Jacqueline Wilson's "Think Again"

Jacqueline Wilson's "Think Again" - a Review

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Күн бұрын

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@kamikamkamm Ай бұрын

The suggestion you made about ellie introducing gary to her dad would’ve been so interesting!! Maybe it being his own daughter would finally force him to realise how creepy dating his students is

@fozjag Ай бұрын

I know its kind of implied that Ellie finds him too embarrassing to introduce to the people in her life but I just found it really odd he didn't meet her family at all!

@emilyjaneex 28 күн бұрын

I would’ve loved a few chapters from Ellie or Madgas POV or some chapters written from when they were at university or when Ellie first had lottie to give us some more depth, also agree it would’ve been better/more realistic if they’d drifted apart and were reunited somehow, a school reunion or something would make more sense than inviting her old teachers and ex boyfriend to her 40th?

@Jillyowls Ай бұрын

I completely agree in regards to mr Windsor/Guy/Gary I was getting a a lot Mr Raxberry flashbacks

@fozjag Ай бұрын

I agree. As a lot of people pointed out in the comments of my last video, JW has basically disowned Love Lessons and said it couldn't be written today, so I was very confused when there was such a similar plotline in this story.

@dirtycasualsofficial182 Ай бұрын

Jackie so confusing

@Mia-f4e4g Ай бұрын

Literally me too

@aeddiefarmer 24 күн бұрын

(ETA comment contains spoilers) Loved this review. When you said you thought the book would have been about Ellie, Magda and Nadine reconnecting after a long time I thought omg that would have worked great! I can totally see why JW really wanted to include Magda and Nadine, but I was really thrown by how the three of them have somehow maintained this friendship after going on these wildly different life paths. Not only that but they are still living in the same area somehow?! I have only the vaguest idea what my best friend from aged 5 is doing with his life and that's with his mum and my mum still being friends to this day. Something that bugged me about Nadine and Magda in this book is how they seemed to be still making the same mistakes as when they were teenagers. Nadine especially- I could see her being someone who realised in her 20s how shittily older guys were treating her as a child, getting much higher standards and becoming very self assured. I would have loved to see her portrayed as someone more embedded in the goth community- goths are lifelong and so passionate. And/or the BDSM community. What happens to Nadine in this book with the guy who chokes her felt like the kind of experience that maybe a character like Nadine would have a bit younger, and by 40 she would have much higher standards and be seeking out responsible, safe and ethical BDSM experiences. Nadine having apparently consensual BDSM is mentioned a little but we don't know much about it because Nadine only tells Magda and not Ellie- sidenote, it really bugged me how Ellie is STILL being shoved into the role of 'prude' by Magda and Nadine all these years later. I used to hate that in the original books and it felt way too much like people always treated me at school. Anyway, so if Nadine is meant to be in the BDSM scene she sounds like she's not going about it safely at all (e.g. mixing it with drinking) but it's unclear whether JW knows that it's possible to have safe and ethical BDSM experiences. I'm not even in the scene myself really but I felt like JW wasn't comfortable writing about it maybe, or thought Ellie would find it too edgy or something and we're seeing it from her POV....I'm not sure. It's a shame because I would have loved to see really self assured, goth, active in the kink community Nadine. Actually I kind of wish both Nadine and Magda had been portrayed as really sorted in life as 40 year olds and that would feed into Ellie's clear insecurities that she is a mess at 40. Also, I kind of hated that Nadine became a model after everything that happened in Girls Under Pressure, it seemed more like she was done with that world. I hoped she'd end up being an artist or a clothing designer or something. It's hinted that she might try and go into designing sex toys so hopefully we will see that in the sequel. (Manifesting it along with you!) As someone who is 35, I became weirdly aware of how close in age I am to Ellie in this book. Her experiences of feeling out of touch with everything felt a little strange, and I couldn't help thinking if I'd read the book in my early 20s I might have felt 'oh that's normal, she's 40 and that's what 40 feels like'. But now I'm so close to 40, I'm not sure that's right. I wonder if JW being a lot older than the character she is writing is coming through there. And like you, I really wish we could have had more about Ellie's experiences bringing up Lottie as a single parent because that actually would explain why she feels out of touch- she's spent most of her 20s raising a small child and that's often when you learn who you are as a person, but maybe she didn't have time. It is implied that she feels especially weird because Lottie left for uni recently, but I still wish there had been more about memories of parenting Lottie. JW clearly wanted to write about mothers and daughters from the mother's perspective for a change, which is why she wrote Ellie to have had a child, so I wish it had been more explored. I also loved Alice, I could picture her so clearly and every time they talked about elephants I was like 'omg I want to chat with them this is lovely'. Everything to do with Ellie's creative process was wonderful. I wanted to read the elephant graphic novel so much. (Though one thing did make me laugh- I think at one point Ellie seems to think that everyone will consider graphic novels as very childish..?? This is set in the present day and graphic novels have been a hugely respected genre for ages! Does Ellie not...read graphic novels? I find it hard to believe someone would want to create one if they hadn't!) Omg sorry this comment is so long! I just apparently really like talking about this book, and I loved hearing you talk about it. But one final thought- I call bullshit on Ben inviting Russel to the party AND NOT DAN. As a kid Eggs fucking loved Dan, of course he would try and invite him if he's inviting literally everyone!! When Ellie was thinking she was glad Dan wasn't there I was like 😔. I don't care what adult Russel is like but I really wanted to know what adult Dan was like. I feel like he'd probably have a PhD in a STEM subject or maybe history, and still be a bit nerdy and dress a bit weird but his social skills are much better and he's funny and interesting to talk to. Obviously no hints of either being romantically interested in each other, they are very different people and they were barely romantically involved back in Girls in Love, and I wouldn't want Dan to be a fixture in the rest of the book, but as you said no one at the party is really. And if Ellie sees even disaster Dan is a competant and well put together adult, it could set up even more her feelings of not having a clue what she's doing as an adult? Idk I think I am writing fanfiction a little! And maybe revealing my soft spot for Dan. 😅

