Review: Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)

Title: Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)
Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Published: June 7th, 2011
Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Review:

This book was a great easy, summer read.

April, the main character, has decided to leave her family in order to stay in the life she's always known. With a father in Cleveland and a mother in France, April stays to live with her best friend Vi.

The only catch is that Vi's mother is on tour, leaving the house to the girls.

Things start going out of hand from there, with late night marathons, parties and boys, it was only a matter of time before April came to the realization that living alone wasn't as grand as she thought it would be.

From the beginning I knew this wasn't going to be a book I would fall in love with. It was cute, but it didn't have much depth to it.

Some points were very realistic, others (like getting away with living alone for 4 months without parent supervision) weren't. And in a way that's what keeps as a reminder that it was a fiction book.

What I did like about this story was how April would mention something about her past, then there would be like a mini chapter within the big chapter to explain it. It was like each backstory was its own little story and it showed you just how essential it was to the story as a whole.

Rating: 3/5