Thank you William Morrow for the review copy of Prom Mom; I also received a physical copy from the publisher via Bibliolifestyle book tours (the cover is truly amazing).

Prom Mom is a slow burn examination of how you can try to be done with the past but the past indeed isn't done with you. Amber, the Prom Mom, had a lot taken away from her after a prom night tragedy but has made a life for herself... but it's a pathway setting herself up to be back in her prom date's path. Joe, less impacted by the tragedy, leads a privileged life but one that's about the shatter. Is Amber back to help him... because he might be about to make a big ask.

I am a fan of Laura Lippman and enjoyed this examination of fairly toxic people who are on a kind of collision path, whether they know it or not, and this is the kind of book you can read to see how it all comes together (and read quickly at less than 300 pages, which really works for a satisfying slow burn as the plot doesn't lose focus). There are some twists and turns but it's the end that brings it all together.

My one note is that, as much as I liked the character driven story, I really found I wanted the end and how it came together to be more developed, almost making that the starting point or midpoint of the story so I got more time to savor the way the plot unfolded.

Recommended for fans of the author and readers who like a slow burn kind of revenge plot.

Ummmm….huh?! I like a good page-turning, slow-burn, mysterious thriller as much as the next person - however - this was a miss for me. It tried to do to much. None of the characters were relatable or likable or even remotely people I would hold sympathy or compassion for. The story was silly at times - stretching my willingness to believe what was happening to the point that I couldn’t do it.

Reading Laura Lippman’s new psychological thriller Prom Mom was like rubber-necking a car collision on the freeway, slowing down while driving by to peer at the smoke, fire, and ambulance, and wondering if the drivers survived. That is to say the experience of reading Prom Mom was intense, gripping, and made me feel slightly queasy even as I refused to put the book down.

I knew I was in for a pulpy car-crash of a novel based on the book’s premise—Amber secretly gives birth in a hotel room on the night of her high school prom and the infant doesn’t survive; two decades later, the paths of “Prom Mom” and “Cad Dad” cross again when Amber finally returns to her hometown. This set up was intrinsically fascinating and horrifying to me. And these feelings were compounded by the fact that the second half of this novel transpires during Trump’s election and the pandemic. Plus, the book’s cast includes more than one psychopath!

While I wouldn’t describe Prom Mom as a “feel-good” read, it was a well-written and deftly-plotted page turner, full of interesting observation about human behavior and social norms (especially with regard to parenthood). I literally could not put this book down and was rewarded with some major WTF twists at the end. Definitely recommend if you are looking for a psychological thriller!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC! Prom Mom is out now.

The premise for this book was different than anything I had read, and so I
was pretty excited to read it. I went in expecting a thriller, but it was a very slow read and I felt nothing happened the entire book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. There is a bit of a “twist” in the last few pages, but I saw it coming. And with that said, I’m not sure I really understood the ending. This one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for a chance to read this book early!

TL;DR: I mean…if the title hasn’t already sold you, maybe my glowing review of the latest from Laura Lippman will. Because I really loved #PromMom, the story of a woman who returns to the town to reclaim her identity and confront the prom date from her youth who destroyed her life. It’s part STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, part NORMAL PEOPLE, and if you’ve read Lippman before, you know exactly what you’re goin to get: morally grey characters, razor-sharp writing, slow-burn drama, and in the case of Prom Mom, an ending that will break your neck from “twistlash” (my new term for twist whiplash, and in this instance I found myself clamoring to reread this one from the beginning).

This was such a complex plot and the writing was perfection but I wish it had a faster pace. The cast was effective and great I just felt like it was slow in some places that distracted from the story.

This book was wild!! It’s dark and will leave you speechless. I could never figure out just where this story is was headed and it definitely kept me on my toes.

This one is going to sit with me for a while. I’m sitting here trying to digest the many layers this book has that help to breathe life into the plot and the characters. The dangers of not teaching young women about their bodies and how to listen to them. The injustices of the juvenile detention system. The myriad ways in which white, cisgender males of any age can get away with nearly anything with just a wink and a smile and after all this time women still fall on their knees to please them. How women and couples have to constantly justify their decision to remain childless time and again. The ways in which we sometimes don’t know the people we love and trust the most until we’re forced into spending all of our time with them. The ways in which some people can be changed by time and others can’t. The ways in which some people just can’t stop: they need to be stopped.

