The Prom by Saundra Mitchell

I really liked the idea behind this book - that there's a girl living in a narrow-minded hick town who just wants to take her closeted girlfriend to the prom only the whole town thinks that somehow the world will end if this happens - and I bought it on that basis.

I was about half way through before I could put my finger on what was wrong with it.  It read like an episode of Glee, but without the music.  Like, there was some overblown, melodramatic plot going on, but it felt like something extra was missing.

It was only when I finished the book that I realised this was actually a novelisation of a Broadway musical (totaly didn't notice the tagline of the book on Goodreads).  So this actually made a lot of sense.

The story is about small-town small-mindedness, bullying and equality.  The MC's voice feels really authentic and she's very funny.  The writing was good - it flowed easily and held my interest. 
 There are a bunch of interesting characters and some conflict between Emma and her girlfriend Alyssa, who is popular and in the closet.  It was all good and I feel a it mean for only giving it three stars.  If there was a way of inserting jazz hands and showtunes into a novel, this would have been five stars.

I would really like to see the musical version of this book (I think Netflix are releasing it this year, or maybe next year) and I think it will be awesome.  This is one of the rare occasions I think the book will not be as good as the screen version, though.

3 stars