There’s a mall in my town that hasn’t been updated probably since it was made in the 70s and still has tons of neon lights, same vibe. The setting reminded me a lot of Stranger Things s3 (minus the bad guys and monsters lol). The scavenger hunt was silly and I wanted more from it but it was still fun. I loved the setting of a 90s mall and how the entire book takes place there. Honestly this book was just fun and cute, and really fast.

Luckily Cassie manages to score a new job at a boutique with her ex best friend, Drea, who drags her into a treasure hunt that takes place throughout the mall. They plan to work at the local mall until he dumps her out of the blue and says he found someone else. It reminded me of the Sweet Valley High books in that way.The Mall takes place in 1991 and is about a girl named Cassie who is leaving for college in six weeks with her boyfriend. 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