DNF @ 29%

Beat after beat of this book felt so much like it was just hitting me again and again with random forceful opinion after random forceful opinion without any real heart to the story itself.

I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Truth be told, this may be the final nail in the coffin with stories like these. Time after time I try again and again to read these books about characters who are so befuddled by the concept of love because “science!” and time after time, despite my real enthusiasm for the synopsis, I find myself <i>hating</i> everything to do with the book and the characters.

I have to admit, <i>Prom Theory</i> is probably the worst of the bunch. I haven’t liked any of the others, but something about this experiment just sat with me wrong. It was especially worse when you take into account Squeak—what an <i>awful</i> name, my god—and his role in the entire thing. Honestly, I don’t know who I hated more, him or the main character.

Then there’s all the stupid insults, from the main characters to the antagonists.

I don’t think I spent a single second of this read feeling anything other than annoyance. And I’ve honestly finally reached the point after attempting to work through it for the sixth time where I realize this book really just isn’t worth my time.

DNF @ 30%.

I was having a really hard time connecting with the characters and it made this story fall a little flat. I’m not sure if this was just a reader error.

Sometimes, even as an adult, I enjoy a good young adult read. I wanted to ready Prom Theory because I could relate to the nerdy science view of life that Iris uses to navigate love and dating in high school. Iris made this science teacher proud watching her test her theory using the scientific method, even if she used non consenting human participants. I love the science references throughout the book as well as how Iris presented as a neurodivergent main character which young adults should see more of in their books. Her anxiety is easy for a lot of readers to relate to. I was ‘em pressed that the book is written for ages 12+, yet the author incorporated more advanced vocabulary. Overall, it was a cute read!

Romance and science- can they go hand-in-hand? This book had a quirky attitude towards it, and I enjoyed reading it. Iris who believes that love is scientific and Seth who believes that love is a mystery. This is the first book that I've read that dealt with Non-Verbal Learning Disorder and it was interesting to learn about it through the character of Iris. Definitely a good read.

Love, like all things, can be scientifically quantified…right?
🧪
Iris Oxtabee spent her whole life navigating social cues and interactions as someone who is neurodivergent with NLD (Nonverbal Learning Disorder) and needed the help. Her best friends Seth aka Squeak and Esther have assisted Iris with this most of her life, but when the opportunity to perform an experiment to see if love is nothing more than hormones and external stimuli arises, Iris can’t help but test her Prom Theory…no matter who she hurts along the way.
🧪
Iris does a lot of growing up in this YA romance. She is charming in her ignorance and so many times I just wanted to hug her and/or shout at her how obtuse she was being. I’ve been loving reading more romance books involving women, STEM and autism. Labar s a new young adult author to watch! Also the audiobook was great.
CW: bullying, vomit, alcohol, parental neglect

Dropped a star because the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Wanted more romance!

I think Prom Theory has such a cute cover! I love the blue color that was used. 💙 As for the book itself, I thought it was okay. I think Iris was a breath of fresh air, I love how she thinks and all of the facts she shares. I am not as big of a fan of her friends and family. I didn’t like how they had silent conversations right in front of her. It seemed like they were taking advantage of the fact that she thinks differently and struggles with some social interactions. Seth was sweet, but could have been more direct with Iris, but at the same time then there wouldn’t have been much of a plot so 🤷‍♀️. Overall, it was a cute book, but not one I would reread.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory

For a high schooler, is there anything more important than prom?

Not according to Iris Oxtabee who believes that prom, attraction, dating and anything related to love is all a reaction brought about my chemicals and biological processes.

Which brings about the prom theory. Namely, that anyone can be persuaded to attraction through a plan – one set forth by science and not dating magazines and gossip columns.

Iris, who is neurodivergent with an unknown non-verbal learning disorder, sees the world differently. The world is logical, methodical, and the actions of people can be boiled down to understanding via the scientific method.

In her journey to find the date for prom she has her best friend Esther who is a scene stealer on every page she’s in and Seth, known better as Squeak, who is blatantly in love with her.

Written in the same methodical and to the point prose that Iris would see the world, Prom Theory takes some getting used to. Iris is not a particularly likeable protagonist, something that would be easy to attribute to her NVLD but would be inaccurate since her friendships with both Esther and Seth speak to a goodness in her that we as the readers never really get to see. Similarly, Seth is interesting and charming and it’s abundantly obvious from the start that he is in love with Iris and that Esther herself knows about it. The plot that follows is typical of the YA genre but I couldn’t help but think that a lot of hurt could have been avoided if either of her friends approached her directly and not in innuendos, considering the length of time they’ve known her. Nevertheless, it was engaging and while the end didn’t quite fit the characters that were built up, it was a sweet ending deserving of the genre.

