Review: A PROM TO REMEMBER by Sandy Hall

A PROM TO REMEMBER

by Sandy Hall

Publication Date: April 24, 2018

Published by Swoon Reads

Pages: 320

Source: XPresso Book Tours

Add to Goodreads

Purchase Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo

Synopsis

Love it or hate it, you’ll never forget it. In this heart-warming novel, Swoon Reads star, Sandy Hall, explores a classic high school celebration, capturing every relatable and hilarious teen milestone along the way.

Cora: Dating Perfect Boyfriend Jamie. Has NO IDEA how to break up with him…

Paisley: Anti-prom. Somehow nominated her anxiety-ridden best friend for prom king…

Henry: Hates social situations. Invited to prom by the most popular girl in school. SEND HELP!

Otis: Half of one of the cutest couples in his class. Not quite ready for a post-prom hotel room…

Lizzie: Shy. Excited to go to prom. With a boy. Whose name she doesn’t know.

Cameron: Loner. Over high school. Just wants to meet the mysterious girl who’s been leaving him notes…

Jacinta: Unnamed Nerd Girl #3. Determined to become the star of her own life, starting with prom…

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, A Prom to Remember, from Sandy Hall (author of A Little Something Different), is a funny and cinematic look at the biggest dance of every high schooler’s life.

My Thoughts

One of the main reasons I like to read young adult books as an adult is I like stories that take me back to that age and the time in my life A PROM TO REMEMBER does just that and it’s probably why I liked it so much. A PROM TO REMEMBER is fun and sweet and endearing.

I decided to read A PROM TO REMEMBER because I wanted to read a story about prom during “prom season”. This book is more about what happens leading up to the prom, but it was exactly what I wanted. And while I do like a story told from multiple perspectives, it took me a little while to get all of the characters straight in my head and remember their friends and how all of the side characters were connected. (Honestly I think this was more about the e-book format than anything else). And the characters are distinct enough with their own personalities that they become memorable.

As someone who went to the prom the last 3 years of high school (I was invited my freshman year, but my date stood me up, so yeah that happened) the characters’ experiences were relatable - the excitement and the anxiety and the idea that it is a rite of passage. Each experience was different for me as it was for Cora, Paisley, Henry, Otis, Lizzie, Cameron, and Jacinta, but I could identify with almost every one of them - especially Lizzie and Jacinta.

I loved the humor and the friendships and the interconnectedness of the characters. For some, prom is everything - the highlight of high school, but for others it’s just a good time to be with your friends. And I like the idea of everyone going to have a good time and making memories and celebrating the most.

A PROM TO REMEMBER is a good time. It was an amusing read and a fun way to reminisce.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from the XPresso Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

AUTHOR BIO:

I’m a teen librarian from New Jersey where I was born and raised. I have a BA in Communication and a Master of Library and Information Science from Rutgers University. When I’m not writing, or teen librarian-ing, I enjoy reading, slot machines, marathoning TV shows, and long scrolls through Tumblr. A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT is my first novel.

Author links: 

http://www.sandyhallwrites.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8030489.Sandy_Hall

https://twitter.com/iamsandyhall

Giveaway

Tour-wide giveaway (US/CAN)

Print copy of A Prom to Remember

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High by Laurie Boyle Crompton

The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High

byLaurie Boyle Crompton

Publication Date: February 1, 2014

Published by Sourcebooks Fire

Pages:309

Source: Publisher vie Netgalley

Add to Goodreads

Purchase Amazon / Indiebound

from Goodreads

Shannon’s ‘clique’ is just her and her best friend and she has a super-embarrassing nickname that won’t go away. It is no huge shock when her classmates vote her least likely to be crowned Prom Queen. What is shocking is the new hidden camera reality show she finds herself starring in, titled The Prom Queen Wannabes! Shannon and two other Wannabes must battle to be elected Prom Queen and snag the One! Million! Dollar! prize. After a summer of makeovers and training at Prom Queen Camp, the hidden cameras watch the three of them enter their senior year equipped with secret skills to help wage war on the popular set. Things at Westfield High are about to get ugly, and Shannon must decide how much she's willing to give up for a shot at winning that tiara.

My Thoughts

As a fan of reality TV and competition shows and a fan of Laurie's debut novel, Blaze, I knew that her new book was going to be one fun ride. I expected many laughs while reading The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High and that is exactly what I got. Laurie had me hooked from the very beginning, when Shannon unwittingly and naively agrees to participate in the hidden-camera reality TV show.

In The Real Prom Queens, Laurie takes bits and pieces of reality shows to create this outlandish reality show: The Prom Queen Wannabes! As I continued to read, it was one laughable disaster after another and build-up after build-up knowing that it wasn't going to end well. But for every moment that is meant to make the reader laugh, we also get to find out about the behind the scenes manipulations that all but destroy the participants of the reality show competition.

The wannabe characters Shannon, Amy, and Kelly were fun to read. They weren't so different from everyone that you would want to be friends with. They just weren't high on the Prom Queen social ladder. What I really liked about their interactions was that there was a level of comraderie in their status. They were competition with each-other for the title of Prom Queen and the "One! Million! Dollar!" prize, but real friendships were built out of their common experience. 

I loved the "supporting" cast/characters too. Josie, Shannon's popular younger sister, Marnie, the corporation and label-hating BFF, and the nerdy and cute, love interest, Rick, kept it interesting. Even the mean-girl competition, Grace, was run to read. She kept me guessing in how she was going to ruin Shannon next.

The Real Prom Queens of Westfield High was very entertaining and fun. It was easy to see that there isn't any reality in reality-tv. Even though this story isn't about a real person's experience with reality-tv competition, it still shows how easy it is to get swept up in the supposed glamour of being on television and the lengths a show's creator will go to create a story or create chaos for ratings and something that "makes good television."

Fans of Libba Bray's Beauty Queens should check this out.

Disclaimer:  I received this e-ARC from Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.  I was not compensated in any way other than the e-ARC provided. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

My Reality TV Guilty Pleasure

Back in the day, I never missed an episode of The Real World - "when people stopped being polite . . . and start(ed) getting real." I watched Season 1 (New York) - Season 12 (Las Vegas) - and I never missed an episode. I prided myself that I could name every person who starred in all of these episodes. I am proud to say that I finally outgrew my obsession with that show (and I can hardly remember the cast members names). I stopped watching The Real World, because it became all about the hook-ups and the fighting and so beyond any reality that I could identify with, but I still love watching The Real World/Road Rules Challenges. It the competitions that keep me entertained and, I can't lie, it is the drama, and the hopes that some of the old-school cast members will show up!