendía la situación de April, pero no por ello dejaba de pensar en lo mucho que podría haberle costado todo ese relajito que armó.
6.- Crecimiento: Me encantó el crecimiento personal de April a lo largo del libro, es una pena que haya tenido que aprender a través de tragos tan amargos.
7.- Romance: de ligero a nulo. Ciertamente ya no había amor entre ciertos personajes y sus decisiones son de lo más desacertadas, pero la inclusión de un nuevo amor (si bien no me quejo del elegido), me pareció un poco fuera de lugar. La chica necesitaba un respiro más largo antes de embarcarse en una nueva aentura.
8.- Sexo: el libro es la mayor parte acerca del sexo. Sobre la primera vez, la importancia de ser responsables y cuidadosos en cuanto a su persona y pensar muy bien con quién se hace.
9.- Lecciones: me pareció muy interesante la inclusión de esa ida al médico; antes, durante y después de cierto episodio. Creo que es muy buen ejemplo de las consecuencias que pueden traer nuestras acciones y la necesidad de meditar seriamente antes de hacer algo o de dar un paso tan importante.
10.- Personajes: agradables hasta cierto punto. Pero como es característico de esta autora, los personajes carecen de profundidad
Resumiendo... la historia es agradable, disfrutable, pero no hay mucho que sacar de ella, salvo un par de lecciones que espero que los chic@s que lo lean lo tomen en cuenta; por lo demás, es un libro que pasa sin pena ni gloria. -
Ten Things We Did looks and sounds like a light-hearted, fun, easy read. It promises to appeal to fans of authors like Susane Colasanti, Sarah Dessen, and Lauren Myracle. But Sarah Mlynowski doesn’t quite deliver on that promise. Ten Things is a light, fun read, but the plot and characters are unrealistic. When April’s dad decides to move to Cleveland, she opts to move in with her friend Vi rather than uproot herself. Only thing is, April’s dad would freak if he found out Vi’s mom won’t be staying with them, leaving the two teenagers alone in Vi’s spacious home. To placate April’s dad, the girls provide him with a fake email address and Vi dutifully responds to all his emails as if she were her mom.
As if this scenario weren’t crazy enough, the ridiculous situations the girls continuously get themselves into drive this story over the top. While it tries to be charming and endearing, it’s hard to forget just how improbable all of it is. As a main character, April is kind of forgettable. Vi is much more interesting, but she’s also the proponent of this whole scheme and I kind of hold that against her. My favorite characters are brothers Dean and Hudson, but they don’t appear enough to really satisfy me.
I will say Ten Things explores some real teen issues and deals with them in a relatable, believable way, specifically issues surrounding relationships, sex, infidelity, conforming, and friendship. Some conversations are reminiscent of conversations every girl has had with or can imagining have with a friend. And if you can suspend your disbelief for a little while, the craziness that is April’s life can even be funny. You’ll wistfully imagine your own life parent- and rule-free for a few minutes. Then you’ll get to the end and realize you don’t want to have the conversation that April’s about to have with her dad.
If you’re looking for a light, quick read, then Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have) will probably satisfy you. If you want something with a little more substance, I’d suggest you keep looking. -
3.5 stars (close to 4?)
I'm currently in a phase of reading teenage books.
I guess I realized that, in a couple of years, I'll completely outgrow them and I'll have the rest of my life for reading the serious adult ones, so why would I do that now?
Anyhow...
Sarah Mlynowski is a good writer. About 10 years ago, I was crazy about the Magic in Manhattan series, so I thought I might give a try to other books written by this author, too.
I don't regret it.
Ten Things We Did is one of the most original teen books I've read when it comes to the plot, diversity of characters is amazing and the most important thing: they all were really 16-17 y/o.
It happens often for a writer to make a story about teenagers, but somehow ends up making them seem like they're in their mid 20's.
Here it's not a case.
They were all adorably clueless, their emotions were raw, actions crazy, drinking hard and relationships taken way to seriously for kids that are still in high school. But I loved it! Reminded me a lot of my wild 16 year old self and can't deny I laught out loud at cartain points.
Very (bitter)sweet!