Sharp and interesting, Prom Theory would be a good read for anyone who wants to go back to the days of when who you went to prom with was the biggest problem you could have through the lens of a protagonist that we don’t get see much of.

Oh, I did NOT like this one. It’s a train wreck caused by miscommunication between two lifelong friends, Iris, who is neurodivergent, and Seth (Squeak), the boy who loves her but ices her out when she fails to be the person he wants her to be. Iris has never been able to pick up social cues and is uncomfortable with human touch, noisy crowds, and the unpredictably of love and attraction. Her default behavior is to “wiki”, going into deep discussions about the science of social interaction and the predictably of attraction. She sets out to prove her hypothesis by coming up with a prom theory, engaging her two best friends to help her and targeting an alpha male from the track team. Her goal? To get him to invite her to the prom although she has no intention of actually accepting his invitation. Unfortunately, when Seth fails to admit his feelings and invite her to the prom himself, his anger and disgust at feeling used leads him to reject her in the worst possible way.

It makes no sense that he’d accuse her of disregarding his feelings when he’s been her protector and guide throughout her life. When he rejects her for being the same person he’s always known her to be, it’s unspeakably cruel. If he’d only been honest with her, rather than playing games himself, the whole devastating episode could have been avoided. To add insult to injury, her best female friend Esther doesn’t help her navigate the emotional minefield either.

Aside from the emotional aspect, the narrative flow was constantly disrupted by Iris’s long-winded monologues in which she shares her in-depth knowledge on a wide range of topics. My inclination was to skim these sections because of the tedium. It was unnecessary to feed readers constant reminders about what it’s like when your brain works differently than what society at large deems normal, especially at the risk of burying the plot line. I kept reading to the end to see if their relationship could be salvaged, but I was tempted not to bother. It left me annoyed and dissatisfied. Not recommended.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Simon Pulse through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Prom Theory reminds me of classic teen movies like Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, and She’s All That. They’re all variations of the same story with the regular girl, her best friend(s), the popular girl, and the popular guy. Prom Theory adds twists to the story. Iris Oxtabee isn’t interested in Theo Grant, the popular athlete who recently became single, but she is interested in proving to her best friend Seth/Squeak that love, like many things, is a product of science and can be explained through the use of the scientific method. She comes up with a social experiment to get Theo to ask her to prom, which will also help her other friend Esther to get her crush to ask her to prom.

I’m always excited to see diversity in all its forms. In this case, we have a neurodiverse protagonist in Iris who has nonverbal learning disability (NVLD), which has many traits also associated with autism. I also couldn’t help but crush on how sweet Squeak/Seth was. Prom Theory succeeded in giving me butterflies because Squeak is really sweet. Despite how much I liked the use of an experiment to show that love can be explained through science, and despite how my heart fluttered, about halfway through, I was ready for several things to happen. I needed the experiment to come to an end or at least be interrupted, preferably indefinitely. I was ready for Iris to pay better attention to her experiment and all the things that weren’t going the way she planned it. While it was entertaining to see Iris employ different tactics to get Theo's attention and to read the observation notes, it also became redundant.

For the most part, it hit all the right spots but became redundant with implementing a variable then waiting for the outcome. If you're a fan of teen romances and liked any of the movies mentioned above, Prom Theory may be an enjoyable read.

This book was a fun read and I genuinely enjoyed the journey we had inside Iris Oxtabee’s head as she experimented with the mystery that is love. The best way I can describe this book is fun and predictable, and even then I enjoyed the characters we met and the crazy situations Iris got herself into to prove she was right.

One thing that we’re made aware of from the start is that Iris has nonverbal learning disability, which highlights so much of Iris’s internal narration and how she goes about life in the manner she does. LaBar does such a magnificent job of taking Iris’ character and developing her throughout the story in a way where we see the moments in which Iris went too far or how she takes in the situations she encounters, such as her relationship with Seth.

Seth and Esther are Iris’s best friends who know her best, and we quickly detect a hint of unrequited love, which I loved. We come to realize that Iris has the overwhelming need to explain what she does not understand through Science, something that she can break down and have control of. We see this in how Iris constructs her experiment to get Theo to ask her to prom, and in doing so, LaBar puts Iris together to embody such a vibrant and enjoyable character that made me want to see how she would go about certain experiments to help prove her hypothesis, such as flirting.

There were times in which I did feel that the book dragged on a bit and that the end felt satisfying to a certain extent, but I had wished for a little more character development from some of the other characters we met, such as Theo and Taylor. I felt that there had been a bit of potential to go more in-depth into these characters outside of the prom experiment, and doing so would have added more emphasis to the consequences of Iris’s actions. By the time we reached the ending of the book everything sort of felt a bit rushed in making the end feel satisfying to some extent.

However, with that said, I did find myself binge-reading the book after about 3/4 of the way through because I wanted to see how the prom experiment would end, and I genuinely enjoyed every scene with Iris, Esther and Seth. Their friendship was so fun and loving, and embodied true friendship in the desire to help one another no matter what. I would definitely recommend this book to any person who wants to read a childhood friends to lovers trope or where it’s completely obvious that one person has it BAD while the other person is completely ignorant of the underlying tension that we all can see. This book has this and more, so definitely check it out if you’re interested or need a cute read to get you through the day!

Mini Review: This was a cute romance! Iris trying to prove her theory with her experiment was entertaining. I loved how her friends played a big role. Overall, I thought this was a good YA romance, and would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher.

Loved the scientific theory in this book. Cute plot idea. The main character was hard to read sometimes, making it hard to really enjoy the story. This will definitely be hit or miss for readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an ARC in change for an honest review!

3/5 stars

Prom Theory is a heavily clichéd YA contemporary that still manages to be adorable.

As some of the reviews have pointed out, this book is basically one big cliché tied with a bow. There isn't really anything wrong with it, but it feels overdone. It also reads like early YA. You know, those YA books that came out in the 2000s when the genre was first forming? It felt all too familiar.

Prom Theory is more or less exactly what it sounds like. Girl likes science. Girl uses science to try and prove love. Girl is blind to guy that actually loves her. I feel like I've read this before, no? It feels a little bit like the YA version of The Kiss Quotient (which I haven't read so please correct me if I'm wrong) with science instead of math. The MC even has NVLD (Nonverbal Learning Disorder) while the MC of The Kiss Quotient has Asperger's. I don't mean to throw shade because the book was pretty entertaining, but it didn't quite feel original.

As I just mentioned, our main character, Iris, has NVLD, a learning disorder. The neurodiversity was really nice and something you don't see very often. That said, she was a bit of an annoying character. I didn't understand half of what she said and she was obtusely blind to everything happening around her (cough cough Seth).

I really liked our love interest, though I'll be the first to admit he was a little vanilla. Seth was very sweet and protective, but he didn't really have any defining characteristics that I can think of other than Iris's neighbor/best friend/love interest. That said, I'm a massive fan of the friends to lovers trope so I did rather enjoy the inevitable romance.

All in all, while the concepts Prom Theory was built around felt overdone, I did enjoy the book and reading experience.

This story had a sweet setup, but it was not fleshed out well enough. First of all, it was far too obvious that Seth liked Iris, and that she liked him back. Theo did not even put up a competition. At best, he was shown as a pretty arihead jock, and at worst he was absolutely dispicable. This story failed to even set up a convincing love triangle, which meant that aside from being predictable, the story was also a bit boring. My heart absolutely broke when Seth reveals that his college choices are hinging on Iris, because what the heck. That's a terrible idea, especially since Seth is not exactly well-off financially.
Overall, this story is obviously predictable, so it falls hard on the characters to carry the book. The characters fall short of the mark, thoguh, and start to feel annoying rather than relatable or cute.

Prom Theory is about Iris, a high school junior who has two best friends, Esther and Seth (Squeak). Iris has NLVD, and has difficulty reading social situations and is very interested in learning facts. She decides she can make the most popular boy in school ask her to Prom if she just conducts scientific experiments designed to attract his attention and prove that love is nothing more than a scientific process. But through her experiments, she might just end up hurting her friends and creating more of a mess.

I did find this book to be enjoyable, however I had a few concerns with it. First off, I found the depiction of NLVD to be good (speaking as someone who is neurotypical, so I'm no expert). However the author's bio indicates she has experience so I'm trusting her knowledge. Iris's 'wiki-mode' moments were very interesting, if a bit scientific for the target audience? It helped to underscore her presentation of NLVD but it was a bit much at times. I like the two friends Iris has, but I feel they could have done a better job of helping her realize this experiment was a bad idea. They kind of enabled the behavior and then got mad at it afterwards.

This book is pretty cliche, it's definitely YA and has a high school level maturity. The prom scene was hard to read for me, as I imagine it would be for anyone who has experience with being treated badly for being "different" from the average for any reason. I respect Iris's growth through the book and the idea that she was learning the emotional side of being human instead of just analytical.

Overall, this was a good book if you're looking for a high school romance with a diversity rep for the main character.

