I just did not get the tone of this book. To me, it was a story about kids who have to find a way to survive and be mature thanks to really crappy parents. One parent in particular. But the writing felt like it was supposed to be a somewhat funny story with dark "humor" and wisecracks and that did not fit for me. I guess I was more wrapped up in the anxiety of the situation and the ways in which they were never going to get out to find anything humorous. I also hated the intense friction between the sisters with no one bothering to try to talk to each other! But mostly I cared about the situation they were in, but I didn't care about any of the characters at all. Not even the poor younger brother who is the only blameless one here, and who came across as much younger than his supposed eight years.

This had me on the edge of my seat as I read it. I loved the writing and the story was great! I loved the way Drew and Carna are shown throughout the book

This is definitely a book that reads towards a younger audience which maybe why I didn’t love it. It was quick to read and I liked the relationships between the siblings

This was a decent one. It was quick to read and I liked the relationships between the siblings and how much Drew wanted to protect them. It was wildly unrealistic but then again it is a book, lol.

Thoughts and Themes: I am really glad that I decided to read this one as an audiobook and follow along through the e-book. There was so much that I enjoyed about this book, and I felt that the dark humor was spread throughout the book well.

Something that I really enjoy in this book are the other worldlies as Drew calls them. I really like the interactions that Drew has with them as this feels very familiar to how I interact with people who have passed. I like that she is imagining the conversations she would have with these people and how they are helping her deal with daily things.

Characters: In this book you get to meet our main character, Drew and her family. You also get to meet her boyfriend and some of the other people in her life throughout the book. You also get to meet some of the people who have passed away throughout Drew’s life.

I really enjoyed getting to know the main character and her sisters. I thought it was great to slowly get to know them throughout the book because by midway you feel for the characters. You don’t know much about them at the point that things go badly for all of them, but you can’t help but feel for them. As the reader I feel for Drew the whole time as you see her battle with what she wants and what she feels she has to do.

Writing Style: This book is told in first person through the perspective of our main character, Drew. I really enjoyed that everything was told through the perspective of Drew because all we heard was how she felt about each thing. We weren’t hearing how others felt about her decisions and there was no interference of other’s thoughts.

Laura Zimmerman's JUST DO THIS ONE THING FOR ME could be "Shameless" meets "Party of Five." It has the dark, did-that-really-happen humor of "Shameless" with the deep sibling love of "Party of Five." Drew, the main character of this book, definitely reminds me of the early years of "Shameless" when oldest sister Fiona was determined to keep her siblings together--by any means necessary.

I really appreciated the unexpected humor of JUST DO THIS ONE THING FOR ME and the (very!) unexpected situations created as Drew tried to keep the facts of her mother's whereabouts a secret. I would have liked to have had the younger sister developed more, perhaps even given her own storyline. Otherwise, the story felt more like a novella than a novel; there was one main plot with little else giving the story depth or dimension. However, I absolutely saw character growth in Drew and the pain she experienced in trying to move beyond a relationship with her mother that consisted of her mother constantly saying, "I just need you to do this one thing for me." I'll definitely look for more fiction from this author.

Just Do This One Thing for Me was an okay read... I didn't really expect the story to be as funny as it was, so that threw me off. It definitely reads towards the younger audience.

Just Do This One Thing- Laura Zimmerman
This reminded me so much of Fiona from Shameless. I loved Drew and felt for the difficulties of her life. Dark Humor is my favorite type of humor and this has it in abundance. Smart, funny and heart wrenching, I highly recommend this.

This book is about Drew who has to keep her family intact after her mom has disappeared. I suspected this book to be a thriller but honestly it’s a dark humor type of read. Totally not what I expected but I enjoyed the story. Zimmermann is a good writer but I did have some issues with the pacing and as great of the story was, some things did not add up. There were some good twists and turns which kept me entertained in the story. I enjoyed reading Drew’s story and thought her character was very well written. She developed in the story which I enjoyed. There are quite a few side characters to keep up with the suspense and the family bonding between the siblings was great. This was a great entertaining story that I did not expect and kind of gave me the same vibe of Missing but except much of the thriller part.

*this book was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

I did go into this book blind but the cover is what actually intrigued me. Drew who has always tried to be the responsible person her mom isn't and takes care of the household and her siblings. She is determined to do things differently than her mom who is always looking for the next buck whether it is legit or not. There were some very funny moments and then some very dark moments which kept me on my toes when reading. When her mom decides to go away for pure fun leaving her kids behind, that is when things change. I was not overly satisfied with the ending and feel like there could have been more.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, this is a voluntary honest review.

I went in pretty blind this this book, which I would recommend! Just Do This One Thing For Me is the story of 3 siblings and their unreliable mom. She leaves the 3 kids at home to go to a Justin Timberlake concert in Mexico and of course, things don't go quite as planned. I really enjoyed the combination of deadpan, dark humor and big-heartedness in this story and will be adding it to my classroom library!

