Brian Sloan

[review written 2011]

I’ve also been wanting to read A Really Nice Prom Mess for a while. It was good. In fact, it was really good. It was funny, wild, and better than I thought it would be - usually I don’t take kindly to books such as these, especially with the word prom in the title.

One thing that could be improved on was the repeated use of “f-g” and the fact that Cam seemed to need to keep reminding us he was gay, even though half the things in the book happened because of that fact. Otherwise, the book was rather well-done.… (mer)

First impression:

The rampant homophobic language does nothing to draw me into the story, nor does the alcoholic date. The insane wealth of the characters is not relatable and Cameron's parents seem to be hammed-up caricatures. Reminds me of the crap you see in Pretty Little Liars and similar TV teen-soaps.

Update: Cameron is a judgmental little b!tch. He comments quite harshly about Shane's best friend's weight and stereotypes gays by saying that no gay guy would let himself get that fat, that young. He also stereotypes jocks quite frequently.

Cameron and his date - aside from getting totally trashed before prom even starts - smoke cigarettes and later Cameron and Shane's date smoke pot. Great role-models.

Edit: Oh god...Cameron's actions get SOOOO much worse. And of course there's no real ramifications for any of his malfeasance.

Cameron verbally attacks anyone that says "fag" yet never seems to shy away from declaring himself, others, and actions "retarded" on a regular basis.

Through several characters, the author regularly asserts that all gays are attracted to teens and chunky guys. Does this bother no one else?

This book creates the illusion that DC is so small the population is little more than that of the two schools involved in the story (seriously, no matter how many times he gets split up from the group, he never has any issue running into them again - I grew up in a town of 3,000 (1/2% that of DC) and never ran into anyone I went to school with outside of special activities like sports). The amount of "coincidental run-ins" in this story viciously murders the suspension of disbelief. Every gay guy Cameron runs into (which feels like half of DC) finds him irresistible. And the deus ex machina that is Sean. Oh...Dear...GOD!!! How lazy could this book be???… (mer)