The Night of Your Life

by Lydia Sharp

JJ is having the worst prom ever... over and over again.

All year, JJ’s been looking forward to going to prom with his best friend, Lucy. It will be their last hurrah before graduation—a perfect night for all their friends to relax, have fun together, and celebrate making it through high school.

But nothing goes according to plan. When a near-car crash derails JJ before he even gets to prom and Lucy can’t figure out what happened to him, things spiral out of control. The best night of their lives quickly turns into the worst.

That is... until JJ wakes up the next day only to find that it’s prom night all over again.

At first, JJ thinks he’s lucky to have unlimited chances at perfecting the night of his life. But each day ends badly for him and Lucy, no matter what he does. Can he find a way to get the perfect prom he’s always wanted and move forward into the rest of his life?

Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult, Romance, Time Travel, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Lydia Sharp writes young adult novels with lots of kissing and adventures.

Reviews

[Dahlia]

Both the plot and lead characters of this book were not my personal jam, but points for being one of the queerest books with a straight MC I’ve ever read. (Trans, pan, bi, and lesbian representation are all on page, including the MC’s lesbian moms.) The MC seemed to me to be written pretty explicitly demiromantic, tbh, but considering he’s the only character who doesn’t label, even when his moms ask him if he’s ace or aro, far be it for me to do it for him! It does have a lot of sweetness and fun stuff, and I read it quickly, so it’s definitely an “it’s not you, it’s me” - if speculative contemp is more your thing, esp with inclusive casts, it’s a cute one!

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

JJ and Lucy made pact to go to prom together if they both wound up dateless. While JJ's being single is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point, he's surprised to find Lucy still dateless and going with him on the day of the prom.

Prom is the perfect chance for JJ to have a last hurrah with all of his friends and he can't imagine anyone he'd want to spend it with more than Lucy.

Except everything goes wrong.

JJ wants nothing more than to forget that prom ever happened. But when he wakes up, it's prom day again.

With endless chances to try and fix things, JJ has to figure out if he can chase his perfect prom while holding onto his best friend in The Night of Your Life (2020) by Lydia Sharp.

This standalone contemporary takes on a speculative twist as JJ relives his prom over and over again trying to improve events and break the loop. Despite the high concept premise, The Night of Your Life's main strength is the LGBTQ+ representation which adds a nice layer to an otherwise flat story.

JJ is an extremely vanilla narrator with few defining traits beyond being excited about prom and an unfortunate predilection for making up words (like "twibble). He is a terrible friend who chooses not just to ditch Lucy when a cute girl's car breaks down but also never tells her what is actually happening. Why he deserves numerous chances to fix his prom night, let alone why he deserves a friend like Lucy, remains unclear.

Stilted writing in both JJ's first person narration and the dialog make most of the relationships in the novel feel forced and do nothing to hint at even a little chemistry between JJ and Lucy as the next phase of their friendship (and if they should pursue anything more) becomes the main question of the story.

The Night of Your Life is an uninspired take on a familiar premise. Unless you're all about that prom setting, skip this one and read A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody for a better executed version of the same conceit.

Possible Pairings: The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life by Tara Altebrando, A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody, Two Summers by Aimee Friedman, Shuffle, Repeat by Jen Klein, Parallel by Lauren Miller, Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

[Lydia Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this :)
I don't have a playlist for this book, but I did listen to this one particular song a LOT while I was writing. You might even say I had this song...stuck on repeat. ;)
"Perfect Situation" by Weezer

[Dominique Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute.

[Bree Cheese · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! This was such a fun story. Time loops are my favorite and this one didn’t disappoint. Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for a fun teen story with awesome characters.

[Ava :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because it was short and would help me meet a goal for my school. Overall, it was ok. I don't think I would ever recommend it.

