Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prom Mom follows Amber Glass as she tries to leave her past behind her and start anew. In 1997, Amber gives birth in a hotel bathroom and kills the baby while her date, Joe, is spending time with his ex-girlfriend.
Twenty years later, Amber is back in Baltimore and entangled again with a now married, Joe.

This was filled with highly unlikeable characters, Amber, Joe, and even Joe's wife. All were highly unlikeable but I like that about stories as long as it's justified which I think here worked well for the story. This is a pretty pacy book which I liked.

The book wraps up nicely with a twist that I never saw coming and that was the shining star in my opinion.

I really enjoy the author's writing and have read and loved many of her backlisted books.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great, slow born, constantly changing thriller. I thought I knew what to expect and it then it changed within the last few pages!

A whole bunch of flawed characters and a pandemic. The COVID-19 plot point was my least favorite part.

This was not exactly what I expected going into it, and while I enjoyed it enough to finish it, I also didn't just love it. Well written though- I just wish had a little more mystery!

Another one of Laura Lippman’s signature slow burn thrillers. Thank you to NetGalley and the published for allowing me to read this as an ARC. I have really liked some of Lippman’s books, and some of them I felt were just OK. This one fell somewhere in the middle for me. I found it hard to believe Amber would make some of the choices she makes after all this time, and after getting her life on the right path. I will say I anticipated I wasn’t getting the full picture- and I wasn’t. I won’t say anything more. I did enjoy the ending!
3.5 stars

Prom Mom may seem a little slow to begin with, but these characters suck you in like you wouldn't believe. Amber Glass tutored Joe Simpson in high-school French. She fell hard for him and eventually got him to agree to take her to Prom. As the title suggests, Amber was actually pregnant and ended up giving birth alone in her hotel room on Prom night.
Two decades later, Amber and Joe find themselves intertwined again, but this time Joe is seemingly happily married to Meredith, a successful plastic surgeon. Despite this supposed happiness, he is cheating on her with a young real estate agent, Jordan. All 4 of these lives become tangled until inevitably a murder is planned and someone is dead. But if you think you know who or why, you will be mistaken. This book threw me for a loop that I didn't see coming!

I enjoyed both the physical and audio copies of this book. I finished it pretty quick and was completing sucked into the story. I like the glimpses of the past as we see how it helped shape who and where the characters are now.

Although it takes place in Baltimore, this felt a bit different from the other Laura Lippman I've read. It's still a great story, although a bit slower than I'm used to. Prom Mom is about a woman who gives birth at prom. Her baby is found killed in a hotel room only she had access to, and her date - the father - is judged for leaving her alone when she was clearly not filling well. The story follows them 2 decades later as they deal with the fall-out and reconnect. The characters were definitely complex and their relationship dynamics were fascinating. I didn't see the ending coming either!

Good overall. Amber is a very interesting character, her unending equanimity doesn’t get tiresome. When the worst thing in your life happens to you at age 16, everything after is pretty easy to take. The denouement is VERY rapid, and I feel like it could’ve used more than a few pages to wrap everything up.

Lippman is a genius and at the top of her game with this timely novel. She is incredible, and the depravity of her characters is delightful and shocking.

This wasn't my favorite Lippman book and I'm not really into pandemic books but the plot did keep me reading.

This book was... okay at best. I was captivated by the characters, but the storyline puttered along and ultimately stalled, going nowhere. I often times read books wanting to escape or to explore the motivations of a character entirely opposite to me. A good author will be able to exemplify and explain the motivations but I never felt like I really understood any of the main characters: the incessant draw to that which is not good for you, the desire to continue to inflict wreckage over another person's life, and returning to the scene of the crime, for lack of a better phrase.

I really wanted to like this one and had really high hopes but found it to be ultimately disappointing. On the flip side, I do think it's important to note that the book was compulsive enough that I couldn't put it down in hopes of seeing where the storyline goes. I just wanted more exhilarating thrill!

Honestly was a little disappointed. I wished it would have had better characters development. I wish there would have been more to story. It was a slow build. I liked the ending.

This was just an okay read for me. The twists and turns just didn't seem realistic or to match the characters.

Amber Glass's journey is a poignant exploration of the lengths we go to escape our mistakes and rebuild our lives. Lippman skillfully delves into Amber's complex psyche, painting a vivid picture of her struggles to shed the identity of "Prom Mom." The shame, guilt, and longing that Amber experiences are palpable, making her a relatable and empathetic protagonist.

The backdrop of Baltimore adds a layer of familiarity and authenticity to the narrative. Lippman's descriptive prose brings the city to life, imbuing it with a sense of history and a rich tapestry of emotions. As Amber navigates the city's streets, readers are transported into her world, feeling her every triumph and setback.

Laura Lippman weaves a tale of raw emotion, redemption, and the power of human connection. The narrative's rich tapestry of characters, emotions, and ethical dilemmas will resonate with readers on a profound level. Lippman's masterful storytelling, combined with her insightful exploration of the human condition, cements this book as a must-read for fans of evocative and thought-provoking fiction.

Laura Lippman's latest thriller builds off the provocative premise implied by the title. Amber Glass has lived her life defined by her worst moment, the tabloid-ready scandal of giving birth in a hotel room on the night of her prom, the baby mysteriously dying. Circumstances force Amber to return to her hometown of Baltimore, where she is pulled - or forces herself - into the orbit of her prom night date Joe, his plastic surgeon wife Meredith, and their seemingly perfect marriage. Lippman takes the set-up seriously while writing the characters with tremendous empathy; when they do selfish things, which is frequently, you understand why. Joe is a particularly sharply-drawn portrait of white male privilege, the kind of friendly guy who believes the best of himself and tries to do good while remaining willfully oblivious to his own neediness, his short-sighted decisions, and the wreckage left in their wake. The revelations come a little too thick in the book's closing pages given the expertly-paced tightening of the screws that comes before, but the final effect, augmented by Lippman's recreation of the early months of the pandemic, is potent.

Man, "Prom Mom" is a tough one to review. The story is interesting and compelling but it's a covid book, which for some people is a non-starter. I think this story will be better received when we are further removed from the pandemic. There are also a LOT of Peloton references - which as a Peloton user I liked - and I can see how that would be annoying. Not my favorite book of the year but still an entertaining read.

These twists come upon you fast. I had to read the ending twice, as every sentence counted. This was a fun book to read.
The plot will pull you right into the story and hold your attention throughout. Prom Mom is a slow-moving novel but is worth the time to reach the end.

Amber Glass was infamous for birthing and killing her baby during prom. After prison she attempted to live a normal life. Her Mother and Stepfather’s death brought her back home. After returning home she ran into Joe known then as Cad Dad. Joe lived a wonderful life unscathed by the incident, wealthy and happily married. Everything that Amber couldn’t have. Amber and Joe’s lives become intertwined again and again even higher stakes.

Laura Lippman does it again! I could not put this one down. The characters are so dynamic and the plot went places I never expected. This is the first fiction I’ve read that addresses the pandemic and realistically what it was like. It gave the plot an even more of an ominous feeling.

An out-of-the-blue twist that doesn't really land and a lot of zeitgeist-y stuff jammed in. No one wants to read about COVID or the 2016 election.

I had a bit of trouble with this one. The ending brought my rating up immensely. Such a great twist!

I just couldn't like the main characters. They all were rather self-centered. I was rooting for Amber, the Prom Mom in the title who had a baby in the hotel room bathroom at her prom and supposedly killed the newborn, until she started it up with Cad Dad, the father of the baby and just an all round douchebag. He and his wife both thought they were above everyone else. Oh but what a tangled web we weave.....

The ending will give you chills and that ended up making the whole story for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for a copy of this book for review.