I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans...

Short and Sweet

Cassie has everything planned out, she’s going to work at Parkway Center Mall after graduation until she goes off to college in New York with her boyfriend. But sometimes plans don’t always pan out and now Cassie has to reevaluate everything.

Characters

Cassie: Cassie is our main character and she’s smart a bit of a know it all. There’s a lot going on in her life, she just recovered from mono, her boyfriend has been cheating on her, and her parents are separating. She snaps on people a lot but I just think its because of all the things she’s going through, but sometimes she did go too far. I did like Cassie as a character though she knew what she wanted and she went for it.

Drea: Drea and Cassie used to be best friends in middle school and then they had a falling out so having to work with your ex friend is awkward and tense. I loved Drea she’s your typical Jersey girl all about the fashion and big hair. Drea loves fashion and has big dreams to start her own clothing line. There’s a lot more to Drea, she has a tough exterior but she’s still sensitive. My favorite thing about Drea is her laugh I could just hear it and it was hilarious and made me smile.

Romance

Cassie and Troy: Troy and Cassie have been dating for two years. They work at America’s Best Cookie together and a few weeks will be leaving to New York to go to college. Unfortunately Troy is a piece of trash and has been cheating on Cassie while she’s been recovering from Mono! Cassie had to find out the hard way because the other girl also worked at the mall.

Cassie and Sam: Sam works at the record shop and Cassie and Sams first interaction wasn’t the best. But over time they start hanging out more. I think these two would have been better off as friends especially because Cassie is leaving soon.

My Thoughts

~ Going into this I didn’t really know what to expect because the synopsis doesn’t really offer a lot, but I was pleasantly surprised.

~ Cassie was supposed to work at America’s Best Cookie with Troy but everything changes when she finds out he’s been cheating on her so obviously working there is not an option. Cassie ends up getting a job at Bellarosa Boutique.

~ Bellarosa is owned by Gia and her daughter Drea also works there. Drea and Cassie used to be friends so this job situation is also a bit awkward. I loved the mother daughter duo of Gia and Drea I could just picture them, like I said Jersey girls!

~ Anyway there’s a bit of the mystery at the mall that involves Cabbage Patch Kids, a little weird but I liked it. The girls had to find Cabbage Patch Kids which also had maps which would eventually lead them to a treasure.

~ Cassie and Drea used to be friends, so I liked seeing them grow closer together over the course of the book.

~ I loved the setting it was so realistic and hearing about all the stores, I also liked seeing how Cassie tried to avoid certain places because of the people she didn’t want to see.

Overall

In a time where social distancing and quarantining are a thing reading a book about the mall was great. I felt like I was there even if it does take place in the 90’s. I loved hearing about all the stores and seeing the interactions Drea and Cassie had with other shop owners and customers. I loved the little mystery that’s involved too! This book is funny and cute and such a great read for the summer!