**Thank you to Simon Pulse and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Ann LaBar, and Simon & Schuster Books for the eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

This book was cute. I love that the main character had her little quirks and flaws and that she had her issues with social intricacies, yet her best friends were so damn supportive. She would start going off on one subject or another, always spewing off facts and information while they called it "Wiki mode".

I enjoyed the premise of this book and overall I feel like Iris learned a lot, especially in regards to how people behave. She grew a lot over the course of the book, especially considering how quickly all the events actually took place.

It was a great coming of age story with some really good points and lessons. I really enjoyed the book, admittedly even more than I had anticipated.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

In order to better understand the world around her, Iris spent a great deal of time reading and learning about neuroscience a.k.a. brain science. When she proposes to Seth and Esther, her best friends, that love is related to chemistry, Iris concocts a way to test this theory by attempting to get herself invited to prom. As she is carrying out her experiments, unknown variables get thrown into the mix, and Iris finds herself perplexed by these findings.

I saw this pitched as a YA The Rosie Project, and I was chomping at the bit to read it. I could very much see the similarities between Iris and Don. Both were neurodivergent and saw the world through a scientific lens. They had to work harder to socialize, but were lucky enough to have a few great friends who were allies and supporters. And where Don had the Wife Project, Iris had the Prom Theory.

Iris was an interesting character. Her passion for neuroscience was pretty contagious. She would do this thing, where she went into what they referred to as "Wiki-mode", and I must confessed, I enjoyed it. I love science, and found the bits and pieces shared with me extremely interesting.

The "experiments" were quite amusing too. They may have been a bit unethical, but they provided some great rom-com moments. There were reflections after each experiment, where Iris and Esther recorded their findings. I loved the contrast between Iris and Esther's notes, and these journals along with the experiments made me chuckle.

Iris was lucky to have not one, but two best friends. They had been her staunch supporters for many years and helped her navigate situations she found difficult due to her learning disorder. Though Iris built up a toolkit over the years, she found comfort just knowing her friends were there for her if she needed them. Their relationship hits a few bumps over the course of the story, as Iris persisted in proving her Prom Theory, and that's where I saw Iris discover a lot about herself. I appreciated both her struggle and her growth.

Overall, it was delightful watching Iris try to prove her Prom Theory. The combination of flirting, fun, and friendship was an enjoyable one for me.

I liked this book. It’s about a girl named Iris who loves science and controls her world using it like for example love. Her best friend, Seth, believes that love is beautiful and not expected while Iris thinks this is a challenge which makes her want to test a theory by asking the hottest guy out to prom. This only complicates her relationship with Seth but Iris doesn’t want her experiment to fail.

I enjoyed the story of this book. I thought it was such a cute and enjoyable contemporary romance read which I love to read after reading so many fantasy books. I enjoyed the pacing and most of the writing except the science reports. In my opinion, I felt that those could have been left out but then again that was just me. Overall the author’s writing was really persuasive and hooked me from the first page.

In this book, Iris suffers from NVLD and I think the author approached this topic properly. I enjoyed her character and felt connected with her at some parts but I felt that there wasn’t huge character development. Though I have to say that she had the most amazing best friends a person could ask for and they support her amazingly. I really enjoyed the side characters in this book and their involvement in the book. They played great roles and I always enjoyed the chapter with them involved. This book has a slow burn romance but I won’t tell you the trope to spoil it.

The book ended off well and it had a cute ending. Overall this book was greatly written. I did have some problems with it but it was such a nice read. I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading contemporary ya novels.

📖 "Prom Theory" by @annlabar will be released on MARCH 30, 2021

🧬 Iris Oxtabee is like any other teenage girl... except she's not. She suffers from NVLD, much like Asperger's puts her on the spectrum. Lucky for her, she has two best friends looking out for her but with prom coming up, it's making everyone around her love crazy including her best friends which for her is unnerving and irritating to say the least. She does not adapt well to change so she sets out to prove that anything can be simple when explained hence her "Prom Theory." Love for her can be explained through basic theories and science. She sets out to prove this through a series of social experiments much to the chagrin of her best friend Seth who promises to help her by proving her wrong.

🥼 What will proving herself correct cost her? How far will she go to prove her theories?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It took me awhile to understand the ins and outs of Iris but I got there and the book really takes off once the pieces of the puzzle comes together. I promise that by the second half of the book, it's worth it.

👗 Iris' path to self discovery despite her limitations is humbling to read and her growth in this book makes you just want to give her a big hug.
ALSO she quite literally has the BEST friends anyone could ask for.

🙏🏻 Thank you to @netgalley @simonandschuster & @annlabar for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

🛍 PREORDER your copy now whereever you buy books!
🎁 RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30, 2021