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It's Our Prom
When Azure's principal gives her the chance to turn the school's traditional (and boring) senior prom into an event that will appeal to everyone, not just the jocks and cheerleaders, she jumps at the opportunity. Soon Azure manages to convince her best friends, Luke and Radhika, to join the prom committee as well.
Facing heavy opposition and admittedly clueless about prom logistics, the three friends are nonetheless determined to succeed—if Luke's and Azure's secret crushes on Radhika don't push the committee members, and their friendships, to the breaking point first.
Told in two voices and filled with comical missed connections, It's Our Prom (So Deal with It) explores the ups and downs of planning an alternative prom—while dealing with an unrequited crush on your best friend—and shines with National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters's unmistakable wit and insight.
Facing heavy opposition and admittedly clueless about prom logistics, the three friends are nonetheless determined to succeed—if Luke's and Azure's secret crushes on Radhika don't push the committee members, and their friendships, to the breaking point first.
Told in two voices and filled with comical missed connections, It's Our Prom (So Deal with It) explores the ups and downs of planning an alternative prom—while dealing with an unrequited crush on your best friend—and shines with National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters's unmistakable wit and insight.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
17 people are currently reading
1338 people want to read
About the author
Julie Anne Peters
32 books1,717 followersJulie Anne Peters was born in Jamestown, New York. When she was five, her family moved to the Denver suburbs in Colorado. Her parents divorced when she was in high school. She has three siblings: a brother, John, and two younger sisters, Jeanne and Susan.
Her books for young adults include Define "Normal" (2000), Keeping You a Secret (2003), Luna (2004), Far from Xanadu (2005), Between Mom and Jo (2006), grl2grl (2007), Rage: A Love Story (2009), By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead (2010), She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not... (2011), It's Our Prom (So Deal with It) (2012), and Lies My Girlfriend Told Me (2014). Her young adult fiction often feature lesbian characters and address LGBT issues. She has announced that she has retired from writing, and Lies My Girlfriend Told Me will be her last novel. She now works full-time for the Colorado Reading Corps.
Her books for young adults include Define "Normal" (2000), Keeping You a Secret (2003), Luna (2004), Far from Xanadu (2005), Between Mom and Jo (2006), grl2grl (2007), Rage: A Love Story (2009), By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead (2010), She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not... (2011), It's Our Prom (So Deal with It) (2012), and Lies My Girlfriend Told Me (2014). Her young adult fiction often feature lesbian characters and address LGBT issues. She has announced that she has retired from writing, and Lies My Girlfriend Told Me will be her last novel. She now works full-time for the Colorado Reading Corps.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
April 13, 2012
At Azure's school, prom is for the jocks and cheerleaders, so when Azure's principal offers her the chance to create and alternative prom for the whole school, she can hardly wait. Azure has plenty of ideas, but making them actually happen is proving a lot harder than she'd thought. And what's the point of prom if you don't have the perfect prom date? For Azure that would be her best friend Radhika. The problem is Azure's other best friend, Luke, is in love with Radhika too.
There were some things I liked. I think the book made the point it's important to create a space that everyone can be in and feel comfortable. However, it is also important that when creating change you don't go to the opposite extreme and end up isolating a different group of people. Azure was so enthusiastic about creating an alternative prom that appealed to her, she didn't give much thought about making sure it appealed to everyone. Drag show! Tattoos! A car show!(?) For someone who claimed she didn't judge people, Azure was super judgey. I found her annoying and overbearing.
Luke is busy being the writer/director/lead actor in a musical about himself. He is also fairly self-focused, although not quite as bad as Azure. He reluctantly agrees to be on prom committee and isn't nearly as enthusiastic about it as Azure is. He has other things to focus on.
Man, I felt bad for Radhika. Her two best friends were so busy being in love with her that they stopped being her friends. It was so clear that Radhika was having a personal crisis and was under a lot of stress. Azure and Luke were completely preoccupied with thinking about how beautiful she was and how nice she smelled that they seemed oblivious to her obvious pain. No one stopped to make the time to sit Radhika down and ask her what was wrong. Azure was too busy planning an over-the-top prom and being in love and Luke was too busy writing/directing/starring in a play and being love and they both made things worse for Radhika by pressuring her in to doing things and asking her out. Poor girl.
The end was way too tidy. Everyone ended up neatly paired off. Azure wasn't really in love with Radhika! She was in love with her ex-girlfriend the whole time! Luke wasn't really in love with Radhika! He was in love with his shy, closeted stage manager! And Radhika was also secretly in love with someone who she ended up with. So that was convenient and unrealistic. Everyone had a date for prom.
Also, the whole plot with the prom being canceled and then the students striking and then them getting prom back with all the crazy stuff they wanted. And suddenly everything they've been struggling with for months all comes together and they plan a prom in a week. I don't know. I wasn't buying it. I guess it wasn't really any more far-fetched then other YA books, but I guess I just didn't have to buy-in to give it some leeway.
It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) comes out April 24, 2012.
There were some things I liked. I think the book made the point it's important to create a space that everyone can be in and feel comfortable. However, it is also important that when creating change you don't go to the opposite extreme and end up isolating a different group of people. Azure was so enthusiastic about creating an alternative prom that appealed to her, she didn't give much thought about making sure it appealed to everyone. Drag show! Tattoos! A car show!(?) For someone who claimed she didn't judge people, Azure was super judgey. I found her annoying and overbearing.
Luke is busy being the writer/director/lead actor in a musical about himself. He is also fairly self-focused, although not quite as bad as Azure. He reluctantly agrees to be on prom committee and isn't nearly as enthusiastic about it as Azure is. He has other things to focus on.
Man, I felt bad for Radhika. Her two best friends were so busy being in love with her that they stopped being her friends. It was so clear that Radhika was having a personal crisis and was under a lot of stress. Azure and Luke were completely preoccupied with thinking about how beautiful she was and how nice she smelled that they seemed oblivious to her obvious pain. No one stopped to make the time to sit Radhika down and ask her what was wrong. Azure was too busy planning an over-the-top prom and being in love and Luke was too busy writing/directing/starring in a play and being love and they both made things worse for Radhika by pressuring her in to doing things and asking her out. Poor girl.
The end was way too tidy. Everyone ended up neatly paired off. Azure wasn't really in love with Radhika! She was in love with her ex-girlfriend the whole time! Luke wasn't really in love with Radhika! He was in love with his shy, closeted stage manager! And Radhika was also secretly in love with someone who she ended up with. So that was convenient and unrealistic. Everyone had a date for prom.
Also, the whole plot with the prom being canceled and then the students striking and then them getting prom back with all the crazy stuff they wanted. And suddenly everything they've been struggling with for months all comes together and they plan a prom in a week. I don't know. I wasn't buying it. I guess it wasn't really any more far-fetched then other YA books, but I guess I just didn't have to buy-in to give it some leeway.
It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) comes out April 24, 2012.
December 26, 2011
I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't: the book dragged on, the plot was tiresome, and all the main characters were irritating - mainly Azure, who was so obnoxious and judgemental, I couldn't stand her. Just glad to be done with it.
May 28, 2015
Let me just say now, that Julie Anne Peters is normally a really great author. Her other books are great. Just, not this book. This was like some silly teen drama, but most of her books are actually really deep and heartfelt. Do not let this review or this book put you off from her other books. I don’t know what happened with this one.
What I learned from this book…I learned that you are not allowed to ask a person out. That if you do, you are a terrible person. You deserve to get abused for it. You should get stuck right up on a cross and left there, if you dare ask somebody out. God knows why. Or maybe even he doesn’t know. Who knows? Does ANYONE know?
Also, men suck. Screw all of them.
And apparently prom is the most important damn thing in the world. If it gets canceled, you have it oh so bad. Never mind the kids out there who get bullied. Never mind the kids out there who’s friends leave them and betray them. Never mind the kids out there who live in abusive households or poor households and barely have a future. Never fucking mind all of that. Your privileged first-world problems of not getting to have some dumb stupid prom is SO much worse…
Those are the messages of this book.
I normally like Julie Anne Peters’ books.
What the utter fuck happened here?
…
Azure.
Fucking Azure.
That's what happened.
This could’ve been a decent book if that bitch wasn’t the main character. Actually, if she just didn’t exist at all would have been better.
The Good:
-I liked the characters Connor, Mr. Rosen, Ryan, and Ms. Flacco. Ironically they’re all treated like shit except one, most of them because they’re men. This is an SJW bullshit book that encourages girls to hate males simply for being males, even if in some stories (like this shitty one), they are the better characters. Connor is treated the shittest for some reason, and I seriously still don’t know why. He was nothing but nice and helpful to people throughout the book. I think he’s treated badly because he’s a straight cis jock. That’s not progressive, that’s just being stupid and bratty.