You have to be ready for the pacing in this book because it moves fast. Not only does it switch between May of 1997 and the “present day” of the book (which is between September 2019 and May 2021), but in the present day events of the book the POV switches between the three main characters: Amber (the titular “Prom Mom”), Joe (the boy who took her to prom who is now a commercial real-estate salesman and married to a plastic surgeon named Meredith), and Meredith (said plastic surgeon). Not only that, but page time isn’t wasted by easing in and out of POV transitions; Lippman simply drops in and out of each character with a solid paragraph shift. The shift is always defined enough that you definitely know which character you’re with, but I love that no time is wasted with trying to make the shift more gentle for the reader, because this book isn’t gentle in any way at all. This book is jarring. The reading experience matches.

Part of the appeal of this book is that it takes place over COVID quarantine and into the 2020 presidential election. This forces the characters in these books to ask ethical, moral, political, and cultural questions both of themselves and others and to come clean about how they feel about certain issues. It shows the definite divides between the three main characters and what their priorities are in life. It makes all of them more interesting and multifaceted while forcing them into tighter and tighter corners as the plot progresses.

It’s a brilliant book that had me ravenously turning pages from start to finish.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Crime Thriller/Literary Fiction/Murder Thriller/Psychological Fiction/Psychological Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller/Women’s Fiction

"Prom Mom" by Laura Lippman is a riveting and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of motherhood, societal judgment, and the quest for truth. Inspired by a true event, the story follows a woman who becomes known as "Prom Mom" after giving birth at her high school prom and leaving her baby in a trash can.

Laura Lippman's novel is an emotionally charged and introspective read that will resonate with readers who appreciate stories that tackle real-life dilemmas with sensitivity and nuance. "Prom Mom" is a thought-provoking and poignant tale that prompts us to question our assumptions and consider the deeper implications of our actions. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a compelling and empathetic exploration of the human condition.

Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow and Goodreads Giveaway for gifting me both a digital and physical ARC of the latest thriller by Laura Lippman - 5 stars! I'm a huge fan of Lippman's books but I think this is my favorite so far - definitely a must read!

In 1997, Amber convinced Joe to take her to the prom. Joe was popular and a year ahead of Amber in school, who was smart but not popular. Joe's mom hired Amber to tutor him in French and they began a secret relationship. Prom night ends horribly, with Amber accused of killing her newborn baby in a hotel room, where Joe never bothered to check in on her, instead going off with another girl. In 1999, Amber has reinvented herself in New Orleans, and is successful in curating art exhibits. Circumstances bring her back to her hometown of Baltimore, and she decides to open a gallery there. But Joe and Amber can't stay away from each other, even though Joe is happily married.

I loved this book and the slow burn, character-building tension that leads up to the ending you won't see coming. The characters are realistic, deep, and exhibit many different sides, showing that not everything or everyone is black and white. This book also incorporates Covid perfectly as a plot theme, putting the characters into the social and financial issues of that time while treading lightly over the deaths and political issues, showing both the similarities and differences of how people experienced that time. A must read!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for this arc. This was my first read by Laura and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. The flow of the story was very slow and I’m not a fan of covid mentioned in books or being the main focus of a book.

**4.5 stars**

Prom Mom is both a slow burn and a page-turner (I know, crazy). The characters immediately draw you in — they're all flawed but interesting in their own ways.

The back story starts on prom night in 1997, when 16-year-old Amber gives birth by herself in the hotel room she shares with her date, Joe, and wakes up covered in blood next to a dead baby.

Skip ahead to 2019, and Amber is back in Baltimore and opening an art gallery. She runs into Joe, and they become involved in each other's lives again. The story is told via Amber, Joe and Joe's wife, Meredith.

There are overarching themes of redemption vs. what it means to be a "good" person — when clearly there isn't much REAL desire for anyone to be particularly good.

The settings of Baltimore and New Orleans are vivid and well-drawn, and the subtle nuances of going through the various stages of the COVID pandemic are spot-on. In particular, I loved how the author organically made financial tables turn for Amber and Joe via pandemic happenstance. (Demand for Amber's art goes up; demand for Joe's commercial real estate goes down — leading to the sinister and satisfying "twist" of the book.)

Deducted half a star only because the twist and subsequent ending were so abrupt.

Amber Glass is known as “Prom Mom” - the label given her when she attends the prom with Joe Simpson, the boy she has been tutoring. They have a hotel room where Amber retreats when she sees Joe pursuing the girl that had tossed him aside months earlier. Early the next morning, Amber has given birth to a baby which no one knew was coming, and the baby is dead. Fast forward to 2020 - Joe is now a successful real estate businessman and has a supposedly wonderful marriage to Meredith, a plastic surgeon. Amber moves from New Orleans to Baltimore (a coincidence now that Joe lives there?) and reconnects with Joe. But all is clearly not as it seems. And the ending of the book will come as a complete surprise.