@fozjag 23 күн бұрын

Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and detailed comment 🩷 I didn't think about the Dan situation but now that you've said it you're totally right - I doubt Dan's family sold their own cottage on account of Ellie and Dan's breakup, the Allards surely would have had several more run-ins with them while on holidays in Wales so it's not like they would have been completely out of each others lives after that point. Totally agree with your points about Nadine as well - I really do feel her storyline wasn't handled very well and like you said it's not a growth path you'd really expect a woman of 40 to be on currently. That particular journey for her probably would have worked better as flashbacks, with a wiser and more diligent Nadine in her place today. I'm glad you enjoyed the review 🖤

@Mia-f4e4g Ай бұрын

Omg babe wake up new Foz.Jag! 🎉😊

@Jom-v9n Ай бұрын

Been waiting for your next video!

@charlotte_poppy Ай бұрын

Not gonna lie when I read Think Again, I thought the Mr Windsor character reminded me of Mr Raxberry from Love Lessons...😬 but I'd love a part 2 of your last video! My favourite of Jacqueline's books is Lily Alone, not one of her most serious books overall, but had some serious plotlines mentioned within it

@fozjag Ай бұрын

So obsessed with the Mr. Raxberry comparisons haha I'm so WHOLLY unimpressed with this storyline! I loved Lily Alone as well 🩷

