Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck

Published: July 1, 2012

Publisher: Revell

Pages: 259

Rating: 3/5

Daisy Crispin has 196 days to find the right date for the prom. There's only one problem--her parents won't let her date or even talk to a guy on the phone. Oh, and she's totally invisible at school, has to wear lame homemade clothes, and has no social skills. Okay, so maybe there's more than one problem. Can she talk her parents into letting her go to the prom? Or will they succeed at their obvious attempt to completely ruin her life?

With hilarious and truthful writing, Kristin Billerbeck uncovers the small--and large--mortifications that teen girls encounter. Readers will fall in love with Daisy's sharp wit and resourcefulness as she navigates the world of boys, fashion, family, and friendship.

Review:

Daisy Crispin is an absolute perfectionist. But her life is anything but perfect- in her eyes, at least. Her parents, who, for a living, dress up in costumes and sing at parties (and her school…yeah, awkward), are conservative to the max. Translation: homemade clothes, no cable, no phone, and no car (for Daisy, that is). On top of it all, Daisy is perfectly dateless, and with prom coming up, that is the one thing Daisy doesn’t want to be. So to help get herself a date, Daisy starts a “prom journal,” chock full of her progress in nabbing a guy to stand with her for that coveted prom picture that will prove she wasn’t a nothing in high school.

I’m not sure I really have an opinion of this book. When I finished it, I wasn’t thrilled nor was I disappointed. I guess I thought it was just…cute. It’s just a cute story of Daisy Crispin, who’s disillusioned about the importance of high school, prom, and popularity. Daisy and her friends act like they need to be noticed; they even say themselves that they don’t want to miss their opportunity to shine. Being seniors, they want to “go out with a bang.” But after a certain party (I won’t give any more details- don’t want to spoil it), Daisy begins to see the important things in life- and those things don’t necessarily include prom.

            All in all, this was a good read; it just didn’t blow me away. I did love the humor and the girl-chasing-boy theme. I have to say, I personally know people like Daisy’s parents, and the similarity cracked me up the whole time I was reading Perfectly Dateless. Some parts, though, just seemed either unrealistic (I think Daisy’s life was pretty great, compared to what it could have been like) or too young (the whole prom journal thing seemed kind of middle school). It’s not bad at all, but it’s just not great. I’m only semi- enthusiastic about getting my hands on the sequel, Perfectly Invisible.

Quick Content Review:

Language: None

Violence: None- Minor (Mention of someone getting three degree burns from a house fire)

Sexual: Minor (Mention of a boy trying to get a date rape drug)