When Drew’s mom skips off to Mexico for a Justin Timberlake concert, mysterious things begin to happen. Could her mom be a con woman? Is her mom on the run from something? With her disappearance, Drew isn’t sure if she should keep up the charade. With the help of her sister, they get mixed up with all sorts of things, dodging trouble if they could, in order to protect their little brother and what’s left of their family.

Entertaining, had me WTFing, JUST SO THIS ONE THING FOR ME was a YA mystery treat. I could totally see it as a Netflix series. It kind of gave me a little PLL vibes in a sense there was a lot of covering up going on. Overall, an easy summer read for ya!

August 11, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

Genre: YA contemporary/mystery

Similar Books:
Finlay Donovan Series

Synopsis:
Teenage Drew has always been responsible while her mother has been a scammer living off stolen money trying to raise her. When her mother Heidi goes missing in Mexico, Drew tries to find out what happened to her and dig herself out of the scammer hole.

I went into this book blind. The cover doesn’t really give you any sort of clue as to what it will be like. It is a dark, humorous teenage mystery. Without spoiling it, the MC tries to sift through her mother’s years of scamming while she is missing leaving her children to fend for themselves. I appreciated the dark humor and enjoyed it! I wouldn’t really call it a thriller so much as a mystery/dark contemporary book. It is fun and the concept was fresh.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the ARC! ❤️

I... what did I just read?? This book is pretty messed up, but I'm glad that it warns you of the triggers in advance. Drew was holding her household together before her deadbeat mom jetsets off to Mexico for a Justin Timberlake concert. After that? Pure and utter chaos. I couldn't stop listening!

This is killer on audio, building suspense delightfully as their life and lies unravel. The ending is so tense, but isn't entirely satisfying. But such is life, honestly.

*Thank you to Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and PRH Audio for the gifted ALC*

If Shameless and Finlay Donovan had a YA baby, this would be it.

Let me just start by saying if you don’t like dark humor then this is not the book for you.
It’s hard for me to review this without spoilers. So I won’t tell you much.

I went into this book completely blind and boy was I in for a surprise. This book really surprised me in the best way.
I laughed, cried and got angry with the characters many times.
This story is heavy. Yet somehow it was still beautiful. Beautifully broken.

I really loved this one and I can’t recommend it enough.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙃𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚-𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨.

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I grabbed this book from NetGalley. I totally wanted to read it because the cover was unique and made me want to see what this story was about.

It was such a fun read, but I don’t think I was ever fully engaged. I kept rolling my eyes at times with the characters. I get this is a YA book, but it felt so juvenile to me.

The book gave me huge Finlay Donovan vibes, which was a book I surprisingly didn’t enjoy at all. I wish I had prepared myself beforehand but unfortunately didn’t. It’s not that this wasn’t a great book, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

The story does have a strong portrayal of a sibling relationship. It was quick and silly in its own way, but I can definitely see what the author was doing with it.

It’s not your typical kind of thriller, it felt more like a mystery - maybe?! I did find myself laughing a few times, but again, I never felt like I was completely invested in the story.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review eARC and PRH Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Once I saw reviews that compared this to Finlay Donovan, I finally put my finger on why this wasn't my favorite. It was campier than I expected it to be. I had anticipated a darker, more sinister read, which this had aspects of... but it wasn't the overall tone.

This book was very funny. I enjoyed the sense of humor of the characters. It is fast paced and a quick read. It does read as young adult but sometimes I need a read like that.

I don't know what I was expecting going into this book and I'm not sure how I feel about now that I've finished it. I liked it, but also didn't fully connect to it, yet couldn't stop reading regardless. There was a humorous tone at points, especially when it came to all the product reviews. It has a Finlay Donovan type of campiness, but make it YA. I also really enjoyed the banding together of the siblings. Overall, it was a pretty quick read, just not sure it was a favorite of mine. Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an e-ARC to read and review!

Calling all Finlay Donovan lovers!! This is a book I didn’t know I needed. I’m not joking I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard reading. This book is absolutely perfect if you want to dabble in a “thriller” but don’t want a stressful, dark or gory read.

Drew is the rule following eldest daughter to Heidi Hill. The problem is Heidi is one of the biggest scammers out there and Drew is always feeling like she needs to take care of her siblings and all of the household tasks. One day, Heidi decides she’s headed on a vacation to Mexico and Drew is stuck at home attending school and the every day mundane tasks however, Heidi doesn’t make it to Mexico. Where did she go? Will Drew be able to keep the house running without drawing attention to herself?

The banter in this book is gold. Drew is 100% a first born and her younger sassy sister is definitely a kick ass take no names type of girl. I’m not joking, the actions, commentary and decisions they made had me laughing and my family asking me what was so funny! Bravo Ms. Zimmermann….I LOVED this book. 😂🤣