@righttoleftrepeat Ай бұрын

Loved your last Jackie vid as well! Quenches my 2am brain

@fozjag Ай бұрын

Thank you!! 🩷🩷

@CaptainManguito Ай бұрын

OMGGG MORE FOXJAG CONTENT LETS GO

@fozjag Ай бұрын

Feeling the love 🥺🩷

@alexisgrey3633 Ай бұрын

OK so here are my impressions of the book (I LOVED it btw). IF YOU DONT WANT LIGHT SPOILERS DONT READ ON!!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. I liked Ben and Simon, I feel like Id have liked to have seen more of them too, they could have been great characters, esp since I found Eggs so funny and cute in the OG series. 2. It bothered me how there was so much of Ellie feeling bad about being so difficult as a teen towards her dad and Anna, but there was nothing abot how her dad was borderline abusive towards her then, basically painting her as a selfish self obsessed attention seeking brat who ruined christmas when she had an eating disorder and going for a tough love approach when she needed compassion, or his anger at Ellie for staying out with Russell going beyond just being worried about her and being lowkey slut shamey and how dare she embarass me by behaving in such a wanton manner (all while he had affairs with students, as Ellie pointed out in girls out late), and him being like ill talk to her however i want when Anna said dont talk to Ellie like that was troubling to me. 3 I agree JW really did ron the deatheater with mr windsors character in think again, although imo we saw a hint of it in girls in tears, while he had been all sweet and compassionate and nice in girls under pressure and girls ot late, there is one scene with him in in girls in tears where he is really insulting and mean about ellies cartoons and really patronising and behaving more like a mean strict teacher rather than the cool laid back fun teacher we had got used to in the previous two books, it was almost like at that point JW forgot who he was (Bridget Forsyth seemed to as well when she did the audio for girls in tears, she did a different voice for mr windsor when he spoke making him seem more gruff and middle aged and strict). Furthermore, in think again its emphasised what a huge crush Ellie had on him, when in the og series, she really didnt, we got the end of girls under pressure, but that was it, cos in the start of girls out late she met Russell, and she had already met him when Mr Windsor first appeared in that book, and she says she had a 'little crush' on him but nothing similar to the huge crush and hero worship she talks about in think again, the one who liked him the most in the og series was Magda. 4 I agree there could have been more explanation about how dating mr windsor was morally wrong (on his part) and made Ellie evaluate it as well as her dad doing the same thing, I suppose i didnt notice at first because i had evaluated it so much myself. 5. I also agree about plots going nowhere, the most for me was never actually finding out anything beyond Lottie initially meeting her dad, like its just left at that he lied to her about Ellie saying she was pregnant. 6. I am the opposite to you in that Nadine was always my least favourite, I always found her kind of a cow and kind of annoying, liek I am also alternative and i found that as goths go she was werirdly basic, but i also fond her being hugely into kink in think again was a stereotype about goths which annoys me. Like, she was usually the one to get her friends into trouble (like going off with that band) and i dunno she often just seemed super rude, and somehow didnt have Ellies relatableness and Magdas likeability despite her flaws. Frthermore, imo Magda and Nadine arent great friends to Ellie and are kind of worse in this book, they flirt with MR Windsor in front of Ellie in the bar, and at the same time shame her for having reservations about the relationship and dont support her in her complaining about his behaviour saying oh but hes gorgeous and good in bed, as a queer person myself, they just seem like the annoying straight girl friends who just dont get it with sapphics, and like imo out of the 3 of them Ellie seems like the only one who has actally grown up and matured, magda and nadine still act like 13 year olds, including the whole 'i cant have a tattoo of one or the other will get upset and them insisting they ellie should have named lottie after either one of them, so childish and it feels like ellie is constantly trying to keep their friendship going and support them and not upset them (kind of like shes almost walking on eggshells so as to not upset at least one of them) and they never do the same thing, ellie goes on about how important they are to her but they dont seem to see her as that important, in fact it wouldnt surprise me if they act friendly to her face but meet up together all the time and talk shit about ellie, tbf wouldnt be surprised if they did that when younger too (I never liked how they minimised Ellies eating disorder, like she was supportive to them with their issues but they acted like Ellie was making a fuss about nothing, and didnt take her issues seriously when it was obvious she needed help, plus Nadine putting Ellie in triggering situations like making her go to the modelling heat, eating chocolate in front of her and later calling her fat, plus whenever Ellie was upset by either of their behaviour they were always kind of like oh dont get like that, making out Ellie was just being oversensitive rather than that they might have fucked up themselves.. 7 and yeah, there were a lot of weird retcons like mr windsors first name and Ellie still having her elephant toy. 8. I wish Kev, the older gay guy Ellie had a crush on had been in it, and he had become like a big brother to Ellie, I could see him being much more caring and supportive to her than her family (minus Anna she was OK and I can see Ben and Simon being good but obvs when Ben was a kid he couldnt really) or magda and nadine. . Cant wait to hear your opinions on my opinions, Ill edit in anything else i want to put, sorry to write you an essay I've got a lot to say haha great video xxxx

@fozjag Ай бұрын

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed comment! I completely forgot about Kevin, I rather wish he had been a guest at Ellie's party, maybe instead of Russell. I also agree that Magda and Nadine don't seem to have had much development beyond the last book, I cringed a bit when Ellie said Magda refers to every single partner she gets as "the one" for example. I also wish Ellie had a bit of a realisation that the way her dad treated her was not okay, I was surprised they were so close in this book (at the start, obviously the heart attack may have sparked a reconnection either way). Lottie's storyline being unfinished is what's making me most hopeful for a sequel. Some really excellent points here, maybe if there does end up being a sequel to this one Kev may make an appearance after all 🖤