Review: Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley

Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley

Paperback, 318 pages

Published June 9th 2011

Razorbill 

Willow has spent most of her life as her mother's sidekick in a popular Las Vegas hypnotism show. So when she and her mom move back to their sleepy southern hometown to start over, she thinks she's in for a life of quiet normalcy. Except that her new life turns out to be anything but, when she kinda sorta hypnotizes Quinton, the hottest guy on the football team, to fall madly, deeply, head over heels in love with her. But what started out as an innocent way to make her best friend, Max, jealous soon gets way out of hand, and Willow begins to wonder if the mind - and more importantly, the heart - is something you can really control.

What would you do if you could hypnotize people and make them do whatever you want? Or think whatever you wanted them to think?

Willow and her mother are experts at hypnotizing people and making a living out of it. They moved to Las Vegas to start a new life and even had their own show. Eventually they move back to their hometown in GA and attempt to start over again. This is good news for Willow since she is secretly in love with her best friend Max since childhood. Once they are back home, things aren't exactly what she thought they would be. Max has a girlfriend and now Willow has to split her time with him and his new girlfriend. Willow knows she should take a chance, but she completely doubts herself and even though the signs are in her face, she is still so blind.

She makes friends with a couple of the popular students in school who turn to Willow for help. This includes Quinton, who needed her help with sleepwalking, only Willow took it a little to far. Not only did she help him, but she made him fall in love with her to make Max jealous. Things get really crazy and she learns the hard way that playing with a persons mind isn't always fun or helpful.

I found Crush Control very funny, but at the same time predictable. Which wasn't a bad thing because the story went the way I was hoping. It's a fast read and interesting enough that you will read until the very end. I really liked Max and Willow and loved their friendship. Even though they were separated when Willow was nine years old, they kept in touch and remained very close. When they finally see each other again, it was like she never left.

If you're looking for something light and fast paced, Crush Control is definitely the book you need to pick up.

3.5 stars out of 5!