The cleverly titled I Think I Love You is also cleverly written. I've never read anything by Allison Pearson before, but I enjoyed her style and would like to read more. A well-blended mix of nostalgia, drama and wit, I Think I Love You is the story of a young girl named Petra who is coming of age in the 1970's. Just like many teenage girls, their lives revolve around the teen idol du jour. Back then, it was the Partridge Family's David Cassidy.
As Petra and her friends are all wrapped up in anything Cassidy related, a young, male, jaded writer is far away, creating the moments that make the teenage girls swoon. It all comes to a head one night at a concert that manages to steal the innocence of the girls, the journalist and even David Cassidy himself.
What I didn't know before reading this book was that there was a lot of truth to it. I didn't know that David Cassidy went into a self-imposed, semi-retirement at the age of 24. He was popular before I was born, so all that I've known of him has been viewed retrospectively. But that doesn't change the fact that I connected with the message in this novel. For me it was my soap stars or NKOTB, but a part of me has been where Petra was then and is also pretty close to where Petra is "now".
So, if you like taking a walk down memory lane or exploring stories that span generations in a, "if I knew then what I know now fashion", then I think "I Think I Love You" just might be for you, too.

I love the idea behind this book but it just never got off the ground for me. I wavered between 2 and 3 stars and ended up with three because I liked the main character and thought the author did a great job of capturing the angst of early adolescence. I liked the Welsh setting, too. David Cassidy was a little after my time, so I didn't know that much about him, but I enjoyed the interview with him at the end of the book.

I adored "I Don't Know How She Does It" so I had high expectations for "I Think I Love You." I was a teen when The Partridge Family was "must see tv," and I think Allison Pearson accurately captured the era of "Tiger Beat," Bobby Sherman and love beads. Sadly, the book fell apart for me as the female protagonist, Petra, approaches middle age burdened with a philandering husband for whom she feels some moral imperative to wash sheets he brings her which are spotted with his lover's menstrual blood. Silly coincidences mar the conclusion when Petra and her best teen friend, Sharon, recapture a long-lost trip to see David Cassidy in Las Vegas.

Very good. Lost some steam once it got to the 90s but the little girl / hero worship stuff was good and took me right back to my own pre-teen years. (My own adult meeting of my teenage crush happened while watching the NYC marathon and seeing Pat LaFontaine run by and I got to scream & wave and he waved back. I was way too happy about that.)

Liked her other book but didn't really like this one. Found myself skimming a lot. Maybe if you like David Cassidy you might enjoy this one?

This has cured me of light and bright reading for a while. The plot is as vacuous as a David Cassidy lyric. The descriptions of early teenage angst are brilliant. But they're not enough to save the book as a whole.

To quote a reviewer further down, "I Think I Didn't Love It". Didn't hate it, and I'm glad I read it, but...

I guess it just wasn't what I was expecting. I was thinking it would be more lighthearted. Some of it was just so dreary. And Bill? How he had all those encounters he mentions at one point, I'll never know. He was like a gray cloud hanging over the book. I saw the ending coming a mile away and wasn't sure I cared for it.

But all the David stuff was fun. My husband recently brought home PF Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD that he had found at a used bookstore. Takes me right back to my inner 8-year-old heart!

My favorite part was the mention of hiraeth -- the powerful yearning for the place you came from. I know that feeling. Must be the Welsh in me!

Allison Pearson has produced a delightful read! It took me right back to the days I (with several equally devoted teen friends) worshipped teen idols. Petra & her friends swooned over David Cassidy to the degree of insanity. Their journey was detailed in a light, humorous way, with the reader easily empathetic to their emotional & life perils as they grew up through the '70's. So...was the David Cassidy of their dreams the True & Only David? Petra & Sharon do get to answer that for themselves as they re-experience what they thought time left behind in their teenage years. I really identified with Petra--she could be sullen and dark at times, but desiring real happiness in her life. She doesn't even know she is looking for it. A lot of fun remembering teenage silliness, which is all too real in shaping our lives later on!

Loved this! Would really like to give it 4 1/2 stars. At first I wasn't sure I was going to like it but all of a sudden I really got into the world of this 13 year old Welsh girl in 1974. It totally reminded me what it was like to be that age (except for me it was 1984 and it was Duran Duran, not David Cassidy). Great ending too.