A review by marobbins
The Day Before by Micol Ostow

4.0

One of my students gave me this book when she was done reading it because she knows that I love Riverdale and am a bit of a pop culture junkie. :) That was thoughtful of her. I decided that it looked like a fun late spring/summer read, and it was just that. It gives more insight into what went on in the lives of Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica right before the summer when everything hit the fan for the Blossom family. This book is essentially fanfiction that hit the shelves, and it was solid overall. I really liked Jughead's and Archie's POV's in particular and thought they were well in keeping with their characters on the show. I thought Betty's voice was solid, although I would have liked more insight into her dark side. Veronica's seemed a bit exaggerated for my taste. I know she was supposed to be a mean girl diva before she came to Riverdale, knocked down by her father's downfall. But even at this point, I wanted her character to have more redeeming qualities. She reminded me of Cordy from Buffy, only before Cordy moved to LA and had to grow up. It struck me, reading this prequel, how similar their characters are in some ways. They are both essentially diva rich girls who become more likable once they have more life experience and grow up a bit, although I did like Cordy's character in Angel more than I like Veronica's character in Riverdale.

Overall, this was fun to read. I thought Fred Andrews's character came across well, and that was a great tribute (although probably not intended when it was written) to one of my first tween girl crushes, Luke Perry, Rest in Peace. If you enjoy Riverdale, I'd recommend this book.