[Lydia Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this :)
I don't have a playlist for this book, but I did listen to this one particular song a LOT while I was writing. You might even say I had this song...stuck on repeat. ;)
"Perfect Situation" by Weezer

[Sarah C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. There’s a lot of great representation for the LGBTQIA community , which for me is always a plus reading something I relate to. I loved experiencing JJ’s loop and seeing all the different sides of the characters, showing that we as people are more than just one sided and the way we express ourselves changes through the many different situations we go through in life .

[Palatine Library]

This is a book with the main character JJ. The plot of the story is about JJ being stuck in a time loop that he isn’t able to escape. JJ is a brilliant student and he creates a machine that can accomplish time travel. On the night of prom his friend that he was supposed to go to prom with gets a panic attack. On that very same day he gets stuck in a loop where he keeps repeating the day.

JJ spends the next seven days trying to escape the loop. During these seven days he learns a lot as a person. The plot of this story is pretty enjoyable if you like science fiction but the actual characters are somewhat dull. I do recommend this book if you are into science fiction, but other than that I don’t recommend it.

-Ishaan R.

[Jenny Ashby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawn in by the "Groundhog Day" premise but that didn't end up being as captivating for me as I'd hoped. I think one of the primary issues was that Lucy comes across as a big source of stress for our main character, not a charming love interest who has been under his nose this entire time. Of course I was cheering for them to get together because that's the point of these types of stories, but there were also quite a few times where I was wondering why he was trying so hard and thinking that maybe the resolution was going to be him finally getting out from under her control. And then the ultimate realization of what he had to do to break the loop and which wishes counted and which were the opposite... I didn't get it.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m such a sucker for these “relive the same day over and over again until you get it right” kind of plots. If any book (or movie) has this storyline, I’m all over it.

So, naturally, I loved the plot in this book. However, I found both JJ and Lucy a bit lackluster, which lowered my enjoyment overall. I was definitely more interested in the side characters, such as Melody, Jenna and Chaz. The ending was also a bit of a let-down.

Still, this was cute and fun!

[Lexi Loo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Another incredibly boring book that I don’t have the energy to like or finish. The main character was so vanilla and while the concept was cool, I felt like it was poorly executed because I had no emotional attachment to anything or anyone at all.

I almost wish that Melody and the main dude ended up together and the plot was him falling in love with a stranger and having to convince her that he knew her. That’d have a lot more life to it I think.

[dearlittledeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun prom story with a Groundhog Day twist. Diverse cast of characters; the main character seems to be a straight white boy. (I don't remember if they specifically mention his race but he is white on the cover.) Would be appropriate for younger teens, nothing too heavy or shocking.

[F. A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read as a very young YA. I felt like this could have been a movie on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel. A lot of fluff.

If you are looking for a feel good read or a book for a young teen then this book is one I would recommend

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. It was okay. I guess I was expecting more from the characters, romance, story. I love a Groundhog Day troupe, but I guess I never really knew who to root for with JJ so it left me not as invested in the story.

[Bella Juozapaitis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent, but definitely not the best. It was filled with a continuous plot, that was understandable, but got boring throughout the book as it went on. However the character personalities were very in depth and thoroughly explained and described.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this modern "Groundhog Day" young adult romance. It definitely keeps the reader wondering what will happen the next time and rooting for the guy who just wants to do it right.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a quick read. I did liked it. Such a nice story and the characters in it.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come!

[Courtney Chagnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all very cute book 😊

[Alexis]

I thought that it was an interesting book, it was fun to read and I would read it again

[Elynor Westrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, the plot was fine, about halfway through the book however, the book starts to feel repetitive. By the end I was ready to finish it.

[Jayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this story, I just couldn’t get through it. I’ve never wanted to stop reading a book so much. I have never had to just stop reading a story before.

[elin( bandwidth hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book overall but sometimes it skips so the plot doesnt make much sense and its kinda boring but I like the idea the author had.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

[Rmsooon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dont like the idea much so i ddnt enjoy the book
I dunno how many stars