-I liked that there was diversity without it seeming forceful. It was just normal. We have lesbian, a bisexual boy, a transsexual man, an Indian girl, etc.
-I liked all of the basic criticisms of prom, how it’s too expensive, how everyone’s forced to dress up, how people are generally pressured into having dates, etc. The basic bullshit that is prom. This could’ve been a good book, as having an “alternative” prom could’ve been good.
-I liked that Azure goes to church (see world? Gay people can go to church, they can believe in God, they can pray to him, and you can just suck it. But, Azure deserves to go to hell anyway, not because she’s gay, but because she’s a fuckwad), and that the pastor is a transgender man. So all you homophobic and transphobic religious fucktards can take your bible-thumping crap somewhere else. Take it, turn it sideways, and shove it right up your asses and down the street and around the corner.
-I liked that there were Facebook conversations included between the friends. It was realistically not always grammatically correct, but it wasn’t cringingly ridiculous either.
-I smiled at the part where Owen was concerned about Luke’s injuries and when he said he’d beat the shit out of the bastards that did it. For some reason I kind of figured there was some love in there, even if he was a homophobic dick through the first half of the book. It’s nice seeing initially ignorant characters grow into more loving and accepting ones.
The Bad (there is a lot of it):
-The way they managed to not get in trouble at all for literally going through a teacher’s wallet and cards and personal belongings, and pulling the fire alarm without getting caught, is seriously fucking unrealistic. It would not be that easy. And screw them for wasting the firetrucks and firefighters’ time when there are probably people who really actually need them at that moment. All for their stupid-ass prom.
-I don’t see how you need a car show, a drag race, gaming, and whateverthehellelse they suggested in order to make an “alternative” prom. Why not just include everybody, let them wear what they want to wear, and have good music and food?
-The main lead is not likeable AT ALL. Firstly, she’s a biphobic motherfucker who doesn’t believe her own friend is bisexual when he fucking says he is. She’s every bit as much as a bigot as the fucking Westboro bapshit church. She is a fraud because she thinks she’s some sort of liberal just because she wants to make a stupid event like prom more “inclusive”, but she’s actually nothing more than a close-minded asshole who hates anyone who disagrees with her, anyone she’s jealous of, and anyone who is remotely different from her. She’s one of those “I’m so tolerant” liars who are actually not tolerant of anyone at all. She is an evil, hateful, toxic, bitter little shit who needs to be euthanized. No. Euthanization is painless, for people who don’t deserve to suffer.
-She at one point says, “Men are jerks.” WTF in one of Peters’ GOOD books, Rage: A Love Story, the main character in that book hated feminazis. So what the heck happened here? We have a feminazi AS the main character here. Because yeah, apparently guys are supposed to respect you, even though you treat them like shit. Way to show ‘em, Azure.
-She is also massively hypocritical. Acting all protective and caring of Radhika and what she’s going through, when really, Azure doesn’t notice a damn thing about Radhika, and is just busy having wet dreams about the girl. She bullies her into joining some stupid prom committee. She acts like she cares more about Radhika than anyone else, when that’s not true at all. Azure thinks she’s this great person, and she’s not. If she were in a diversity club at my school, I’d fucking quit just because I didn’t want to be in the same group as her.
-Azure (seriously? Azure? What kind of name is that?) is just a stuck-up, whiny little bitch who cares about nothing but her own stupid self. Her own stupid, self-righteous, faux-progressive, dumb selfish self. Heck even the title alone should tell you how holier-than-thou she is. It’s a shame, because it’s nice for once to see a book where the main gay character is just living normal regular life rather than having to deal with a crisis, but this bitch….I couldn’t. I really couldn’t with her. Luke was kind of annoying too, but at least I feel sorry for him for having such a hard relationship with his brother and for getting attacked. Azure has no excuse, she’s got a pretty good dad and a pretty good life. I don’t know why she’s all suddenly sad whenever she sees Desirae with her new girlfriend (who she treats like crap, when Christine didn’t even do anything to her), when Azure’s the one who broke up with Desirae. Then she whines about how “stupid” Connor and Luke are for not knowing how to search for places for prom when they’ve never done this before, and a page later she’s saying she doesn’t know how to do something. Well, look at you. You don’t know everything either. She is also a hypocrite (did I mention that already?) for being like, “You has to tolerate everything that I like for the prom cuz I’m gay so obvs my opinion matter more than yours, straight peoples” even though she’s just as unaccepting of Shauna’s idea to have a theme. Honestly, she just reinforces what I’ve always known about “diversity” obsessed people—they’re generally the ones who can’t accept others. Oh the irony.
-Azure is an abusive monster. She fucking ATTACKS Luke—when he’s already injured, mind you—because he asked someone out? What the actual fuck?! You’re not allowed to ask people out anymore? Azure doesn’t OWN Radhika, anyone is allowed to ask her out IF THEY WANT TO. Plus, Azure had plenty of chances and the bitch was just too chicken shit to do so. So someone beat her to it—how is that THEIR fault? Plus, Radhika said no, so why does it even fucking matter? You know those people who claim to be so tolerant and so nonjudgmental and so progressive, when they’re really none of those things at all? Yeah, THAT’s Azure. She thinks she’s so edgy and cool with this stupid alternative prom she wants to pull off, but really, she’s no different than the typical mean girl character in any book. Except we have to be forced to endure reading from her point of view. And it was fucking torture, because she’s a horrible person and an even worse friend. I don’t get it…Julie Anne Peters usually creates really nice, easy-to-sympathize with characters…what the HELL happened here?!
Quotes of hilarity:
“I want to punch him in the face. Make those bruises permanent.”
Azure fucking said this in reference to the fact that her FRIEND, Luke, was ambushed and assaulted at a gas station and had to be rushed to the hospital.
…
She is a fucking fuckawful person. Why on earth is she the main character?
“…so I won’t have to look at my demon ex-friend’s face.”
Really mature, Azure. If you’d had my friends, you wouldn’t survive. I’VE been fucking betrayed before. You haven’t been betrayed, you’re the one doing the betraying, and I have to read through your “demon” monologue while you act like you’re the best thing on the planet. You’re the one who deserves bruises.
“I always thought he was my best friend.”
I thought he was too, until you started abusing him for no reason.
“Men are jerks.”
Because shitting on an entire group is exactly what’s going to get them to respect you. Right?
“For the first time in my life, I was going to the movies all by myself.”
AWWW poor little you. Welcome to my world. Only, I embrace the loneliness (actually I like to think of it as independence). You, you’re alone because you’re too much of a bitch to everyone to deserve friends.
-All Azure does is keep criticizing and shitting on Luke and everyone else throughout the entire book and making stupid little snippy side comments about him, when he didn’t do anything. She keeps jumping to conclusions and making assumptions about things she knows nothing about. She keeps trying to tell him that he doesn’t really love Radhika at all, because apparently Azure can tell other people’s feelings more than they can. I could not read it without my pulse racing in rage. She also continuously treats Shauna like crap even when she starts being nice to her. Azure is just a mean person who thinks she knows everything when she’s actually ignorant about everything. She should’ve never been written down to exist.
-Her whole “Kids with Cancer” preach sessions were stupid, because she didn’t care about them anymore than anyone else did in the book. Once again…she is a COMPLETE AND UTTER HYPOCRITE.
-She’s just plain rude to everybody. Everybody that doesn’t want to participate in her stupid “alt” prom. Everyone who’s an adult or has authority over her. Everyone her dad’s dating (she was HORRIBLE to that poor Lynda woman, who was nothing but nice to her). Everyone else who likes Radhika (which is apparently the rest of the world, she’s a total Mary Sue), because only Azure’s allowed to like her. Only Azure’s allowed to have any human feelings at all, despite being the least human in here.
-Azure literally thinks she owns certain things, like a dress she hadn’t bought yet but some other girl ended up getting before her. She was all bitchy and pouty about it and was like, “She took my dress.” No bitch. She just got to it before you did. You didn’t buy it soon enough. We have this thing called “first come, first serve.” It’s not her fucking fault you were too slow. She didn’t TAKE anything from you, you’re just spoiled and entitled. There’s also a part where she’s bitching about Luke supposedly copying everything she says. THIS JUST IN: Apparently Luke is not allowed to laugh with Radhika, say something, or do pretty much anything with his friend, because in Azure’s world, only SHE can do those things. She literally fucking complains about EVERYTHING, she is so obnoxiously self-absorbed, and I just want to hit her and smack her down the way she goes around smacking others. I can’t believe it’s written in such a casual way like this is NORMAL BEHAVIOR. It isn’t. There’s even a part where she sticks a kitchen knife in Luke’s direction. I don’t care if she was just playing around. She’s a psycho who needs to be locked away, or at the very least, knocked down several pegs.
-Radhika is a horrible friend too. She enabled Azure’s abusive behavior toward Luke by not standing up to him, and not helping him when he asked her why Azure was shitting on him. He feels all guilty and like a fool even though he didn’t do anything wrong at all. If I had friends like that, I’d murder them.
-They turned down a “retro goth” band when they were looking for bands to play at prom. Are you shitting me???
-When they made fun of Shauna for having overbearing parents…I felt that. It’s not our fault. Don’t judge us. Support us, maybe, but don’t you dare fucking judge us for what we cannot control. Can Luke control his homophobic brother? NO. So stop judging the rest of us for not having perfect families. Christ.
-I find it REALLY hard to believe that a teacher would see a student with 2 black eyes and not only not say anything (especially in this day and age) but also not even excuse them for being late. Not without getting in trouble anyway. No sympathy, all nasty…seriously did NO ONE question Flacco’s attitude toward Luke? If this school is supposed to be all progressive and all, don’t you think they’d take child abuse seriously?
That said, I still like Flacco. I felt so bad for her for how these spoiled fuckwads were treating her.
-These kids don’t seem to know what the fuck they’re doing. They seem actually SURPRISED that prom—wait for it, wait for it—COSTS MONEY. Jesus. What did they think, it all comes falling out of the sky?
-Luke constantly saying “OMG” and referring to his bag as “man purse” was slightly annoying.
-They even had a thing where they were trying to match people up. Seriously? Just earlier they were saying that they wanted to include people that DIDN’T have dates. Now they’re forcing them onto people.
-I know there are 2 main characters, but having 2 points of views in here got kind of confusing. Like I’d be reading Luke’s POV thinking it was Azure and then suddenly realize, “Oh wait, this is Luke…” It might’ve helped if they were unique are well-rounded enough to stand out, but they both were sort of carbon copies of each other, except that Luke is far more tolerable, because Azure needs to just drop into a smoky fiery pit forever.
-Speaking of, why, in the ever fucking hell, were Luke’s chapters always shorter than Azure’s chapters? It’s bad enough I had to deal with her whiny judgmental ass, but more of it and less of Luke’s? Not fair, cuz his chapters were the only respite I had from her!!!
-It was pretty boring. Easy enough to read and get through, but very uneventful. Prom planning. With people who don’t even like prom. I don’t even know why they’re doing it? Also, why was there so much trouble finding a place for it? That dilemma took up so much of the story and it was boring and I didn’t care about it. Couldn’t they have just used their gym or cafeteria like most schools do…?
-The ending was stupid. How convenient, that Desi’s ‘girlfriend’ ended up being her cousin, so Azure could have a date and not have to think about Radhika anymore. Radhika’s with someone, so she’s happy, and suddenly decides to go to Yale too, even though that was like the biggest crisis just a second ago. Luke’s with someone, so he’s happy. Shauna’s with someone, so she’s happy. All of it is just sort of pulled out of thin air and cleaned up so neatly and unrealistically.
-Don’t get me started on the protest…I just…don’t. Look at my status updates, or, if you’re brave enough, actually read the book. It was just dumb.
-The fact that Connor got crucified and quartered for freaking TEXTING somebody…well slap me now, because I obviously must be dreaming about a perfect world that doesn’t exist if THAT’S the worst thing a person can possibly do. Jesus mother of fuck. I can’t believe all these people are having fucking heart attacks over something so stupid and trivial. He’s allowed to text someone, he’s allowed to say no, GET OVER IT. You people are so fucking sensitive, yet at the same time so nasty and vile towards other people. I think these characters are so bored with their own dull lives that they absolutely HAVE to look for something to be offended by. All the time.
-IT WAS FUCKING TORTURE HAVING TO READ AZURE’S POINT OF VIEW. Every second I had to read about her just made me want to punch walls. I was so glad when it was all over. She is one of the most self-centered unlikeable bitches I’ve ever read about. Go be friends with Zoey Redbird, Azure. You’re both made for each other.
When I’d read City of Lost Souls, I had said that maybe I should stick to realistic fiction. But now I know…it doesn’t matter. I’m going to find bad things no matter what genre =/
What I learned from this book…I learned that you are not allowed to ask a person out. That if you do, you are a terrible person. You deserve to get abused for it. You should get stuck right up on a cross and left there, if you dare ask somebody out. God knows why. Or maybe even he doesn’t know. Who knows? Does ANYONE know?
Also, men suck. Screw all of them.
And apparently prom is the most important damn thing in the world. If it gets canceled, you have it oh so bad. Never mind the kids out there who get bullied. Never mind the kids out there who’s friends leave them and betray them. Never mind the kids out there who live in abusive households or poor households and barely have a future. Never fucking mind all of that. Your privileged first-world problems of not getting to have some dumb stupid prom is SO much worse…
Those are the messages of this book.
I normally like Julie Anne Peters’ books.
What the utter fuck happened here?
…
Azure.
Fucking Azure.
That's what happened.
This could’ve been a decent book if that bitch wasn’t the main character. Actually, if she just didn’t exist at all would have been better.
The Good:
-I liked the characters Connor, Mr. Rosen, Ryan, and Ms. Flacco. Ironically they’re all treated like shit except one, most of them because they’re men. This is an SJW bullshit book that encourages girls to hate males simply for being males, even if in some stories (like this shitty one), they are the better characters. Connor is treated the shittest for some reason, and I seriously still don’t know why. He was nothing but nice and helpful to people throughout the book. I think he’s treated badly because he’s a straight cis jock. That’s not progressive, that’s just being stupid and bratty.
-I liked that there was diversity without it seeming forceful. It was just normal. We have lesbian, a bisexual boy, a transsexual man, an Indian girl, etc.
-I liked all of the basic criticisms of prom, how it’s too expensive, how everyone’s forced to dress up, how people are generally pressured into having dates, etc. The basic bullshit that is prom. This could’ve been a good book, as having an “alternative” prom could’ve been good.
-I liked that Azure goes to church (see world? Gay people can go to church, they can believe in God, they can pray to him, and you can just suck it. But, Azure deserves to go to hell anyway, not because she’s gay, but because she’s a fuckwad), and that the pastor is a transgender man. So all you homophobic and transphobic religious fucktards can take your bible-thumping crap somewhere else. Take it, turn it sideways, and shove it right up your asses and down the street and around the corner.
-I liked that there were Facebook conversations included between the friends. It was realistically not always grammatically correct, but it wasn’t cringingly ridiculous either.
-I smiled at the part where Owen was concerned about Luke’s injuries and when he said he’d beat the shit out of the bastards that did it. For some reason I kind of figured there was some love in there, even if he was a homophobic dick through the first half of the book. It’s nice seeing initially ignorant characters grow into more loving and accepting ones.
The Bad (there is a lot of it):
-The way they managed to not get in trouble at all for literally going through a teacher’s wallet and cards and personal belongings, and pulling the fire alarm without getting caught, is seriously fucking unrealistic. It would not be that easy. And screw them for wasting the firetrucks and firefighters’ time when there are probably people who really actually need them at that moment. All for their stupid-ass prom.
-I don’t see how you need a car show, a drag race, gaming, and whateverthehellelse they suggested in order to make an “alternative” prom. Why not just include everybody, let them wear what they want to wear, and have good music and food?
-The main lead is not likeable AT ALL. Firstly, she’s a biphobic motherfucker who doesn’t believe her own friend is bisexual when he fucking says he is. She’s every bit as much as a bigot as the fucking Westboro bapshit church. She is a fraud because she thinks she’s some sort of liberal just because she wants to make a stupid event like prom more “inclusive”, but she’s actually nothing more than a close-minded asshole who hates anyone who disagrees with her, anyone she’s jealous of, and anyone who is remotely different from her. She’s one of those “I’m so tolerant” liars who are actually not tolerant of anyone at all. She is an evil, hateful, toxic, bitter little shit who needs to be euthanized. No. Euthanization is painless, for people who don’t deserve to suffer.
-She at one point says, “Men are jerks.” WTF in one of Peters’ GOOD books, Rage: A Love Story, the main character in that book hated feminazis. So what the heck happened here? We have a feminazi AS the main character here. Because yeah, apparently guys are supposed to respect you, even though you treat them like shit. Way to show ‘em, Azure.
-She is also massively hypocritical. Acting all protective and caring of Radhika and what she’s going through, when really, Azure doesn’t notice a damn thing about Radhika, and is just busy having wet dreams about the girl. She bullies her into joining some stupid prom committee. She acts like she cares more about Radhika than anyone else, when that’s not true at all. Azure thinks she’s this great person, and she’s not. If she were in a diversity club at my school, I’d fucking quit just because I didn’t want to be in the same group as her.
