Review: A Prom to Remember by Sandy Hall

A Prom to Remember by Sandy Hall

Publishing Date: April 24, 2018
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 320
Young Adult Contemporary

The Premise from the Publisher: "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. A Prom to Remember is a funny and cinematic look at the biggest dance of every high schooler's life" (F&F).

My overall thoughts and review: Prom is a huge milestone whether you love it or not, and I feel like a lot of it occupies your senior year of high-school. Even though I had my prom ten years ago and way before prom-posals were a thing, I remember the stress of finding a dress and how it just consumed my thoughts for months. When I saw that this book was going to tackle multiple perspectives (7 in total!), I was definitely intrigued. I've read YA books before where prom happens in the book at some point because it takes place in senior year, but it isn't the focal point that links everything together. I was a bit worried in the beginning that I would get confused by the multiple perspectives, but it quickly became easy to identify who was who, and how their stories linked together. I loved that there were a lot of anxieties expressed in the book. Cameron and Lizzie have been talking to each other via a shared laptop over the course of the year and don't know each others real identities and the book explored the anxieties of both preparing to meet in real life. But the portrayal I enjoyed most was Henry's  because he has social anxiety and the whole prospect of prom itself is nauseating to him. I believe he demonstrated the most growth out of all the characters because at the end, he realizes that he can go to things for however long he feels comfortable and he can leave whenever he wants. I just loved that self-realization that happened at the end. Other story-lines that I really enjoyed were Cora and Jamie's. Here, Hall tackles the notion of high-school sweethearts and what happens when you go to college. I remember being of the same mindset and thinking that high-school romances were meant to be forever. Sometimes it works for some people, but other times, it only puts constraints on the individuals to not fully explore and learn more about themselves. There was also great LGBTQ+ representation in the book which I'm pleased with. Overall, this was a really fun read and I loved all the different perspectives. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for a feel-good book that you can read with the lovely weather outside.

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars)

Available for purchase at:
Audible, Amazon, Kindle, Chapters/Indigo, Kobo, and Book Depository

Disclaimer: I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.