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336 reviews for:
The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical
Bob Martin, Matthew Sklar, Saundra Mitchell, Chad Beguelin
3.67 AVERAGE
336 reviews for:
The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical
Bob Martin, Matthew Sklar, Saundra Mitchell, Chad Beguelin
3.67 AVERAGE
I want to preface this by addressing the other reviews. I pre-ordered this book, never read more about it, and didn't know it changed Alyssa from a lesbian to a pansexual. I didn't realize that until I logged on here to mark the book as 'read'. It seems that was fixed, as Alyssa calls herself a lesbian quite explicitly in the book I read. I'm glad. Pansexuals deserve representation. Asexuals deserve representation. Bisexuals deserve representation. Every damn person in the acronym does.
But you don't erase one marginalized sexuality by changing it to another. Alyssa, in the broadway show that I loved so dearly from afar, is a lesbian. I'm glad she's a lesbian in this book. The novel is still inclusive of other sexualities and genders in their attendance at the prom.
Now, onto that. I never got to see the musical, but I've inhaled every promotional appearance, every note of the cast recording, every Tweet and Instastory from the cast and crew. I love it, although I've never seen it. This book fleshes some aspects of the show out and flat out ignores some of it. The elimination of some (imo, important) characters, some errors that were clearly missed in the editing process, and the limited POVs prevent me from leaving it five stars. But as someone who didn't get to see it happen before me on stage, and in a day when the Netflix movie isn't ready and the tour (please actually happen) isn't running yet, this book is a little piece of this story that my little queer self can hold. It's tangible. And it made me cry. I cried in a sad way, in a happy way, in an "god, I understand" way. Midwestern small towns can be cruel. They can suppress, and beat you down without them or you realizing who they're beating down. There's a reason I was in my twenties before I knew things about myself. This story isn't perfect, nor is it a perfect retelling of the show (though I feel such perfection is impossible in different mediums), but I'm glad it exists.
But you don't erase one marginalized sexuality by changing it to another. Alyssa, in the broadway show that I loved so dearly from afar, is a lesbian. I'm glad she's a lesbian in this book. The novel is still inclusive of other sexualities and genders in their attendance at the prom.
Now, onto that. I never got to see the musical, but I've inhaled every promotional appearance, every note of the cast recording, every Tweet and Instastory from the cast and crew. I love it, although I've never seen it. This book fleshes some aspects of the show out and flat out ignores some of it. The elimination of some (imo, important) characters, some errors that were clearly missed in the editing process, and the limited POVs prevent me from leaving it five stars. But as someone who didn't get to see it happen before me on stage, and in a day when the Netflix movie isn't ready and the tour (please actually happen) isn't running yet, this book is a little piece of this story that my little queer self can hold. It's tangible. And it made me cry. I cried in a sad way, in a happy way, in an "god, I understand" way. Midwestern small towns can be cruel. They can suppress, and beat you down without them or you realizing who they're beating down. There's a reason I was in my twenties before I knew things about myself. This story isn't perfect, nor is it a perfect retelling of the show (though I feel such perfection is impossible in different mediums), but I'm glad it exists.
A lot of these reviews mention differences from the musical as major negatives. As someone who hasn’t seen the show I found this didn’t at all affect my enjoyment of the book. Whilst I do understand the furor over the changing of Alyssa’s sexuality, again as someone mostly new to the story it didn’t affect my enjoyment, especially as the story still had a f/f relationship at its heart. Much like movies can be quite different from the books being adapted, I’d recommend reading and judging on its own merits.
"The Prom" oder auch...ein Abschlussball mal anders.
Das Buch erinnert an die typische Highschool Geschichte mit beliebten und unbeliebten Teenies, Drama und eben dem Abschlussball. Aber es gibt einen kleinen Unterschied: Die Protagonistinnen sind lesbisch.
Und leider erleben die beiden nicht nur Positives. Das Coming-Out, die Kirche, Mobbing und Homosexualität generell sind zentrale Themen, die hier zur Sprache kommen und stellenweise macht es einen wirklich traurig, etwas über die Ungerechtigkeiten zu lesen. Immerhin schwingt immer das Wissen mit, dass sowas leider die Realität ist. Aber dieses Buch ist trotzdem keine Tragödie! Es gibt auch positive Erlebnisse, Liebe, Freundschaft, Besinnung und Unterstützung.
Mich hat die Geschichte jedenfalls berührt und ich kann sie jedem, der sich für solche Themen interessiert, ans Herz legen. Stellenweise gab es für meinen Geschmack zwar etwas zu viel Drama, aber das ist bei Highschool-Geschichten ja irgendwie normal.
Das Buch erinnert an die typische Highschool Geschichte mit beliebten und unbeliebten Teenies, Drama und eben dem Abschlussball. Aber es gibt einen kleinen Unterschied: Die Protagonistinnen sind lesbisch.
Und leider erleben die beiden nicht nur Positives. Das Coming-Out, die Kirche, Mobbing und Homosexualität generell sind zentrale Themen, die hier zur Sprache kommen und stellenweise macht es einen wirklich traurig, etwas über die Ungerechtigkeiten zu lesen. Immerhin schwingt immer das Wissen mit, dass sowas leider die Realität ist. Aber dieses Buch ist trotzdem keine Tragödie! Es gibt auch positive Erlebnisse, Liebe, Freundschaft, Besinnung und Unterstützung.
Mich hat die Geschichte jedenfalls berührt und ich kann sie jedem, der sich für solche Themen interessiert, ans Herz legen. Stellenweise gab es für meinen Geschmack zwar etwas zu viel Drama, aber das ist bei Highschool-Geschichten ja irgendwie normal.
It's a sweet and fun romcom type book, but unfortunately not much more. The writing is pretty flat, it's a little fast-paced for my taste, and most of the characters are underdeveloped. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that, as it turns out, this is a book based on a musical. Explains how there were weirdly few characters. All in all, not bad but the songs definitely convey more emotion and pack more of a punch than this book ever did
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Cute but doesn’t hit the same as the musical. I decided to pick up the audiobook because I saw that a ton of the OG cast was reading but was bummed to realize that Beth and Josh only read the prologue and epilogue since the book was dual POV. The choice to write this story from only Emma and Alyssa’s POVs eliminates a bunch of the growth the bway stars go through and the growth of their peers in town. I was also bummed that Angie and Trent had been removed from the story because I love their characters and think they’re important to both the plot and establishing the bway stars relationship with each other. Finally I’m confused why Emma sang Dance With You and not Unruly Heart for her video since the song makes more sense for that emotional beat in the story. Overall a fine book but it doesn’t have the magic of the stage show.
3,5/5
Une bonne lecture avec des références sur des comédies musicales
Une bonne lecture avec des références sur des comédies musicales
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes