I absolutely loved this book. Early 90s mall vibes, doesn't get better than that. One of my favorite reads of the year.

The entire time I was reading this I felt like it was a written version of a hilarious teen movie. I know the book isn't even out yet, but someone should definitely make this into a movie.

I will be honest, the main reason I picked this book to read next was the promise of 90s nostalgia. I was not expecting a relatable coming of age story. I was not expecting compelling characters. I wasn’t expecting a quirky, extremely low stakes yet enjoyable mystery. Happily, that is what I got.
The book blurb does not tell you what to expect, laying into the ninetiesness of it all (hence my primary expectation of a nostalgia fest). The book starts with Cassie’s life falling apart in a very high school, not falling apart kind of way. She missed the beginning of summer, training for her new job at America’s Best Cookie, and her prom. Her boyfriend, whom she had planned out their upcoming college future together with, dumps her.
The characters are the highlight of the book, which as a character-driven story, rather than plot-driven, is as it should be. The characters all feel individual and unique, with motivations and wants outside of their traditional stereotypes. Even the stoner who works at the arcade feels like something beyond ‘the stoner,’ although he does not get fleshed out until very late in the book. After the first few pages, I was worried the main character would wallow in teenage self-pity instead of having an actual personality. McCafferty does a good job pulling out of that and giving us something beyond teenage angst. Cassie is compelling, believable, and has a solid arc throughout the story. Her new best friend, her ex-boyfriend, the guy working at Sam Goodies, they are all believable characters. No one acts out of character, they all feel like people who would exist, yet are they are mostly all interesting and engaging. That, alone, is a small miracle in YA or coming of age type stories.
The mystery was a fun little surprise. I loved how low stakes it is and yet how it still manages to lend urgency, pushing the plot forward. They search the mall for stashed cabbage patch dolls in search of a treasure, following a bizarre set of clues. It made for a fun summer adventure that takes a backseat, in the end, to the character arc but remains worth following. Not something all mystery or thrillers manage to do right.
Plus, there is still great 90s nostalgia.
I did not expect much from this book going in, and now it is potentially the most enjoyable read I have had for months. It is possibly the best YA book I have read in several years. It is a fun, low stress read that I would recommend to anyone, but especially those of us who grew up hanging out in the mall during high school.

Having never read the Jessica Darling series, this was my first journey with Megan McCafferty's work and I'm kinda bummed! The blurb made this sound like it would be so cute and fun for nostalgia purposes, but I think I'm a little too young to really appreciate most of the references. Loved the concept and the mall being such a major piece of the story (I worked at dELiA*s back in the day, I get it!), but overall, a miss for me.

Thank you so so so much #NetGally, Megan McCafferty and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

I am a 90s girl. I was a Mall Rat in the early 90s and a Mall working in the mid 90s and this book was like a passage back to the past. This book is marketed toward YA, but to be honest, I don't think the current YA audience is going to get it as it is a PURE throwback to the 90s and I loved every minute of it! Cassie became my new favorite character (so sorry Jessica Darling) but she did. Awesome fun read!

Megan McCafferty has written a fun, period piece (HA) about what it was like growing up in 1991. Of course, it takes place at the only place where kids in that era could hang out-- the mall. While I might be biased by the fact that the imagery, the music, and the teens reminded me of my own coming of age era, I can see young adults today relating to the feelings and the dilemma of how to find yourself as you are on the brink of leaving home for college.

Cassie has been quarantined by mono for the last six weeks, missing prom, graduation, and her boyfriend of two years moving on without her. As she embarks on the last summer before college, she has to come to terms with the changes she sees in the people around her and finding her full, actualized self. With the help of a colorful old turned new bestie, Drea, and a job at the chicest boutique in the mall, Cassie has some unexpected fun, gets revenge, and even meets a sexy Sam Goody. There is an epic treasure hunt featuring the most iconic childhood toy of the time: Cabbage Patch Kids. It is such a fun plot with flawed and vibrant characters.

If you yearn for the days when you might meet someone while browsing the aisles of a record store, then this one is for you! I just loved it!

3.5 stars

I believe I was in the eight grade when I read Jessica Darling series. Or should I say, pretended to be sick so I could stay at home and read it.
Now, did the new Megan McCafferty's book have the same influence on me?
No, no really.
But it was a good story.
Writing amazing as always, characters realistic, and I loved the 90's vibe!
Overall, I did look forward to coming back home from work to read it. It's just that I didn't feel need to call in sick and stay at home all day long, cuddling it.

I loved this book so much. No, it's not the latest literary masterpiece, nor did reading it make me any more intelligent, but it's just a really good story that takes place in a really nostalgic place for me....the mall.

I was born in 1980, so my entire teen years took place in the 1990's. From 1993 when I turned 13 to 1999 when I turned 19.

I spent an ENORMOUS amount of time at our local mall in Southeastern Connecticut...The Crystal Mall. I even worked there briefly at, I'm sorry to say, Sears (a Sad, Sad Scott Scanlon).

This story follows Cassandra in the summer between her graduating from high school and going off to college. She's lost her boyfriend, her job, and her comfortable sense of security at home. We follow her as she comes to terms with all the changes in her life, the new friends she makes and the old friends she gets reacquainted with. It's funny, it's sad and it's real. I loved it.

I absolutely recommend this to any teens of the 90's. The references to all the stores and the trends will bring back all kinds of memories (they did for me at least), and I really enjoyed it.

One thing though...Nirvana's Nevermind album was released in September of 1991...not July. It's ok...I can forgive that since I believe inserting Nirvana at that time represented all that change that was on the horizon not just for Cassie, but for everyone in the story.

Highly, highly recommend this book. I loved every minute of this.

The Mall is the story of Cassie's final summer working at a mall before leaving for college. I loved all of the early 90's references. In a world where many malls are closing their doors, it was fun to revisit a time when "the mall" was the place to be. The nostalgia factor is definitely the highlight of this book. However, I felt as though Cassie made some bad choices along the way that seemed completely out of character for her. And IMO there was too much sexual content and foul language for a YA novel. I felt like some of the characters weren't fleshed out quite enough, especially Cassie's love interest, Sam Goody. Overall, I loved the nostalgic parts of the book, but I just wish some of the language and sexual stuff could've been toned down (or left out of the book entirely). Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a sweet read. It was so cute and fun, the perfect book for a day at the beach, or a cozy snow day.
It was so incredibly well written and executed, the author didn’t stray from the plot and continued the story without skipping a beat.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Cassie is looking forward to the summer before college. She's got a new lease on life now that she's over her bout with mono, and she and her boyfriend have perfected The Plan for the rest of their lives. But on her first day at the mall, she discovers that Theo has been cheating on her, and the job she was counting on is no more. Her PLAN is all shot to hell and she's completely at a loss. Then an old family friend offers her a job at a fashionable clothing boutique and she starts working alongside her former BFF. It's not the way she wanted to spend her summer, but she only has a few months left until she gets to leave for Barnard. But then Drea ropes her into a treasure hunt around the mall, her parents announce their divorce, and she kind of starts to crush on the guy who works at the music store. Maybe her summer won't be a complete waste of time after all.

Set in 1991, this book has a ton of references to stores that don't exist any more (B. Dalton, Sam Goody) and some great music (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch!). It's a very fluffy story that doesn't exactly cover any deep and meaningful ground, but it was a quick, fun read. The characters are all kind of shallow stereotypes (the overly-tanned surfer dude, the stoner, the Goth chick), but they're written that way on purpose and with a lot of humor. There's a little bit about friendship and how you can't plan for everything and learning that you have to be who you really are...but mainly it's an homage to the mall and how, in their hey-days, they were little microcosms of life. It definitely has shades of Mall Rats in it, but McCafferty tells her own story.

I wouldn't say I got deeply invested in this book, but it was a quick escape and a fun throwback to a time I remember well.

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

From the beginning dedication of "To all Riot Grrrls, past present and future" you'll get an instant idea of what to expect from The Mall. There are a lot feminist ideas here, perhaps the author looking back at the time (1991) through a revisionist lens to see the beginnings of the grrrl movement. Social issues affecting women/girls at the time are addressed obliquely so as to not become an agenda piece and the focus does stay on the relationship aspects of our main character. Nor is this a light Summer romance; the Mall is about friendships, finding oneself, and learning to discover your own own strengths and weaknesses. The characters are very flawed and not overidealized - you won't fall in love with any of them but you can definitely respect that they feel more interesting because of the weaknesses and self discovery journey they take.