-Azure (seriously? Azure? What kind of name is that?) is just a stuck-up, whiny little bitch who cares about nothing but her own stupid self. Her own stupid, self-righteous, faux-progressive, dumb selfish self. Heck even the title alone should tell you how holier-than-thou she is. It’s a shame, because it’s nice for once to see a book where the main gay character is just living normal regular life rather than having to deal with a crisis, but this bitch….I couldn’t. I really couldn’t with her. Luke was kind of annoying too, but at least I feel sorry for him for having such a hard relationship with his brother and for getting attacked. Azure has no excuse, she’s got a pretty good dad and a pretty good life. I don’t know why she’s all suddenly sad whenever she sees Desirae with her new girlfriend (who she treats like crap, when Christine didn’t even do anything to her), when Azure’s the one who broke up with Desirae. Then she whines about how “stupid” Connor and Luke are for not knowing how to search for places for prom when they’ve never done this before, and a page later she’s saying she doesn’t know how to do something. Well, look at you. You don’t know everything either. She is also a hypocrite (did I mention that already?) for being like, “You has to tolerate everything that I like for the prom cuz I’m gay so obvs my opinion matter more than yours, straight peoples” even though she’s just as unaccepting of Shauna’s idea to have a theme. Honestly, she just reinforces what I’ve always known about “diversity” obsessed people—they’re generally the ones who can’t accept others. Oh the irony.
-Azure is an abusive monster. She fucking ATTACKS Luke—when he’s already injured, mind you—because he asked someone out? What the actual fuck?! You’re not allowed to ask people out anymore? Azure doesn’t OWN Radhika, anyone is allowed to ask her out IF THEY WANT TO. Plus, Azure had plenty of chances and the bitch was just too chicken shit to do so. So someone beat her to it—how is that THEIR fault? Plus, Radhika said no, so why does it even fucking matter? You know those people who claim to be so tolerant and so nonjudgmental and so progressive, when they’re really none of those things at all? Yeah, THAT’s Azure. She thinks she’s so edgy and cool with this stupid alternative prom she wants to pull off, but really, she’s no different than the typical mean girl character in any book. Except we have to be forced to endure reading from her point of view. And it was fucking torture, because she’s a horrible person and an even worse friend. I don’t get it…Julie Anne Peters usually creates really nice, easy-to-sympathize with characters…what the HELL happened here?!
Quotes of hilarity:
“I want to punch him in the face. Make those bruises permanent.”
Azure fucking said this in reference to the fact that her FRIEND, Luke, was ambushed and assaulted at a gas station and had to be rushed to the hospital.
…
She is a fucking fuckawful person. Why on earth is she the main character?
“…so I won’t have to look at my demon ex-friend’s face.”
Really mature, Azure. If you’d had my friends, you wouldn’t survive. I’VE been fucking betrayed before. You haven’t been betrayed, you’re the one doing the betraying, and I have to read through your “demon” monologue while you act like you’re the best thing on the planet. You’re the one who deserves bruises.
“I always thought he was my best friend.”
I thought he was too, until you started abusing him for no reason.
“Men are jerks.”
Because shitting on an entire group is exactly what’s going to get them to respect you. Right?
“For the first time in my life, I was going to the movies all by myself.”
AWWW poor little you. Welcome to my world. Only, I embrace the loneliness (actually I like to think of it as independence). You, you’re alone because you’re too much of a bitch to everyone to deserve friends.
-All Azure does is keep criticizing and shitting on Luke and everyone else throughout the entire book and making stupid little snippy side comments about him, when he didn’t do anything. She keeps jumping to conclusions and making assumptions about things she knows nothing about. She keeps trying to tell him that he doesn’t really love Radhika at all, because apparently Azure can tell other people’s feelings more than they can. I could not read it without my pulse racing in rage. She also continuously treats Shauna like crap even when she starts being nice to her. Azure is just a mean person who thinks she knows everything when she’s actually ignorant about everything. She should’ve never been written down to exist.
-Her whole “Kids with Cancer” preach sessions were stupid, because she didn’t care about them anymore than anyone else did in the book. Once again…she is a COMPLETE AND UTTER HYPOCRITE.
-She’s just plain rude to everybody. Everybody that doesn’t want to participate in her stupid “alt” prom. Everyone who’s an adult or has authority over her. Everyone her dad’s dating (she was HORRIBLE to that poor Lynda woman, who was nothing but nice to her). Everyone else who likes Radhika (which is apparently the rest of the world, she’s a total Mary Sue), because only Azure’s allowed to like her. Only Azure’s allowed to have any human feelings at all, despite being the least human in here.
-Azure literally thinks she owns certain things, like a dress she hadn’t bought yet but some other girl ended up getting before her. She was all bitchy and pouty about it and was like, “She took my dress.” No bitch. She just got to it before you did. You didn’t buy it soon enough. We have this thing called “first come, first serve.” It’s not her fucking fault you were too slow. She didn’t TAKE anything from you, you’re just spoiled and entitled. There’s also a part where she’s bitching about Luke supposedly copying everything she says. THIS JUST IN: Apparently Luke is not allowed to laugh with Radhika, say something, or do pretty much anything with his friend, because in Azure’s world, only SHE can do those things. She literally fucking complains about EVERYTHING, she is so obnoxiously self-absorbed, and I just want to hit her and smack her down the way she goes around smacking others. I can’t believe it’s written in such a casual way like this is NORMAL BEHAVIOR. It isn’t. There’s even a part where she sticks a kitchen knife in Luke’s direction. I don’t care if she was just playing around. She’s a psycho who needs to be locked away, or at the very least, knocked down several pegs.
-Radhika is a horrible friend too. She enabled Azure’s abusive behavior toward Luke by not standing up to him, and not helping him when he asked her why Azure was shitting on him. He feels all guilty and like a fool even though he didn’t do anything wrong at all. If I had friends like that, I’d murder them.
-They turned down a “retro goth” band when they were looking for bands to play at prom. Are you shitting me???
-When they made fun of Shauna for having overbearing parents…I felt that. It’s not our fault. Don’t judge us. Support us, maybe, but don’t you dare fucking judge us for what we cannot control. Can Luke control his homophobic brother? NO. So stop judging the rest of us for not having perfect families. Christ.
-I find it REALLY hard to believe that a teacher would see a student with 2 black eyes and not only not say anything (especially in this day and age) but also not even excuse them for being late. Not without getting in trouble anyway. No sympathy, all nasty…seriously did NO ONE question Flacco’s attitude toward Luke? If this school is supposed to be all progressive and all, don’t you think they’d take child abuse seriously?
That said, I still like Flacco. I felt so bad for her for how these spoiled fuckwads were treating her.
-These kids don’t seem to know what the fuck they’re doing. They seem actually SURPRISED that prom—wait for it, wait for it—COSTS MONEY. Jesus. What did they think, it all comes falling out of the sky?
-Luke constantly saying “OMG” and referring to his bag as “man purse” was slightly annoying.
-They even had a thing where they were trying to match people up. Seriously? Just earlier they were saying that they wanted to include people that DIDN’T have dates. Now they’re forcing them onto people.
-I know there are 2 main characters, but having 2 points of views in here got kind of confusing. Like I’d be reading Luke’s POV thinking it was Azure and then suddenly realize, “Oh wait, this is Luke…” It might’ve helped if they were unique are well-rounded enough to stand out, but they both were sort of carbon copies of each other, except that Luke is far more tolerable, because Azure needs to just drop into a smoky fiery pit forever.
-Speaking of, why, in the ever fucking hell, were Luke’s chapters always shorter than Azure’s chapters? It’s bad enough I had to deal with her whiny judgmental ass, but more of it and less of Luke’s? Not fair, cuz his chapters were the only respite I had from her!!!
-It was pretty boring. Easy enough to read and get through, but very uneventful. Prom planning. With people who don’t even like prom. I don’t even know why they’re doing it? Also, why was there so much trouble finding a place for it? That dilemma took up so much of the story and it was boring and I didn’t care about it. Couldn’t they have just used their gym or cafeteria like most schools do…?
-The ending was stupid. How convenient, that Desi’s ‘girlfriend’ ended up being her cousin, so Azure could have a date and not have to think about Radhika anymore. Radhika’s with someone, so she’s happy, and suddenly decides to go to Yale too, even though that was like the biggest crisis just a second ago. Luke’s with someone, so he’s happy. Shauna’s with someone, so she’s happy. All of it is just sort of pulled out of thin air and cleaned up so neatly and unrealistically.
