Bliss has spent years waiting for the perfect prom. Part of the school's social elite, it's her night, isn't it? She gets a rude awakening when she sees best friend Kaitlin and boyfriend Cameron making out in the limo. Jolene didn't even want to go to the prom - she was pushed into it by her mother, who's tired of her bad girl image. Meg's so invisible that she's stood up by a boy she's never even met, a family friend who was going with her out of pity, but obviously doesn't pity her enough to turn up. With the help of these two unlikely allies, can Bliss get revenge on Kaitlin? One thing's for sure - this will be a night no-one will forget.
| The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald | |
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| Category: Teens | |
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Reviewer: Robert James
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| Summary: I lost myself in this wonderful light teen contemporary novel for hours, finishing it in one sitting, because I was so hooked by the fabulous characters. Huge recommendation! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 288 | Date: May 2012 |
| Publisher: Walker | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1406337587 | |
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This isn't quite the best book I've read all year - although it's really, really close - but it is easily, without question, the most fun I've had reading a book for absolutely ages. I was looking for something light and funny and The Anti-Prom delivered in spades here, as shown by the speed I read it at. (It took me just a couple of hours and for once I managed to completely ignore everything else and focus on it – I didn't even check Twitter while reading it!) While I was hoping for, and partly expecting, that after reading a few other reviews of it, I wasn't quite prepared for just how wonderful the characters would be. Bliss, Jolene and Meg take turns in narrating the book and Abby McDonald captures each of their voices brilliantly. All three are portrayed well and I thought the way the relationship between the girls developed was very realistic - from the plot summary I was expecting them to just become friends straight away but their reasons for helping each other were cleverly revealed as the book went on and made perfect sense.
McDonald also captures the social groups and standings at high school and college with great skill and the more important minor characters are fleshed out well - but make no mistake, this is rightly dominated by the three truly superb narrators. (My personal favourite was Meg, who is absolutely adorable, but your view may vary.) In fact, at the start of the book I really wasn't keen on Bliss but McDonald's portrayal of her meant she really grew on me – outstanding character development for a book which takes place in one night.
Huge recommendation, one of my favourite contemporaries for a while and I think anyone looking for a light read will absolutely love this one.
For another YA contemporary book with stunning characters, I absolutely loved Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry, although it's dealing with darker themes than this. A couple of light reads in recent months which I think haven't had the attention they deserve are My Family and Other Freaks by Carol Midgley and What Boys Really Want by Pete Hautman - both are hilarious.
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