Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.īut you know what they say about the best laid plans… Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty returns to her roots with this YA coming of age story set in a New Jersey mall. It reminded me of the Sweet Valley High books in that way.“With wit and more than a little hairspray, McCafferty dives into the 1990s with this snappily written self-empowerment novel set beneath the fluorescent lights of a suburban New Jersey mall.” – Publishers Weekly

The writing itself was fun and really felt very 90s. I did enjoy the scavenger hunt and the nostalgic bits, but the book just seemed so hateful in ways that really bothered me. And because of that, I couldn't fully appreciate the rest of the book. The MC often refers to herself as a feminist, all the while calling other girls sluts or ugly. It was relatable to me because I worked in a mall for a while, but I found the book to be really insensitive at times. But when a discovery is found in the mall that leads Cassie on a scavenger hunt, she begins to figure out what's really important and who she really is. But that plan abruptly comes to an end when she meets her boyfriend's new girlfriend and gets fired from her job that she's yet to even start. She's recently mended from a bout of mono, and she's ready to spend her last summer before college alongside her perfect boyfriend working together at America's Best Cookie. And while there was some sweet nostalgia and a fun scavenger hunt, this book unfortunately just did not hit for me.Ĭassie Worthy is ready for the best summer of her life. Not to mention, for years my ringtone was Robin Sparkles' Let's Go to the Mall (if you know, you know).

I worked at the mall for several years, and I love movies and shows about the mall, and season three of Stranger Things was maybe my favorite ( see my visit to filming locations here). Without even reading the synopsis for The Mall, I knew I wanted to read it. TW: Slut-shaming, misogyny, allusions to sexual assault Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A bildungsroman

PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A

The mall by megan mccafferty