Book Review: Ditched by Robin Mellom

Title: Ditched
Author: Robin Mellom
Publisher: Hyperion
Publishing Date: January 10th 2012
Length: 288 pages
Genre: YA, contemporary romance
Source: Netgalley

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

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.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

 Summary by Goodreads

Being ditched by your prom date, what a premise! Robin Mellom build her story around the probably worst thing that can happen to a teenager girl, dressed in a ball gown, high-heels and in tow with a bunch of day dreams about the perfect kiss with her prom date. It’s all been planned by Justina, but then she is ditched by Ian, her (former) best friend and (former) prom date.

Justina is that really sweet protagonist who has a lot of thoughts running through her head. Most are about kissing and some others about what other people might think of her. Her reputation is a constant issue in DITCHED since she has kissed a lot of boys in her life. She is a very contrary character. So figuring out the character of Justina is a nice quest throughout the novel.

Justina’s prom date that night is Ian, her best friend. I really like that she gets to spend the evening with a person she cares about and who in return only wants the best for her. Sine Ian is absent most of the story, we don’t get to see into his thoughts or head. We have to keep a close eye on his actions and explore his character through them.

It feels a bit like The Hangover when Justina has got clues in form of stains on her dress. Now she has to complete the mystery of what happened last night. It’s definitely an exciting way of telling a story that doesn’t let you lose your interest. All the time I wanted to learn more about the other incidents. I couldn’t wait for more weirdness. Aren’t you curious how Justina got a butter stain under her armpit?

The situation is a surreal and a bit awkward , but Justina starts telling her story to two women in a 7-Eleven shop near the spot she fell out of a car. At first I thought it wouldn’t fit the story, but those two women really listen to her and care about the outcome of her story. I felt like two talk show hosts were leading me through a very entertaining portrait of a person with prom and boyfriend issues.

The language is very visual and supported by numerous images and metaphors, a stylistic device that felt a bit overused in DITCHED. Nevertheless DITCHED is a well written story by debut author Robin Mellom.
 

DITCHED is a super fun and cute read. It has a lot of drama, teenage angst and unbelievable occurrences to offer. There are way too many misunderstandings for my taste, but I really like the funny and chaotic way events take. You will be surprised by the adventurous rollercoaster ride of emotions. There’s embarrassment, insightful moments and a lot of cheesiness, but that’s exactly what I need from time to time.

1) of the pleasure of toe dipping
2) we love boys who know exactly what their girl wants
3) of an insightful stain journey
4) of Open Arms
5) of the best and friendliest shelter to all the ditched prom dates in town

4/5 **** DITCHED- One crazy night of a prom with anything being possible and a limitless amount of entertainment.

 

Robin Mellom enriches the YA romantic comedy scene with her new YA book DITCHED, a tricky romance which guarantees a lot of misunderstandings and unforeseen incidents that end up in the most awkward and playful situations. It’s super fun!

* Read an excerpt of DITCHED here .

* Thanks to Netgalley and Hyperion for the opportunity to read and review DITCHED!

* For further information visit www.robinmellom.cleverconcepts.net