Only 22 years after the last instalment of the Girls quartet was released, Jacqueline Wilson has finally updated the lives of year 9 students Ellie, Magda and Nadine. The girls have now turned 40, and the title of the novel refers to how their lives have supposedly not turned out how they expected. Ellie’s life is meant to be tinged with monotony, and she apparently “feels like she’s been living on auto-pilot.” But if her life is meant to be so uneventful, then why is everything that happens in this novel absolutely unhinged?
Seeing as the Girls series was made popular due to Wilson covering more edgy, grown-up topics like having a boyfriend, the romance in this novel is incredibly misjudged. A subplot with not even the most questionable relationship dynamic features Ellie repeatedly finding mysterious romantic gifts on her doorstep, which are dramatically revealed to be from Nigel, her first cousin. Wilson reflects her own experience of entering a Queer relationship later in life in Ellie’s quest for love, which becomes very frustrating, as Ellie only really comes to terms with her attraction to her new friend Alice on the very last page. This being after the reader has been subjected to Ellie reconnecting with and dating her drippy, patronising year 9 art teacher. No one seems to question how creepy their relationship is, even though on multiple occasions he reminisces over how much he enjoyed teaching Ellie as a 13 year old.
Even on a technical level, there were a few phrases I couldn’t quite believe had slipped through the net. Why didn’t Wilson’s editor point out to her that it is not possible to “phone for a Deliveroo,” nor “phone for an Uber”? Despite their hard-hitting subject matter, Wilson’s novels have always had a comforting disconnect from contemporary life, and Think Again is no different. It was baffling, yet warm, charmingly nostalgic, and certainly compelling.
“Jacqueline Wilson at the Chiswick Book Festival (53176046838)” by Roger Green is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.