10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose (review)

2024; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 77; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/bcc.2024.a924913

ISSN

1558-6766

Autores

Adam McConville,

Resumo

Reviewed by: 10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose Adam McConville Rose, Elle Gonzalez 10 Things I Hate About Prom. Joy Revolution/Random House, 2024 [320p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593705179 $19.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9780593705209 $12.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593705193 $8.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Every senior in Cordero High is caught up in Promposal season, except eighteen-year-old Ivelisse Santos, who has other things on her mind: running the last play of the season, navigating her mom's crazy dating life, and being waitlisted by her dream school. But when her best friend Joaquin Romero requests her stage manager prowess in setting up the perfect public ask-cute for gorgeous, impossibly aloof Tessa Hernandez, Ive can't turn him down. Their first attempts go comically awry but do lead Ive to the startling realization that she wants Joaquin for herself. She turns to not-so-subtly submarining Joaquin's efforts, which leads to an inevitable bust-up of their friendship. But if Ive can find the courage to be honest, she may end up with a friendship-turned-romance for the ages. No new narrative ground is being broken here, but the familiar territory still yields a story as heartfelt and swoony as a reader could want. Sweetly authentic moments of old friendship and new love balance the hilarity and awkwardness of the spoiled promposals, and everything culminates in a hidden love letter and a final public declaration that will leave readers' hearts aflutter. Ive is endearing as the spunky heroine and utterly relatable with her fears for the future and family foibles, and her story of self-awareness is backed by a cast of supportive friends and family, rounded out by the imperfect and adoring Joaquin. An ideal end-of-the-school-year read, it will draw fans of Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins, and Becky Albertalli, while fans of teen classic Ten Things I Hate About You will revel in the allusions and name-drops. [End Page 335] Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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