Another winner from Abby McDonald! On Prom night, 3 high school girls, who couldn't be more different from each other, come together for an evening they will never forget. None of it happening at the actual prom. Bliss Marino is one of the popular girls. She just spotted her boyfriend making out with her best friend. Determined to bring down her best friend she lures Jolene, the jaded and angry high school misfit, to help her sabotage the friend's evening. Jolene, has been stood up by her date and is looking forward to causing some mischief. Bliss and Jolene rope in Meg, a quiet, unassuming do-gooder who is ignored by everyone in high school except now when Meg is Jolene & Bliss' primary port of transportation (ie she has a car). What ensues is a wild night of parties, multiple break-ins, make-outs, fights, hair-pulling, wardrobe changes and perhaps a surprise dip in a pool.
Do I make the plot sound shallow? Because the plot, the characters and the writing are excellent. Abby McDonald writes teen chick lit with wit and intelligence and thoughtfulness. There is a Bliss, Jolene and Meg at every school. What McDonald does really well is she puts these disparate characters together showing that everyone can get along with each other if they stop putting up walls and perpetuating prejudices. There are a lot of heart felt moments, especially the ones in which Jolene is coming to terms with the abandonment of her Dad, as well as a lot of funny ones too.
I listened to this book on audio. It was narrated by Julia Whelan who I think did a wonderful job giving voices to the three different main characters. She did a great job especially with Jolene's voice. She made Jolene's voice a bit lower and drawn out which contrasted beautifully with Bliss' perky voice and Meg's scared and excited one. Because the book focuses so much on these three characters, I thought it was great that Whelan was able to create three distinct narrative voices for the audio book.