Kat Helgeson
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Ava is forced to start over in a new high school after her parents' divorce. She thought she would just fly under the radar, until she is named as the wild card in the Prom Bowl. The Prom Bowl is a time honored tradition at Patterson High, where senior girls complete challenges, and are bid upon by the senior boys.
This book started off as a very adorable YA romance. Ava describes herself as not a traditional beauty, and perhaps curvier than the classically pretty girls. Therefore, she is shocked, when Mark, the attractive star quarterback of the football team, shows a genuine interest in her. These two were adorable together, and I greatly enjoyed watching those first romantic sparks between these two. They were both such likable characters, and I hoped their plot to sabotage Ava's chances in the Prom Bowl were successful.
"It's Tradition."Then, the story took a turn. The focus was less on the romance, and more on issues. One thing that took center stage, was this concept of when a tradition goes bad. Do you go along with something that is "tradition" even if it's destructive in nature? Hazing freshman, buying prom dates -- these were traditions at Patterson High, and it took an outsider to call attention to these issues.
"Oh, what are you, the Fiddler on the Roof?"
Helgeson gave us a great hero and heroine, and a compelling story filled with lots of great messages: being true to yourself, swimming against the current, not blindly following the crowd, beauty coming in all shapes and sizes. This was quite an enjoyable read, but I still wish we would have gotten a little bit more at the end. I am an epilogue kind of girl. I abhor open type endings, and I just wanted a wee bit more from Helgeson, so I could have a little closure.
**I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book
Did your high school have any good traditions?
Let us know in the comments!
I'm like you! Open endings are okay, but I really like to have an idea just how things go. I guess from your review I'm wondering if that means we don't know just how the romance ended up? I loved the title and idea of this one, but don't know if I'll get to it. Although it might be one I'd get for the school library where I work. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThe ending was a little flat for me. I think there are a lot of important ideas presented and challenged, and it's an entertaining book, which is why 3.5 stars, but I need closure! I would try the sample chapter on Amazon and see what you think.
DeleteI love a good epilogue! I want to see how everything really works out. An open ending is a bit of letdown. This book does sound like it has its good moment.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I really need the epilogue, and I especially like a jump-ahead epilogue. I like to know what happened after some time had passed.
DeleteThis sounds utterly adorable, but also the hazing and all that? That's so confronting to think about.
ReplyDeleteThe romance parts ARE adorable, but there are some serious things addressed with respect to the hazing and demeaning treatment of women. I thought the book was going to be more fluffy, but it became more serious than I expected.
DeleteAhhh - sorry the ending was a little of a letdown. Still, this sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI thought there were important issues regarding when tradition crosses that line addressed, and I really appreciated those thoughts. I just need a concrete answer regarding the future of my MCs. It's totally selfish, but still important to me.
DeleteI tend to like closure too, and open endings can be a little disappointing at times. Still sounds like this was a good book. I read a book called Gena/ Finn co- written by this author and I'm curious about this one now!
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any traditions we had like a Prom Bowl or anything, but now I'm thinking... :) Nice that there some good messages here about confronting traditions if they're hurtful or not being true to yourself.
I had wanted to read Gina/Finn until I read a spoiler, and then I knew I couldn't do it. I like the kinder, gentler books. My high school had a dome, called the Albadome, and it was tradition to try and scale it and hang a sign from it. I never did it, but a lot of kids at school did.
Delete