Story: Cassie has graduated high school and is now facing the Summer lull before attending her University in Fall. Smart and focused, she and her boyfriend Troy have planned out their entire future and how they will make it successful. Until a bout of very serious mono puts her in a hospital for several weeks to "keep her internals from exploding." When she is out of the hospital, everything changes - she loses her boyfriend, her job, and then her homelife starts falling apart. But amidst the destruction, she reunites with a lost friend, meets a new great guy, and begins to learn that being the best person she can be is more than a platitude - and extremely difficult not only to define but also to achieve.

While there are great 1980s/1990s references, they won't derail the book. Younger readers can view it as a historical and biography of Gen Xers (NOT Baby Boomers!) and appreciate it for the period it is set. Those who lived the era will enjoy the many references - from "crunchy Aqua Net hair" to Yardley's of London Lavender scented products. Before video games made the home actually fun to be in, that era was all about the mall.

Character-wise, Cassie can be very difficult to respect/like. She's selfish,much shallower than the shallow creatures she derides, and doesn't respect or appreciate all that is being done for her. Of course, it was the Reagan "Me generation" so that isn't all that surprising. But I had a hard time liking or appreciating her. I grew up in that era and she was just as pretentious to me as the cheerleader or jock she looks down on. Cassie's ex is a stand-in for Family's Ties tv series lead Alex (Michael J Fox) and a lot of the book is Cassie recognizing that the conservative Reagan Era values he placed on her were stifling.

I did like that the author did not overidealize best friend Drea. She wasn't the sweet friend left behind when the girls entered high school. Rather, Cassie was the one left behind when her friend learned how to really showcase herself and use her mother's skill with fashion to best advantage. Now with the girls reuniting, Drea remained the same appearance-oriented character but using those skills to best advantage now that she was an adult.

I did have a few quibbles. The 'treasure hunt' mcguffin was silly and really hurt the sincerity of the story since it was so unrealistic and illogical. I really disliked that aspect of the book since it destroyed credibility so effectively. As well, a lot of The Mall is extremely overwritten in order to up the humor. I didn't believe for a minute that a teen spontaneously had the quips that Cassie did; so although they were amusing, the beginning was a tedious slog through unbelievable dialogue and cultural references. Both eased by the middle of the book, fortunately. And the biggest nitpick is that Drea and her mother are of Italian heritage - but Andrea (Drea) is a male name in Italian (female in Germany, France, etc.) so Giavanna Bellarossa would never have named her daughter Andrea.

I think those expecting a light and fluffy romance won't find it here. This is a coming of age story of a very flawed character with a strong 'grrrrrls are doing it for themselves' message throughout. Interestingly enough, I could very much picture this as a movie from the 1980s teen era, a companion to The Breakfast Club or Some Kind of Wonderful. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a YA novel but I am not a YA reader and enjoyed this as it was from my growing up years. All the references hit home. A cool novel that was a quick read.

It seems like everywhere you look these days, the 90s are making a comeback. For Gen X and Millennials, it is purely nostalgic - scrunchies and jellies, New Kids on the Block, 90210, Saved by the Bell, grunge, dial-up Internet, mix tapes - while for Gen Z, it is a source of music and fashion inspiration. So it makes sense that Megan McCafferty, author of the Jessica Darling series from the early 2000s, is taking back to the 90s with her new YA novel, The Mall.

The Mall is about - you guessed it - a New Jersey mall back when these mega shopping complexes were in their heyday - the early 90s. It was a time before the Internet and cell phones became a thing, and teens used to entertain themselves by prowling the mall, looking for their crushes, consuming copious amounts of junk food, and spending what little pocket money they had on the latest trends.

Cassie Worthy has just spent the summer after her senior year down for the count with mono. Now that she is finally feeling better, she can't wait to spend these last few weeks she has before the start of college working at America's Best Cookie with her boyfriend, Troy. Little does she know, Troy found a sub-par replacement for her while she was confined to her bed this summer. So what's a girl to do when she is dumped? Develop new friendships (and relationships!), make him pay, and most important of all, find herself.