-Don’t get me started on the protest…I just…don’t. Look at my status updates, or, if you’re brave enough, actually read the book. It was just dumb.
-The fact that Connor got crucified and quartered for freaking TEXTING somebody…well slap me now, because I obviously must be dreaming about a perfect world that doesn’t exist if THAT’S the worst thing a person can possibly do. Jesus mother of fuck. I can’t believe all these people are having fucking heart attacks over something so stupid and trivial. He’s allowed to text someone, he’s allowed to say no, GET OVER IT. You people are so fucking sensitive, yet at the same time so nasty and vile towards other people. I think these characters are so bored with their own dull lives that they absolutely HAVE to look for something to be offended by. All the time.
-IT WAS FUCKING TORTURE HAVING TO READ AZURE’S POINT OF VIEW. Every second I had to read about her just made me want to punch walls. I was so glad when it was all over. She is one of the most self-centered unlikeable bitches I’ve ever read about. Go be friends with Zoey Redbird, Azure. You’re both made for each other.
When I’d read City of Lost Souls, I had said that maybe I should stick to realistic fiction. But now I know…it doesn’t matter. I’m going to find bad things no matter what genre =/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2012
This review was originally posted at The Overstuffed Bookcase.
**I read this book as a part of my Blind Reads feature. Go here to see my post from before I read the book, where I list the (very few) things I knew going in and my theories on what the book would entail.**
A Great Start for My New Feature...
I have to admit, I was a little worried going into this new Blind Reads feature that I would end up not liking the books that I randomly picked off of my library's shelves. We all know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and that's basically what I'm doing with this feature. I see a cover I like, and I decide to read it, based on the cover alone. Well, and the fact that it's in the teen section of the library.
Anyway, I was worried they'd all turn out to be duds and I'd be tanking the feature right away. I didn't need to worry. It's Our Prom was a great start for my feature: it had a cute cover, a great plot, complex characters, and lots of humor and high school drama.
Were Any of My Theories Correct?
Well, yes and no. I knew the book was going to be about a prom, so I was pretty sure that they were going to have complications with their prom. And boy, did they have complications. Of course, I had no idea that the story revolved around students on a prom committee who were trying to make an alternative-style prom, so that was a welcome surprise. And I thought it would have some humor because of the title, and I found myself laughing out loud quite a lot!
It was a contemporary novel, so I was right on that one. Unfortunately that means that my going-back-in-time-to-the-80s theory was incorrect. In fact, my whole '80s thing was completely wrong. Which was a bummer, because I like books and movies that are set in the '80s, but I still enjoyed the story anyway. I think there was one reference to the 1980s in the entire book, and that made me feel a bit better, but it really had nothing to do with the plot at all. And yes, this book dealt with the prom so you could maybe say it had some Pretty in Pink stuff going on in there, but really, it's a big stretch. At least, if I'm remembering that movie correctly. Definitely not Footloose, either. So fail on those.
One drawback to this whole Blind Reads feature was that, with a name like Azure, I wasn't sure if the character I was reading about was a male or female, until several pages into the book. I thought it was a female, but I wasn't sure. And since I hadn't read the synopsis, I didn't know before reading the book. It was kind of cool, trying to figure it out, but at the same time, it really distracted me from the book itself.
Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Review...
I knew that the author was a National Book Award Finalist, so I was pretty sure it was going to be well-written, with compelling characters and an interesting plot. I wasn't let down in that regard at all.
I love it when characters have flaws, even if they annoy me. But if they annoy me, they'd better make some changes by the end of the book, or they'd better have lots of redeeming qualities for me to still really enjoy the book. I think Peters did a great job with the characters in It's Our Prom, because at the beginning, I really wasn't a big fan of any of the three main characters. I thought Azure was immature and Luke was a stereotype, and I thought they both were seeing Radhika through rose-colored glasses. And Radhika seemed to not value their friendships as much as they valued hers.
But the beauty in what Peters did with this story was she did start out with these flawed characters, but she made them incredibly endearing by the end. Azure reminded me a lot of myself, Luke reminded me of Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Radhika reminded me of Margo Roth Spiegelman from Paper Towns. In fact, I think one of the main messages from Paper Towns, which is that you never really can know a person, and that you can't treat them as more than a person, is also conveyed in It's Our Prom. And the fact that these characters all really started out as annoying or extremely flawed to me, yet eventually I came to see them as complex, compelling characters, is really summed up in this great quote from page 233: "Whatever my affirmation for today was, I'm rewriting it to read: 'Once you get past the dark side of a person, you might just find the light.'" I think Peters used these messages somewhat intentionally, and she executed them flawlessly.
And can I just say I really wish my prom had been anything like the prom in this book? Seriously. Mine was just round tables surrounding a very empty dance floor with a DJ who played Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" WAY too many times. I mean, I know it was our class song (Who voted for that anyway???) but seriously dude. Once is enough. But the prom in this book was so much better. I don't want to mention any details, because I hate spoilers no matter how small, but just believe me, it was awesome.
Favorite Quotes...
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from It's Our Prom:
"Can you go Duh without sneering?"
"I say to myself in the mirror what my religion means to me: 'You are a beautiful creature of God. Now get out there and kick butt.'"
"'Don't look at me,' he says. 'There's no telling what's in her purse. Weapons of mass destruction.'"
"Seriously, why be on Facebook if you don't read it two or three times a day?"
I used to completely be the kind of person who would check Facebook multiple times a day. Now I've got way too many other things to be doing, but that last quote still makes me laugh!
One Last Thing...
I haven't even really mentioned the fact that this book is GLBT. But that's because really, it's not about that. Yes, it does highlight some of the hardships that GLBT youth have to go through, and yes, it talks about girls having crushes on girls and guys having crushes on guys. But when I'm truly thinking about what this story is about, I'm thinking about teens who want to have the prom that they want to have. Teens who fall in love, in lust, and have fights with their friends. Teens who have great home lives, who have complicated home lives, who have really not-so-great home lives. And really, without trying to get too political, that's what the world is. We're all human, we're all the same in a lot of ways. And while yes, this book is about GLBT kids, it's just about kids. Period.
My rating for It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters: 4 huge stars. It was a great kickoff for my Blind Reads feature and I'm looking forward to reading more by Julie Anne Peters.
Disclaimer: I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. I was in no way compensated for this review.k
**I read this book as a part of my Blind Reads feature. Go here to see my post from before I read the book, where I list the (very few) things I knew going in and my theories on what the book would entail.**
A Great Start for My New Feature...
I have to admit, I was a little worried going into this new Blind Reads feature that I would end up not liking the books that I randomly picked off of my library's shelves. We all know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and that's basically what I'm doing with this feature. I see a cover I like, and I decide to read it, based on the cover alone. Well, and the fact that it's in the teen section of the library.
Anyway, I was worried they'd all turn out to be duds and I'd be tanking the feature right away. I didn't need to worry. It's Our Prom was a great start for my feature: it had a cute cover, a great plot, complex characters, and lots of humor and high school drama.
Were Any of My Theories Correct?
Well, yes and no. I knew the book was going to be about a prom, so I was pretty sure that they were going to have complications with their prom. And boy, did they have complications. Of course, I had no idea that the story revolved around students on a prom committee who were trying to make an alternative-style prom, so that was a welcome surprise. And I thought it would have some humor because of the title, and I found myself laughing out loud quite a lot!
It was a contemporary novel, so I was right on that one. Unfortunately that means that my going-back-in-time-to-the-80s theory was incorrect. In fact, my whole '80s thing was completely wrong. Which was a bummer, because I like books and movies that are set in the '80s, but I still enjoyed the story anyway. I think there was one reference to the 1980s in the entire book, and that made me feel a bit better, but it really had nothing to do with the plot at all. And yes, this book dealt with the prom so you could maybe say it had some Pretty in Pink stuff going on in there, but really, it's a big stretch. At least, if I'm remembering that movie correctly. Definitely not Footloose, either. So fail on those.
One drawback to this whole Blind Reads feature was that, with a name like Azure, I wasn't sure if the character I was reading about was a male or female, until several pages into the book. I thought it was a female, but I wasn't sure. And since I hadn't read the synopsis, I didn't know before reading the book. It was kind of cool, trying to figure it out, but at the same time, it really distracted me from the book itself.
Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Review...
I knew that the author was a National Book Award Finalist, so I was pretty sure it was going to be well-written, with compelling characters and an interesting plot. I wasn't let down in that regard at all.
I love it when characters have flaws, even if they annoy me. But if they annoy me, they'd better make some changes by the end of the book, or they'd better have lots of redeeming qualities for me to still really enjoy the book. I think Peters did a great job with the characters in It's Our Prom, because at the beginning, I really wasn't a big fan of any of the three main characters. I thought Azure was immature and Luke was a stereotype, and I thought they both were seeing Radhika through rose-colored glasses. And Radhika seemed to not value their friendships as much as they valued hers.
