I’m not entirely sure why I wanted to read this book. I don’t particularly like the cover. It makes it look a little juvenile.

THERE’S A GIRL.

Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. That said, she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

AND THERE’S A BOY.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

THEN THERE’S A DITCH.

But when Justina is ditched, figuratively and literally, she must piece together–stain-by-stain on her thrift store dress–exactly how she ended up dateless…with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven.

I guess I thought it looked cute and I do enjoy the contemporary trope of the “all in one night adventure.” You know, books like Graffiti Moon and Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist. Where everyone’s lives are changed irrevacably in one night.

And this book delivered. There was a dance, a cute boy, life changing realizations, and all the other things I’ve come to expect from these types of books.

I enjoyed the crazy locations we were brought to and the insane cast of characters. I will say, sometimes the story did seem a little juvenile but that just made the crazy case of characters fit in a little better.

Like, and this might be seen as a slight spoiler, what mother would actually call your date on prom night to help recover dogs that had been swapped? (Don’t ask.)

But it was fun. And funny. I giggled quite a bit while reading this. It wasn’t a life altering read or anything but very enjoyable.

Other than one thing.

For most of this book I wanted to slap Justina. I’m sure all of us can empathise with being self-conscious and worrying about what others think of us but she takes it to an entirely new level and I found it very difficult to like her. I loved Ian and the rest of the cast but I just could like Justina as she made poor decision after poor decision and didn’t seem to trust any of her friends.

And the whole deal with the ring? Who gives a present back? Who? Especially when it comes from a boy you like! Like…ugh. She got a little better at the end but she very nearly ruined the book for me. Someone just needed to slap her and tell her to stop worrying so much about what all these people so unconnected to her and her life thought about her.

Other than Justina the book was a fun romantic comedy that I highly recommend if you’re looking for a light book with laughs.

Will I read more by this author? Hrmmm, I’m not sure. Her next book looks a little young for my personal tastes so it would depend on where she takes her writing. I would probably borrow or library1 her next book before buying it. Just in case I want to kill the main character again.

  • yes I’m using library as a verb

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