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I Think I Love You
I Think I Love You
Jan 14, 2026 6:51 AM

Author:Allison Pearson

I Think I Love You

1974. Thirteen-year-old Petra and her best friend Sharon are desperate to win a competition to meet their teen idol.

Meanwhile Bill is unhappy in his job, ghostwriting the fanzine of the man so adored by the girls - and slightly unnerved by the extreme emotions of some of the fans.

Fast forward to 1998. Petra is pushing forty and on the brink of divorce. While cleaning out her mother's wardrobe she finds a letter declaring her the winner of the competition she and Sharon had agonised over decades ago.

So, twenty-four years after entering the competition the girls claim their prize and are flown out for an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to meet their hero at last. Bill, now the magazine's publisher, flies out with them...

Poignant, hilarious, joyful, profoundly moving and uplifting, I Think I Love You captures what we learn about love, life and friendship through the universal experience of worshipping a teen dream. It will resonate with readers everywhere.

Reviews

Allison Pearson is one of the stars of her generation

—— Evening Standard

If you had forgotten what it's like to be fourteen - or, indeed, are the parent of somebody who is - this is a novel not to be missed

—— Daily Mail

Hilarious and beautiful...Funny, insightful, wonderful

—— Easy Living

Anyone who can make me laugh and cry in equal measure gets my vote

—— Grazia

Pearson's knack for observing the ups and downs of ordinary folk (and all our faults and foibles) is pitch-perfect and as funny as it is poignant

—— Glamour

Better written than anything by Nick Hornby ... this book is about big things - friendship, motherhood, love, loss - seen through the prism of smoke from a joss stick, set to jingly jangly music that still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, produces a shiver not unlike that from a Fox's glacier mint, and makes me almost, but not quite, want to wet my pants

—— Evening Standard

It's a finely tuned and satisfying plot and the writing is flawless and funny ... But it is the book's subtle and profound examination of its central themes that really makes it shine

—— Chloe Rhodes , Daily Telegraph

I Think I Love You is a precisely observed account of the obsessions of early adolescence, doing for the pop crush what Nick Hornby has done for football and vinyl

—— Daisy Goodwin , Sunday Times

Pearson (is) a natural comic writer

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

If you had forgotten what it's like to be 14 - or, indeed, are the parent of somebody who is - this is a novel not to be missed

—— Katherine Whitbourn , Daily Mail

Funny yet poignant story of obsession and first love

—— Good Housekeeping

A satisfying celebration of love lost and found

—— Spectator

A wry satire on girlish obsession

—— Sally Cousins , Daily Telegraph

The hugely affecting tale of a teen crush and its consequences decades later, this is a subtle and flawlessly written love story

—— Daily Telegraph

Pearson's nostalgic narrative clearly marries the pangs of adolescence to mid-life regret. A pitch-perfect portrait of the teenage self.

—— Independent

Funny and poignant, it will also remind you why you'd never want to be 13 again!

—— Prima

... examines the extraordinary lengths people will go to when driven by love.

—— Easy Living

Those who survive do dreadful things. This is the nub of their experiences and also, hints the author of our own.

—— The Sunday Times

A highly accomplished debut, this is a chilling portrait of racial tension, social immorality, betrayal and love, and also an atmospheric examination of the end of innocence.

—— The Lady Magazine

The writing is strong and though the sections featuring Gay's earlier life lose momentum, the story picks up pace when the girls' paths become entwined and the conclusion is compelling and thrillingly macabre.

—— Telegraph

This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case.

—— Good Book Guide

Brilliantly melds a factual post-war murder into a dark fictional tale

—— Telegraph
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