A Book Review - Prom Date by Diane Hoh (Point Horror)

Oh good Lord, a later Point Horror that's actually really good. Blessed be!

Excuse me, I'm being facetious. I'm just so happy, though. I've certainly noticed - and I'm not the only one, this is something I see echoed in just about every Point Horror blog I've read - that the later PH novels are just, well, not great. Some of them are memorable, with wild plots often involving supernatural stuff, and a handful are excellent - The Stranger comes to mind (although that's not a great example, I have no idea why that one was released under the Point Horror imprint at all) - but the majority of the books released post-1994 don't hold a candle to classics like Trick or Treat, My Secret Admirer, Beach Party or The Train.

I'm happy to say that Prom Date is a delicious return to those golden days.

Margaret is an intelligent, soft-spoken, not-especially-popular girl who works in her beautiful mother's dress store, which at this time of year is filled with the Beautiful People (known as the Pops) who are all trying on prom dresses. The Pops are the bane of her and her friends' lives. There's sleek, bitchy Stephanie; perfect overachiever Kiki; elegant, sophisticated Liza and sweet, pretty Beth. They rule the school and make everyone else feel like something stuck to the bottom of your shoe. (Not that anything would dare stick to the bottom of these girls' shoes.)

Then the senior picnic comes along, and Stephanie is shoved off a watchtower onto the rocks below. Who killed Stephanie, and why? There are so many candidates...

Margaret is surprised when Mitch, one of the most handsome, popular guys in school, starts showing interest in her. But before long, nasty things start happening, both to Margaret and to the store. The dresses that the Pops chose for prom are cut to ribbons. Someone slips poison in Margaret's milk and she narrowly avoids death when she gives it to a stray cat in the alley behind (who is unfortunately not so lucky). Then she gets hit on the head and shoved in a dumpster, and the dumpster set on fire, and is just barely rescued by Mitch. Kiki is attacked and has her face smushed, and the replacement prom dresses are cut to ribbons. Someone is out to destroy the girls who are lucky enough to have prom dates...

I really, really liked this book. There were so many things I loved, and so few that I didn't. First, huge kudos on writing a longer book! I never feel like Point Horrors are long enough to really get a feel for the characters, but Prom Date stands at 274 pages, and the difference really shows. Secondly: dresses. Can I drool a bit? Oh Em Gee. I love 90s fashion, and I love books where characters' clothes are described. These books totally need more shopping scenes.

Third, I utterly adore Margaret. She's got to be one of my favourite Point Horror heroines ever. Quiet but not shy, not popular but not cowed by those who are, soft-spoken and kind but unafraid to speak up - often with a quick, sharp wit - when she or her friends are being put down. This girl is awesome. She's more complex than the one-dimensional heroines you tend to find in teenage horror. She's totally someone I'd want to be, or want to know.

Mitch is lovely. I'm not usually a fan of the sensitive-jock or sensitive popular guy trope, but it kind of works here. Like Margaret, he's better developed than your average Point Horror love interest, and I credit that to the extra length of the book. He's a real sweetheart, and I'm glad, because Margaret deserves someone no less than brilliant. And if their romance progresses a little fast, with only a couple dozen pages between first interest and first I-love-yous? That's okay too. This is the end of high school, after all. :)

I really quite like Margaret's mom, too - an actual present, decent parent for once!

Even the Pops have some depth to their character. I was particularly touched by Kiki's thoughts as she was walking alone, about how hard it was to balance everything in life and put out a flawless, poised image. I was a Kiki in high school, although rather than being in the popular crowd I flitted from crowd to crowd, being welcomed and accepted by all and committing to nobody. I spent a lot of years trying to be close to perfect in all possible areas - good grades, extra credit projects, art classes, volunteer work, popularity, prettiness, being someone who people could rely on but would never need anything from others - and, on the occasions that that failed, providing a smooth untouchable surface that made it appear like I wasn't the slightest bit ruffled by anything. Being a secondary character, we're not provided with Kiki's motivations other than a general fear of messing up, and I'd like to have seen more of her. That said, I'm pretty darn impressed with the fact that we hear the Pops' feelings at all; usually background characters are solidly in the background, and any information we get on them comes via conversations with protagonists.

It's generally agreed that info dumping is a sign of an unprofessional author, but I love info dumps. I'm not a fan of books that are totally dialogue-driven, I like to see people's inner thoughts.

Bitchy in places, scary in others, cheerful in more, this is as comforting as hot tomato soup on an autumn day. I just read it three weeks ago and find myself wanting to read it again.

Verdict: One of the best of the later books, with one of the most developed heroines. Brilliantly entertaining.