I received a free eBook copy of The Mall by Megan McCafferty for my unbiased review. This post includes affiliate links.
The Mall by Megan McCafferty
Published by W Wednesday Books
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Format: eARC
Pages: 320
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads: ★★★
The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. Megan McCafferty, beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall.
REVIEW
The Mall by Megan McCafferty is a young adult contemporary novel that takes place in the summer of 1991. I was excited to read this book because of it’s unique setting – a shopping mall! Our protagonist is Cassie Worthy. She has finally recovered from mono and is excited to spend her last summer before college working with her boyfriend at the mall. Unfortunately, when she shows up to work, “The Plan” that she and her boyfriend have carefully crafted quickly falls apart. Cassie must team up with her estranged best friend Drea Bellarosa in order to salvage her summer.
As someone who has spent summers working at the mall in college, I really enjoyed the mall culture aspect of this book. While my local mall did not have any secret underground parties, it’s true that the mall had its own unique community. McCafferty does a great job of demonstrating the fun relationships between the stores and their employees, and I could relate to the funny, and sometimes quite dramatic, interactions that Cassie has with the other characters in the book.
Moreover, I absolutely love it when a book includes a treasure hunt element. Drea explains to Cassie that, according to mall legend, there is a secret treasure hidden in the mall somewhere. This mystery kept me turning pages quickly, because I couldn’t wait for Cassie and Drea to find the next clue. I wish this treasure hunt played a bigger role in the story. Similarly I also enjoyed that Cassie is a vegetarian! It’s always great to read a book where vegetarianism is portrayed positively.
Unfortunately, I did feel like The Mall tried to do too much. This book touches on a lot of topics, but it does not have the time or pages to flush out each topic well. For instance, Cassie is portrayed as a feminist, but she backstabs Drea and makes a lot of derogatory comments towards the other female characters in the book. For instance, I really did not like how Cassie repeatedly calls her ex-boyfriend’s new flame ugly. Thus, I felt like some of the hot topics mentioned in this book were thrown in for brownie points.
Overall, I think The Mall is a quick and summery read that would make for a fun movie. If you also enjoy the nostalgic setting of a 1990s shopping mall, this might be a good pick for you. Plus, it’s fun to go back in time to when cell phones didn’t dictate teen communication! The Mall is available for pre-order now, and releases on July 28, 2020.
BUY THE BOOK