But the beauty in what Peters did with this story was she did start out with these flawed characters, but she made them incredibly endearing by the end. Azure reminded me a lot of myself, Luke reminded me of Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Radhika reminded me of Margo Roth Spiegelman from Paper Towns. In fact, I think one of the main messages from Paper Towns, which is that you never really can know a person, and that you can't treat them as more than a person, is also conveyed in It's Our Prom. And the fact that these characters all really started out as annoying or extremely flawed to me, yet eventually I came to see them as complex, compelling characters, is really summed up in this great quote from page 233: "Whatever my affirmation for today was, I'm rewriting it to read: 'Once you get past the dark side of a person, you might just find the light.'" I think Peters used these messages somewhat intentionally, and she executed them flawlessly.
And can I just say I really wish my prom had been anything like the prom in this book? Seriously. Mine was just round tables surrounding a very empty dance floor with a DJ who played Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" WAY too many times. I mean, I know it was our class song (Who voted for that anyway???) but seriously dude. Once is enough. But the prom in this book was so much better. I don't want to mention any details, because I hate spoilers no matter how small, but just believe me, it was awesome.
Favorite Quotes...
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from It's Our Prom:
"Can you go Duh without sneering?"
"I say to myself in the mirror what my religion means to me: 'You are a beautiful creature of God. Now get out there and kick butt.'"
"'Don't look at me,' he says. 'There's no telling what's in her purse. Weapons of mass destruction.'"
"Seriously, why be on Facebook if you don't read it two or three times a day?"
I used to completely be the kind of person who would check Facebook multiple times a day. Now I've got way too many other things to be doing, but that last quote still makes me laugh!
One Last Thing...
I haven't even really mentioned the fact that this book is GLBT. But that's because really, it's not about that. Yes, it does highlight some of the hardships that GLBT youth have to go through, and yes, it talks about girls having crushes on girls and guys having crushes on guys. But when I'm truly thinking about what this story is about, I'm thinking about teens who want to have the prom that they want to have. Teens who fall in love, in lust, and have fights with their friends. Teens who have great home lives, who have complicated home lives, who have really not-so-great home lives. And really, without trying to get too political, that's what the world is. We're all human, we're all the same in a lot of ways. And while yes, this book is about GLBT kids, it's just about kids. Period.
My rating for It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters: 4 huge stars. It was a great kickoff for my Blind Reads feature and I'm looking forward to reading more by Julie Anne Peters.
Disclaimer: I borrowed a copy of this book from my library. I was in no way compensated for this review.k
May 4, 2013
Radhika clearly releases crack from her pores, pheromone style; that is the only explanation for why every fucking person is obsessed with her boring, doormat ass.
July 12, 2012
Julie Anne Peters’ compelling unique story in It’s Our Prom (So Deal with It) is about three friends and their school’s upcoming prom, where it has always been catered for the jocks and cheerleaders. When Azure is offered to partake in crafting an alternative prom, her plans and ideas skyrockets but soon realizes that executing them may take a lot of work. Azure, who is a lesbian, is set on making this the perfect prom with her perfect prom date, her best friend Radhika. However, Luke (Azure’s other best friend that is bi), is also in love with Radhika.
In the midst of planning the prom, Azure convinces Luke and Radhika to be part of the prom committee. Though the extra help may yield to better collaborative thinking, it actually complicated the relationships between the trio. While Azure is busy making the perfect prom and Luke is occupied with writing, directing and acting in a musical about himself, they fail to see their best friend, Radhika, is having real personal problems that was stressing her out.
Julie is a remarkable storyteller. She takes three friends who have an extraordinary relationship and provides readers vivid descriptions of their complex world. With two voices that fill the pages, readers are exposed to the drama in creating an alternative prom and how it feels like dealing with an unanswered crush on your best friend. It’s Our Prom (So Deal with It) is a great book with great ideas. Truly something unique and different that can only result in a fun read.
3.5 Stars
In the midst of planning the prom, Azure convinces Luke and Radhika to be part of the prom committee. Though the extra help may yield to better collaborative thinking, it actually complicated the relationships between the trio. While Azure is busy making the perfect prom and Luke is occupied with writing, directing and acting in a musical about himself, they fail to see their best friend, Radhika, is having real personal problems that was stressing her out.
Julie is a remarkable storyteller. She takes three friends who have an extraordinary relationship and provides readers vivid descriptions of their complex world. With two voices that fill the pages, readers are exposed to the drama in creating an alternative prom and how it feels like dealing with an unanswered crush on your best friend. It’s Our Prom (So Deal with It) is a great book with great ideas. Truly something unique and different that can only result in a fun read.
3.5 Stars
September 20, 2012
Julie Anne Peters has the truest YA voice I know, and with IT’S OUR PROM (SO DEAL WITH IT) she proves it once again. Told from the point of view of two characters, Azure and Luke, the premise of the story is the planning of an alternative, more inclusive prom. Every problem imaginable, and then some, arises. Reluctant participants. Lack of money. Disapproval of parents and teachers. Disagreement over themes, venues, and activities. A disastrous change in faculty advisors.
But the prom planning is simply the jumping off point for an exploration of relationships. Between Azure and Radhika. Luke and Radhika. Connor and Radhika. Yes, that mysterious girl plays a big part in everyone’s fantasies. The real relationships are sweet surprises, although Ms. Peters plants enough clues so that the reader isn’t blindsided.
And a bonus! Two, really. The touching connection Azure has with her dad, a cop who’s looking for a romance of his own. And Luke’s shaky relationship with his brother Owen. I loved the way that developed, also in unexpected ways.
December 8, 2020
This was okay-ish. The concept was really cool - where a school's diversity club organise an alternative prom - but it was a bit tell-don't-show and the two MCs could get super irritating at times.
November 12, 2012
I had read She Loves You, She Loves You Not... a while ago and had thought it was pretty good, but this one didn't even come close to comparing. It's actually making me reconsider my opinion on She Loves You, She Loves You Not..., which has gotten pretty bad reviews from other people.
Azure is a lesbian and is in love with one of her best friends, Radhika. Their other best friend Luke, who is bisexual, is also in love with Radhika, though neither of them know. All of them are on the prom committee and for some reason Radhika isn't acting like herself lately--she's moody, snappy, and seems to be keeping secrets.
First of all, I couldn't figure out why everybody liked Radhika. So many people asked her to prom it was ridiculous. Sure, she was gorgeous and smart, but it didn't make up for her terrible personality. Maybe it was the way she acted before she had life issues, but from what I hear she sounds boring and too involved with school. Azure didn't even have a chance with her; Radhika was straight. Luke may have had a chance, but was there really any point in asking? It was obvious Radhika has no interest in either of them, and they kept freaking out and pushing better opportunities away.
Second, Azure was also really annoying. She was supposed to appear as the tough girl, and she did, but she also appeared to have no self-control and was impulsive. She judged others constantly, then said that was exactly what she didn't like in other people and had no respect for anyone, except people she had feelings for.
Third, the writing style was just terrible. A lot of weird phrases like "I'm a spaz" were overused to fit the "typical teenage" character, which sounds like it's trying too hard.
Azure is a lesbian and is in love with one of her best friends, Radhika. Their other best friend Luke, who is bisexual, is also in love with Radhika, though neither of them know. All of them are on the prom committee and for some reason Radhika isn't acting like herself lately--she's moody, snappy, and seems to be keeping secrets.
First of all, I couldn't figure out why everybody liked Radhika. So many people asked her to prom it was ridiculous. Sure, she was gorgeous and smart, but it didn't make up for her terrible personality. Maybe it was the way she acted before she had life issues, but from what I hear she sounds boring and too involved with school. Azure didn't even have a chance with her; Radhika was straight. Luke may have had a chance, but was there really any point in asking? It was obvious Radhika has no interest in either of them, and they kept freaking out and pushing better opportunities away.
Second, Azure was also really annoying. She was supposed to appear as the tough girl, and she did, but she also appeared to have no self-control and was impulsive. She judged others constantly, then said that was exactly what she didn't like in other people and had no respect for anyone, except people she had feelings for.
Third, the writing style was just terrible. A lot of weird phrases like "I'm a spaz" were overused to fit the "typical teenage" character, which sounds like it's trying too hard.