The Mall takes place entirely within a Jersey mall during the summer of 1991, and is mostly a fun-filled blast into the past. While the plot is often outlandish - the mall is home to a staff party room called The Cabbage Patch in the second basement, and Cassie finds herself wrapped up in a dubious mall treasure hunt - there are some important points to be made here about family, friends, relationships, and self-worth. Unfortunately, none of these topics are delved in too deeply, making this book feel more like a novelty - a caricature of the time period it represents - full of style, but no substance. It is a fun read, and will likely be right up the alley of its intended audience, but for those of us who actually lived through the 90s, it is apparent that McCafferty just threw in a lot of pop culture references to establish time and place, instead of working to make sure that this novel felt authentic. Younger audiences won't know the difference, however, making this story a frolicking foray into simpler times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

*ARC provided via NetGalley ⁣
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I’ve been a huge fan of Megan McCafferty ever since I read “Sloppy Firsts” in high school. I devoured the rest of the Jessica Darling books, and I also really enjoyed her dystopian series “Bumped”. When I saw that she had a new book available for early readers, I moved this one up to the front on my to-be-read list. ⁣
It’s the summer of 1991, and Cassie is more than eager to get through her stint at the mall food court so she and her boyfriend Troy can attend college together in NYC. But to her surprise Troy has dumped her and she has lost her job. Cassie is unsure of what to do with the rest of her summer, until she finds out that there is more to the mall and it’s employees than she ever thought possible. ⁣
As a reader of the Jessica Darling series, I caught all the many references to the characters that Jessica interacted with (even the town and business names). I’m not a GenXer, but I do know of all the bands, stores, and styles that the author mentioned. I myself have fond memories of spending much of my free time as a teenager at my local mall with friends. I saw some negative reviews where readers couldn’t understand the references, which makes me laugh because the author referenced many high profile bands and well known stores, many that are still around to this day. ⁣
While I am a fan of the author, this book was just an OK read for me. I found Cassie to be highly dramatic and unlikeable at times, and it made me hard to connect with her or sympathize. I felt that the treasure hunt that she and Drea embark on was a bit silly and didn’t feel like a YA book to me. Although it was refreshing to see a YA protagonist not center her entire around summer around a boy for once, and instead the focus was on a female friendship. I really enjoyed McCafferty’s writing style, as it harkened back to her Jessica Darling series and why I became such a fan. But this book won’t be as memorable for me as her previous works are. ⁣

SPOILER ALERT: If I'm doing the math correctly, this is a cautionary tale. Cassie would be her mom's age this year . . . and if she had followed "the plan" with Troy, she would be the one going through the divorce. You can't plan your life, you have to follow the mystery as it comes, one Cabbage Patch Kid at a time. When Cassie catches mono and misses the end of high school, her boyfriend of two years moves on without her. All her plans fall apart, all the things she's counted on disassemble. But her rebirth comes among the backdrop of an Ocean County NJ mall. It is a typical Jersey story - girl thinks the way out is through NYC. And it might be. If you aren't from the Garden State, you may hate on the cultural details because this is a stereotyped portrayal, complete with Italian American depictions in a sort of one-dimensional fashion. (Fashion is the operative word.) Still, the heart of this story is the only the strong survive, and Cassie has the feminist strength that emerged in the early nineties that will help her solve the mystery of who she is and what she really wants.

I loved this, and that’s not just the Sloppy Firsts nostalgia talking! Megan McCafferty is wonderful at capturing the angst and personality of teenage girls, especially those nerds dead set on a professional career that have a weakness for long haired rocker kids with a feminist vibe.

The Mall is set in the 90s and invokes those days of wandering around with your friends, checking out the stores (Spencer’s Gifts! Sam Goody!) of a capitalist past, pre-iPhones and online shopping. It follows Cassie before she heads off to college and after a bout of mono, and features some excellent dialogue (a McCafferty mainstay) between her and the other women in her life. As she reconnects with ex-bff Drea, navigates a new job and rumors abound, you are sucked into a treasure trove of humor and love. I can’t wait for everyone to read this, thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC and an early glance!

This is an incredibly fun romp that is not only perfect for 90s loving-young adults, but also the many 40-something readers who will remembers these classic cultural touchstones. A funny mystery, and McCafferty's classic, finger-on-the-pulse of smart young women P.O.V. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book. As a person who grew up in the 90s the idea of the mall brought up so much of my childhood memories. I absolutely love the character of Drea and Ghost Girl, would love a whole book about her. The only confusing part was when she would constantly switch between her parents names and calling them mom and dad.

While this book was a fun nostalgia trip, I found it was a little heavy handed. I love the concept, the setting, and thought it was a fun read, but even from the first page, I found there were just too many name drop references to stores and brands. While I did get all the references, it completely took me out of the story. I also personally had a hard time connecting to the main character. While this book wasn't for me, I have no doubt that others will really enjoy this fun trip back into the 1990s.