Mundie Moms

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Book Review: Ditched by Robin Mellom

Written by: Robin Mellom
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Source: netgalley / ARC from author to review
Rating: 5 stars - this book is a must have!

Synopsis: 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.

Mundie Moms, remember John Hughes and how much we all still love those movies? Well, Ditched reads like a John Hughes movie. It’s all there. From the plot, which is presented in a quirky let-me-tell-you-how-it-happened way to the characters who hold more depth than you first thought. Don’t we all love characters who are not what their stereotype suggests? Stoners. Frenemies. Jocks. Old ladies who work in a convenience store. Not at all what you thought they would be like. And then there’s that boy. Oh we all know him, too. He’s the PerfectBoyfriend Boy. He will buy you licorice when you’re crabby. He will hold pinkies with you while you walk down the hall. And you highly suspect that when the time comes, he will be an amazing kisser. Except for the fact, that he ditched you. On prom night. Not a good guy, at all. Right?

This book, this book has all of that and more.

Robin made me laugh with her backwards timeline that forces her protagonist to tell the story as it happened to her. But don’t worry, if you’re a picky reader who hates the “telling” parts of a story, Robin, puts you right in the action. Justine, the main character, is so likeable that you will flinch through every one of her mishaps, missteps and mistakes; all of which are lovingly documented on the hideous prom dress that her mom helped her pick out. You know those books that have maps at the beginning? Well, Ditched has that at the start of each chapter but it’s a map to every stain, rip, tear, broken bits of Justine’s poor outfit.

I really shouldn’t say more for fear of spoilers, but I do have to say that my reaction at the end of the book was…(removed for spoilers). Go on, pick it up on the 10th and enjoy every word. If you're in Santa Monica, CA on January 22nd, be sure to join Robin at Diesel Bookstore for Ditched's launch party.

6 comments:

  1. Ooh this one is really high on my wishlist it sound awesome and I can't wiat to read this ending. I love impressive endings!!

    Giselle
    Xpresso Reads

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  2. Giselle - Ooooh, I so hope you like it as much as I do!

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  3. This looks like an excellent book! I am looking forward to it.

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  4. Amy - When you're in the mood for a well written romance.

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  5. I'm glad this a wonderful one. I plan to read/review this for next week so I'm looking forward to it now!

    - Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence)

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  6. Asher - Looking forward to your review. :)

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