March 28, 2015
I enjoyed this book for approximately 120 pages. After that Azure suddenly became a horrible person, and I had to keep putting the book down so I wouldn't be compelled to throw it across the room. Am I really supposed to believe that Azure and Luke have been friends for what I assume was nearly their entire lives? Because let me tell you, if someone I'd been friends with that long suddenly accused me of lying about being bisexual, and treating me the way she started treating Luke, I would drop them so fast (after probably being super confused and crying a lot). Who the hell does that to their best friend? I mean, seriously, I do not understand how she could apparently care so little for him that she wouldn't even consider his feelings at all. Also the way she hated Lynda just because she was overweight really pissed me off. Okay, so she weighs a bit more than she appeared to in her profile pic, that does not in any way count as "misrepresenting herself", good lord. For someone who claims to not judge other people, she sure judged the hell out of everyone. Also, Azure didn't really seem to have any concept of what a prom actually was. Sure, I get wanting to make the prom more inclusive of everyone, but that doesn't mean you need a drag show (would that really have made it more appealing, I feel like not so much). I was also really confused about why the prom committee seemed so surprised that it costs a lot of money to put on a prom. Did they think everyone just loved prom so much that they made everything free? Good lord. Although I do wish we'd been told who the surprise money donor was (because who just randomly decides to donate a ton of money like 4 days before the prom?).
Basically everyone in this book was unbelievable and/or terrible in some way, and the only person I cared about even the tiniest bit was Azure's dad, who never even got a name.
Honestly, I the part that truly ruined this for me was that it turned out to be yet another book where the bisexual character is treated horribly, and accused of being a "fake bisexual". I'm so tired of this, oh my god.
Basically everyone in this book was unbelievable and/or terrible in some way, and the only person I cared about even the tiniest bit was Azure's dad, who never even got a name.
Honestly, I the part that truly ruined this for me was that it turned out to be yet another book where the bisexual character is treated horribly, and accused of being a "fake bisexual". I'm so tired of this, oh my god.
March 22, 2013
No matter how alternative the event is, a book about planning the prom is still a book about planning the prom. It's not just that I can't bring myself to care much about the prom, but I got weary of the circular motion of the plot and became annoyed by the characters. (Especially the main ones.)
There was so much teen drama! So much cringe-worthy teen vernacular! (I know normal rules of conduct don't necessarily apply to bisexual playwrights, but would a 17/18 year old male really pepper his conversation with unironic "OMG's"?)
I was just hoping for a something a little more... different. A story less drenched in stale teenage angst and with characters I could actually care about.
There was so much teen drama! So much cringe-worthy teen vernacular! (I know normal rules of conduct don't necessarily apply to bisexual playwrights, but would a 17/18 year old male really pepper his conversation with unironic "OMG's"?)
I was just hoping for a something a little more... different. A story less drenched in stale teenage angst and with characters I could actually care about.
December 7, 2016
I was in all honesty expecting to love this book. It sounded just like the kind of book that I’d want to read and I especially liked that it went very well with my own Diversity Challenge. Not only is it an LGBT novel, it is also written by Julie Ann Peters, an author I’d heard numerous positive things about. Sadly, It’s Our Prom did not deliver and I found myself forcing this book on me. I’m pretty sure the only reason I finished this book was because I don’t like reviewing books without finishing them.
Read the rest of my review on my blog.
Read the rest of my review on my blog.
December 12, 2012
This was probably the best 'prom' book I've ever read. Told from the perspectives of Luke and Azure, it has real voices. Voices I could see teenagers in their shoes using. An original prom with poetry slams and drag shows and karaoke. It's a prom I might have actually gone to myself and enjoyed. I was hooked to this book from the beginning. And I love how the school Luke and Azure go to is so open-minded. I wish that everyone could be like that. I can't review this book properly, but I can say that it was amazing and worth reading even if you aren't into prom -because I definitely wasn't-.
October 27, 2012
There were a ton of things wrong about this book, first of all, Azure, one of the main characters, I hated her. Second of all the whole book felt empty, like I knew what was happening but none of it had depth. Third of all the ending was absolutely horrifying. I just thought this book actually had potential but it was terrible.
March 24, 2013
So. Many. Love Triangles. This book is like untangling string: difficult and with many strands to keep track of. A retro idea for a prom though and I loved that Luke was .
Read
April 25, 2013if you REALLY love event planning (like, more than most other things) and i'm-gay-but-i-luv-a-straight-girl plot lines, this book is for you.
June 14, 2019
Honestly, this was pretty disappointing.
Azure and Luke are the two perspective characters, and I can't say I fully connected with either one. Azure, for all of her speeches about inclusiveness and not being judgemental...she's one of the most judgemental characters in the book. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a flawed character take, or a character with opinions that go against the social norm - but it's a little harder to accept when the hypocrisy is never really addressed. I liked Luke a little more, but he got on my nerves too.
Radhika is the character that I felt the most for. It turns out that both Azure and Luke are in love with her. And as this drama unfolds, both are so wrapped up in how they feel about her, they don't really notice that they're being lousy friends to her.
I also felt bad for Shauna, the popular-esque girl who is on the prom com. She's one of the few people there that actually has organizational skills, but she's constantly derided and mocked. I felt bad for her - yeah, some of her opinions weren't so hot, but she got better over the course of the book, and honestly, I think she developed more than either Azure or Luke. At first I was kinda hoping that maybe Azure would end up with Shauna - that Shauna would turn out to be her crush - but after seeing how Azure doesn't really develop into a better character over the course of the book, I'm kinda happy it didn't pan out that way. Azure getting back together with her ex - especially with how Azure described it - can't say I was really into that relationship. Luke getting with his shy stage manager was a little better, but...it all happened at the end of the book, and tied up so neatly. It didn't feel earned. Or realistic.
And I felt bad for Azure's dad. Azure was really catty to his dating prospects, and she was so wrapped up in her own drama that she never really took the time to empathize with him over much.
And then there's Owen, who...I kinda liked? But also kinda hated? He's a douchebag and it's clear he doesn't like that Luke is openly bisexual, but he's also protective of his brother? And does favors even though he doesn't mention it. And knows his employee is cheating the numbers but doesn't fire him until he finds out he's charging on the free night of prom. And won't let his brother drive for the business even though his brother has a license for it? It's weird.
I kinda had to power through this one. It was pretty long, and ended too happily considering all of the drama that was brewing beforehand. I get that they're teenagers, and teenagers do stupid stuff sometimes, and they can selfish and careless and not plan appropriately, but having everything work out despite that feels a little hollow. It was hard to relate and empathize with the characters and the characters I felt the worst for tended to be ignored in favor of Azure and Luke drama, which felt mostly petty.
2/5
Azure and Luke are the two perspective characters, and I can't say I fully connected with either one. Azure, for all of her speeches about inclusiveness and not being judgemental...she's one of the most judgemental characters in the book. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a flawed character take, or a character with opinions that go against the social norm - but it's a little harder to accept when the hypocrisy is never really addressed. I liked Luke a little more, but he got on my nerves too.
Radhika is the character that I felt the most for. It turns out that both Azure and Luke are in love with her. And as this drama unfolds, both are so wrapped up in how they feel about her, they don't really notice that they're being lousy friends to her.
I also felt bad for Shauna, the popular-esque girl who is on the prom com. She's one of the few people there that actually has organizational skills, but she's constantly derided and mocked. I felt bad for her - yeah, some of her opinions weren't so hot, but she got better over the course of the book, and honestly, I think she developed more than either Azure or Luke. At first I was kinda hoping that maybe Azure would end up with Shauna - that Shauna would turn out to be her crush - but after seeing how Azure doesn't really develop into a better character over the course of the book, I'm kinda happy it didn't pan out that way. Azure getting back together with her ex - especially with how Azure described it - can't say I was really into that relationship. Luke getting with his shy stage manager was a little better, but...it all happened at the end of the book, and tied up so neatly. It didn't feel earned. Or realistic.
And I felt bad for Azure's dad. Azure was really catty to his dating prospects, and she was so wrapped up in her own drama that she never really took the time to empathize with him over much.
And then there's Owen, who...I kinda liked? But also kinda hated? He's a douchebag and it's clear he doesn't like that Luke is openly bisexual, but he's also protective of his brother? And does favors even though he doesn't mention it. And knows his employee is cheating the numbers but doesn't fire him until he finds out he's charging on the free night of prom. And won't let his brother drive for the business even though his brother has a license for it? It's weird.
I kinda had to power through this one. It was pretty long, and ended too happily considering all of the drama that was brewing beforehand. I get that they're teenagers, and teenagers do stupid stuff sometimes, and they can selfish and careless and not plan appropriately, but having everything work out despite that feels a little hollow. It was hard to relate and empathize with the characters and the characters I felt the worst for tended to be ignored in favor of Azure and Luke drama, which felt mostly petty.
2/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2018
(Realistic rating: around 3.5, probably? It's fun to read and there's some solid, good elements to it, as well as a really satisfying ending, but most of it is unnecessarily confusing and complicated, when a simpler, more streamlined story would have been way more compelling.)
