This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

I was so excited about this book coming out that I bought a hard copy. And then I got a hand signed book plate by Julie Anne Peters! Squee! There are few things I would get even vaguely fan-girl-y about, but this is one of them for sure.


Sadly, the book was a bit different to the others Peters has written, and I wasn't as convinced by the characters as I usually am. This novel used the technique of splitting between Azure (a lesbian) and Luke (a bisexual) for perspective.

I liked Azure, and felt more in common with her. However, I didn't get the same sense of her being super chatty from within her perspective as I did from Luke. Sometimes it seemed like she was a totally different person. Her relationship with her dad though was a very positive one, as was her pespective on not judging others (most of the time).

Luke was a character of contradictions for me. He seemed like he was very flamboyant, and that was why his brother hated him so much, but then it wasn't all that clear because his brother did care in a strange way. And then there was his crush on Radhika, but then his play and everything at the same time. Not to mention it seemed like he never did homework!

Now to the storyline (a bit back to front I know). One word and one person: Prom, Radhika. Both Azure and Luke want to go to the prom with Radhika, but she doesn't like either of them in that way (or does she), given that they have been friends for forever! I think I read somewhere that originally Radhika had a perspective as well, but that this was then removed from the book. A pity, I would have liked to hear a bit more from her.

The end of the novel was altogether too happy for my liking. Others who love that kind of ending will probably be satisfied though. The same goes for the school settings they find themselves in - it is amazing that everyone is so diverse and accepting. It's not something that has happened in Australia yet as far as I can tell, but I'd love to see a real high school in the US that has it.

I could have given this book three stars, but then reconsidered up to four. I didn't hate it, and it's probably not a desperate reread for me in the same way that Keeping You a Secret is, but it was reassuring to read it. ( )

In the Colorado town in which Azure, Luke and Radhika live, in It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters, sexual orientation is not an issue. And, yeah, while Luke may get razzed by his brother, Owen’s, friends for being bisexual, and yeah, they may not like him for it, there is little to none of that outright hatred that permeates the southern town in which Patrick and Cat live in Lauren Myracle’s Shine. And that’s the difference. It’s Our Prom emphasizes inclusiveness.

Azure is asked by her school principal to become a Prom Com member and work to make the prom more inclusive; of straights, gays, geeks, nerds, loners, cliques and non-cliques. The fact that Azure and Luke both want to ask Radhika is just part of the romantic triangle. The fact that Azure’s former girlfriend reappears and pulls at some forgotten heartstrings is what happens to every teenager. The fact that Luke has a crush on both Connor and Radhika is no different than a million other teens whose hearts are pulled in many directions.

The result is a fun read about a group of teens whose goal to make a prom to remember is thwarted by parents, teachers, idealism and naïveté. Some of the crushes are obvious to the reader while unknown to the recipient. Peters has a way of creating characters that you want as your friends and Azure, Luke and Radhika fall into this category. These kids go through the same things that every teenager goes through: uncertainty about the future, parental pressure, school work overload. This is the kind of world I’d like to live in. Life is hard enough without castigating someone because of who they love. Read It’s Our Prom (So Deal With It). ( )