Review: Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom

Title: Ditched: A Love Story
Author: Robin Mellom
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Category:  Contemporary Romance
Release date: January 10th, 2012
Pages: 288 (Hardcover)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Won

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her. 

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together – stain by stain on her thrift-store dress – exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love..

Ditched is one of those hilariously truthful stories that highlights what it's like for the girl who doesn't have the perfect prom night.  Thankfully, both of the proms I went to were better than Justina's experiences, but I think Justina has a much more exciting story to tell, as I spent my first prom sulking because I didn't have a date.

When Justina's reputation is ruined thanks to a kissing game and one unlucky night at a party, she vows to stay away from boys until she befriends Ian.  Now she finds herself in a ditch on the side of the road with little recollection of what happened until she looks at the stains that cover her dress, the mud caked on her shoes, and her new tattoo.

The author's writing style is just enough to make you want to read the book multiple times.  Almost every chapter made me laugh out loud, and for that, I loved Justina's character.  She's a little naive and neurotic, but she tries her best when it comes to friends and especially her crush, Ian.  I can even say that she reminds me a lot of myself.  Throughout the book, it's only obvious that Ian cares for her but Justina keeps brushing it off because in her mind, it's only possible for him to want to be her friend.

A series of very, very unfortunate events occur, starting with the splatter of curry at the hem of her blue iridescent thrift-store dress, to the zipper completely breaking off, exposing almost everything to her classmates.  All of that humiliation in one night can certainly break a person, and at first, she thought it had.  Thankfully, this story turns out to have a happy ending.  If you're looking for a particularly light read to brighten your mood, Ditched is just for you.

Just for kicks, I've decided to share my own prom picture with you.  (My senior prom, not my junior prom where my hair was some funky mixture of black, brown, purple and pink.  Yikes!  :P)