Julie Anne Peters was an iconic author of my formative years-- she was a big deal to young queer me, the first author I read who was so open about things like this, who wrote about characters going through similar things and could be a place for me to go for catharsis and representation. So I recently decided I was going to go back and read all of her books -- most of which I hadn't read before! -- and this is the first stop on said tour of gotta-catch-'em-all. :")
This isn't bad, as semi-classic queer YA goes; I have noticed over the years that a lot of Julie Anne Peters's first-person heroines have the same, or at least very similar, voices, and that's definitely in force with Azure here, while Luke is a little more distinctive. I like the premise, and I like the fact that both of the leads end up in cute queer relationships. I like the sort of classic Julie Anne Peters twist of people you think are assholes actually ending up being good or at least helpful (always nice to have a Mean Girl at least semi-redeemed!), and I liked that both of the queer MCs had supportive families. I LOVE the bisexual rep, especially with a boy (did NOT love the biphobia, though, which came so out of left field and soured me on Azure quite a bit??). The prom arc itself felt really satisfying, and I was so fond of the ending.
But it all just felt... like a bit of a jumble, honestly? It was hard to fully buy the main trio of friendship (especially given Azure's biphobia!! and the fact that she was just a pretty obnoxious character overall), and there were just SO many plot threads that were dangled or hinted at or introduced and then barely resolved? There was so much going on and it all would have flowed much more smoothly and felt way less disorganized if it had all been condensed. The end with Radhika came totally out of left field, and there always seemed like there was more going on with Mr. Rosen than there was, and all of the teen drama just felt way more tangled than it needed to be (as well as not quite enough buildup on either romance, though both were cute!). I felt like there was a great story buried under a couple hundred yards of fluff and confusion-- not quite far enough for me to not enjoy it, but enough to leave a vague "wtf did I just read" impression, sigh.
Julie Anne Peters was an iconic author of my formative years-- she was a big deal to young queer me, the first author I read who was so open about things like this, who wrote about characters going through similar things and could be a place for me to go for catharsis and representation. So I recently decided I was going to go back and read all of her books -- most of which I hadn't read before! -- and this is the first stop on said tour of gotta-catch-'em-all. :")
This isn't bad, as semi-classic queer YA goes; I have noticed over the years that a lot of Julie Anne Peters's first-person heroines have the same, or at least very similar, voices, and that's definitely in force with Azure here, while Luke is a little more distinctive. I like the premise, and I like the fact that both of the leads end up in cute queer relationships. I like the sort of classic Julie Anne Peters twist of people you think are assholes actually ending up being good or at least helpful (always nice to have a Mean Girl at least semi-redeemed!), and I liked that both of the queer MCs had supportive families. I LOVE the bisexual rep, especially with a boy (did NOT love the biphobia, though, which came so out of left field and soured me on Azure quite a bit??). The prom arc itself felt really satisfying, and I was so fond of the ending.
But it all just felt... like a bit of a jumble, honestly? It was hard to fully buy the main trio of friendship (especially given Azure's biphobia!! and the fact that she was just a pretty obnoxious character overall), and there were just SO many plot threads that were dangled or hinted at or introduced and then barely resolved? There was so much going on and it all would have flowed much more smoothly and felt way less disorganized if it had all been condensed. The end with Radhika came totally out of left field, and there always seemed like there was more going on with Mr. Rosen than there was, and all of the teen drama just felt way more tangled than it needed to be (as well as not quite enough buildup on either romance, though both were cute!). I felt like there was a great story buried under a couple hundred yards of fluff and confusion-- not quite far enough for me to not enjoy it, but enough to leave a vague "wtf did I just read" impression, sigh.
December 15, 2021
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I am a huge Julie Anne Peters fan, always have been. This had the potential to be a great book, like most of the other books by Peters. (If you haven’t heard my rant about Luna yet, consider yourself lucky). However like most of the books with a bisexual character this book was pretty bland and borderline annoying.
The main conflict of the book is there is two best friends have feelings for a third best friend. They fight over who she could possibly love, but surprise it turns out that neither of them is the person of her dreams. I don’t feel sorry for that spoiler; it was clear throughout the entire book that neither teenager stood a chance with her.
I had two major issues with the book (outside of it being mostly boring). The first is the use of herpes as a way to say someone is undesirable and gross. The other is that yet ANOTHER bisexual character is being treated like they could only possibly have feelings for one gender, instead of two. The main lesbian character (Azure) went out of her way to constantly say that the male bisexual character (yay, a male bisexual character) was not really in love with a girl, he was just doing it to show that he wasn’t gay. I was getting so annoyed (maybe because I am both HSV 1 positive and panromantic, but any-who).
Normally, I really like Peters’ books, but this one fell so flat for me. None of the characters really stood out to me. The end was tied up just a little too neatly and quickly. There was a twist, but it was only a twist because that character was so two dimensional and mentioned only a handful of times that there was no possible way to think that she would play a major role in the story. The character development was way below the standard that Peters’ has set with her other books.
While I wanted to like this book, I just couldn’t get into it.
I am a huge Julie Anne Peters fan, always have been. This had the potential to be a great book, like most of the other books by Peters. (If you haven’t heard my rant about Luna yet, consider yourself lucky). However like most of the books with a bisexual character this book was pretty bland and borderline annoying.
The main conflict of the book is there is two best friends have feelings for a third best friend. They fight over who she could possibly love, but surprise it turns out that neither of them is the person of her dreams. I don’t feel sorry for that spoiler; it was clear throughout the entire book that neither teenager stood a chance with her.
I had two major issues with the book (outside of it being mostly boring). The first is the use of herpes as a way to say someone is undesirable and gross. The other is that yet ANOTHER bisexual character is being treated like they could only possibly have feelings for one gender, instead of two. The main lesbian character (Azure) went out of her way to constantly say that the male bisexual character (yay, a male bisexual character) was not really in love with a girl, he was just doing it to show that he wasn’t gay. I was getting so annoyed (maybe because I am both HSV 1 positive and panromantic, but any-who).
Normally, I really like Peters’ books, but this one fell so flat for me. None of the characters really stood out to me. The end was tied up just a little too neatly and quickly. There was a twist, but it was only a twist because that character was so two dimensional and mentioned only a handful of times that there was no possible way to think that she would play a major role in the story. The character development was way below the standard that Peters’ has set with her other books.
While I wanted to like this book, I just couldn’t get into it.
September 9, 2017
It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters is eye opening. The story involved with of course prom. Other things like an alternative prom, decisions, romance, finding yourself, complications, diversity, and many others were part of the story. In this story, the principle gives a chance to change the traditional prom into something everyone would want to go to and that started the whole problem. In the end, everything worked out for everyone. Overall, I rate this book a 4/5 stars.
November 15, 2021
The amount of densely detailed prom planning that went into every conversation in this was just annoying to read. My eyes glazed over any time the budget was brought up, which unfortunately was half of this book. The amount of obstacles in the way for throwing this prom also got annoying, and I don't think the split perspective narrating in this added enough to justify not just having one narrator. 2 stars instead of 1 just for some dialogue that did make me crack a smile.
May 13, 2020
The point of this book has a good message: make spaces available to everyone. I liked how there was a quest for romance, although I do wish some more care was done for Radhika. It was just something nice to read through. At times it dragged on to a point I wanted to DNF but then I just pushed through. Higher star points for just being a rom-com YA boo.
May 25, 2017
I try not to write off protagonists, but I think Azure is best described as a Mary Sue: self-justified, hasty, opinionated; it actually took me three pages to even figure out she was a girl! Excessive drama, weird names, stupid love whatever-gon.
November 9, 2018
One of the best books for high schools at all. I absolutely love it. Azure's class brings me back to prom. Our was normal,but I wish I was on theirs too. What an amazing story for the 'geeks,freaks & uniques'. Gender equal story & one of the most positive I read so far. I recommend it to everyone!
May 16, 2021
I loved that it wasn't a story focused on coming out and the relationships were sweet. However, the ending felt extremely rushed and everyone was suddenly paired off together. The story was literally based on planning for prom the whole way through which made it quite slow.
July 20, 2017
"Do you believe the theory that people may be right for each other, but they meet at the wrong time in their lives and don't realize it?"
December 1, 2017
It was an okay book, thought I would’ve liked it more, but there wasn’t much intensity. It was still good to read. On my scale, I would rate this a 7/10.
January 16, 2018
Another great book by Julie Anne Peters
November 9, 2018
So very awesome! I loved it.
March 19, 2020
I dont want to bash it but I just did not like it. 1.5 stars. Bad main character and frankly unexplained why another is just so great.
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