Book Review: Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson

‘Think Again’ by Jacqueline Wilson was released in 2024. It is her first adult novel. The story looks at Ellie Allard, the protagonist of her successful ‘Girls’ series (1997 – 2002), and the events that take place after her fortieth birthday.

I’ll admit, I was a tad sceptical about re-visiting Ellie so long after the events of the ‘Girls’ series. But, I was swept away by the hype and ended up giving it a go, too.

The story begins with a re-introduction of Ellie, and her life now as a forty-year-old woman. She briefly touches on her life, and how, after a drunk one-night-stand at a party while Ellie was in art school, she fell pregnant with her daughter, Lottie and Lottie’s father refused to take responsibility for her. Determined not to be reliant on her father and Anna after falling pregnant, Ellie manages to get a council flat on the top floor of a tower block, living in the same estate as many of the students she teaches during the week in the art department. But, despite being boring old Miss Allard at school, Ellie does feel successful; Myrtle Mouse, her beloved cartoon mouse character from her teens, ended up being a re-occurring comic strip in The Guardian newspaper,

With Lottie away at university, and working for the summer at a camp for children, Ellie is alone on her big birthday, and seems to think all her friends are avoiding her. To add insult to injury, Ellie finds out that The Guardian will not be renewing her contract because Myrtle Mouse no longer resonates with the readership. Ellie is, obviously, devastated. Frustrated, and still struggling to constantly love her body, Ellie decides to go to the local leisure centre and take up swimming again, where she meets Alice.

Alice seems fantastic, she’s beautiful, athletic and she and Ellie immediately connect. Over pastries and coffee, Alice manages to convince Ellie to get a tattoo of her beloved Myrtle Mouse on her left wrist, and goes with her to hold her hand. Their friendship is a prevalent part of the book.

While the first portion of the book is laden with nostalgia, with Wilson deftly exploring the development of relationships and characters since ‘Girls In Tears’ (2002), conveniently laid out on a platter for readers through a convenient fortieth birthday party, where Ellie’s brother, Ben, and her nineteen-year-old daughter, Lottie, invited a multitude of estranged people that they tracked down. Because, in truth, who remains in contact with their secondary school ex? It was hysterical to think that Ben tracked him down, just to fill the numbers.

I liked this book, it was familiar, while also making it clear to readers that just because you knew someone in the past, doesn’t mean you know them as adults. And, sometimes, you do. Wilson does a fantastic job adapting Ellie’s voice and bringing her personality to life as she encounters the next parts of her life.

It has been said that Wilson was inspired upon her own coming out in 2020, and events in ‘Think Again’ reflect her own experiences to an extent. I think that Wilson was able to tell a compelling story of an older queer person coming into their own with the support of people around them. It was powerful, evocative and fantastic to read. It made me well up at points, because while Ellie acknowledged that her friends and family had been incredibly supportive of her brother Ben and his husband Simon, only appearing to be prickly about his queerness in fear of him practicing unsafe sex in his clubbing days. And, yet, she struggles to work things out for herself.

The return of the handsome Mr Windsor, Ellie’s secondary school art teacher had been surprising. However, in hindsight, he acknowledges that he took the job at Ellie’s school after qualifying. It was his first position, meaning he was, at the youngest, twenty-one, making him a minimum of seven years older than Ellie. But, of course, a seven year age difference as adults isn’t a jarring number. The real issue is that while Mr Windsor – Gary – was Ellie’s teacher, he still seems to treat her like a pupil.

I felt like Ellie’s frustrations with Gary were exceptionally valid, and, while I understood where some of her friends were coming from, seeing the different sides of Gary’s character, behind closed doors was eye-opening. I was incredibly empowered by Ellie’s declaration that Gary really seemed to be getting a kick out of the power dynamic.

I would definitely recommend this book, and while some of the information in the book was enhanced through my reading of the ‘Girls’ series when I was a teenager, I don’t think it is essential to have knowledge of Ellie’s teenage years prior to reading ‘Think Again’. It was a nostalgic, wholesome read about love, family and self-acceptance. I’m so glad I read it.