Lots of things were wrong with this book. I slogged through a story that seemed to be going nowhere. The story bounced back and forth in time between the incident 20 years earlier and 2020/2021 somewhat randomly. The ending came out of the blue - and quickly. I certainly did not enjoy reliving the pandemic or the political undertones. I have read a few other books by this author - I rated the first couple very highly, then a little lower, and finally a “did not finish.” I managed to finish this one but cannot find a lot to say positively about it. I appreciate the ARC from Wm. Morrow and NetGalley.

I had my reservations about reading this and unfortunately, I was right to have those. I felt this book was very slow and boring up until the end. About halfway through, I still didn't know what the goal of this book was, what we were working towards in the plot, or really which character was which. The two female leads seemed super similar to me and I kept getting them confused. I thought there may have been some interesting conversations about COVID, but unfortunately this fell flat too. We all lived through COVID, we all heard the politics, I didn't really need to re-live it again in this novel. The last 5% of the book was my favorite part. There were a few good twists, but I would have liked to see those throughout the novel. I think some more focus on plot and character development could have greatly improved this book.

Amber Glass is the antihero main character in this slow burning modern noir tale.

This is the kind of book you savor because of the nuanced writing. Lippman slowly unfolds the story, intertwining past and present. But the slow burn doesn’t mean it’s slow paced. This will hook you because you’ll want to see where this twisted story goes.

The story keeps you guessing about who is the real villain. Is it love struck teenage Amber who kept her pregnancy secret and caused the infant to die? Is it golden boy Joe, Amber’s prom date and father of her child, who abandoned Amber at prom? Is it a grown Amber scheming to insert herself back into Joe’s picture perfect life and marriage? Is it Joe who thinks he’s a good guy even though he occasionally steps out on his wife?

Lippman is a master of this type of domestic noir. She explores the questions of how well do we really know the people we love and just how far will seemingly ordinary people go to get what they want.

This is a great beach or pool read to finish out the summer. It’s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book for me and will be in my top ten favorites for the year. Prom Mom is out today and it won’t disappoint.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I hated the characters, but also loved them. I did not trust any of them, I did not want to be their friends, but I was very invested in the games that they were playing. The book alternates between 3 characters, and I think that Lippman did so flawlessly. I was never confused and enjoyed the different perspectives, even though I did not like what was going on in most of their heads. Were the characters or their lives realistic, not at all. But I still found myself escaping reality and looking forward to reading this. It was a quick read and a slow burn - something I don't always enjoy, but it worked for me this time.

thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy

This book was a little strange for me. I am not even sure I really enjoyed it that much. There were parts (toward the end) that were very readable and engaging, but there were also parts that truly bombed for me. This is set during COVID, and I am not sure I want to read a book involving the pandemic. Plus, there was a lot of real estate talk and too preachy on politics, at times.

May 1997 - the beginning was interesting. Prom night for Amber Glass wasn't what she had hoped. Neither was her date, Joe Simpson. Prom Mom and Cad Dad?

Fast forward to present day, 2019, Amber has returned to her hometown and runs into Joe. Joe is married to Meredith, but that doesn't stop him from having affairs with other women- Amber included. None of the characters are likable, so I really didn't care who was deceiving who.

This is a slow build of a story that you don't really get fulfillment until the last 10% or so. There aren't too many twists until the end, with one major surprise.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Amber Glass has tried to forget her past, but when her stepfather passes away and she has to return to Baltimore to deal with his estate, she is forced to confront her past as "Prom Mom" - the girl who allegedly delivered and killed her baby in the hotel bathroom on prom night.

We meet Amber at the beginning of the book - on prom night which is hazy. The police show up to her house the next day saying they have reason the believe she delivered and killed her own baby the night before. What a great hook! Flash forward many years and she's back in Baltimore and confronted with her prom date "Cad Dad".
Amber & Joe are confronted with feelings from the past. A covid timeline added interest to this piece with quarantines in place. The cast of characters is small but mighty. I really enjoyed this one. It hooked me from the start and I devoured it!

Prom Mom was an un-putdownable novel for me. From the very beginning I had a strong idea of what the plot would unfold to be, and overall was right; however, the middle of the novel took me by complete surprise. Setting a novel in the peak events of 2020 and 2021 had be on the edge of my seat, curious as to how these characters would respond to the 2020 election, the pandemic, and the January 6.

The combination had me rooting for all the women in the novel much more than the men. A fun drama full of unlikeable and complex characters. Definitely will be recommending to friends!

Bestselling author Laura Lippman (favorite) returns following Seasonal Work: Stories, Sunburn, Lady in the Lake, and Dream Girl, with her latest slow-burn psychological thriller sizzler, PROM MOM —a chilling, dangerous twisty game of cat-and-mouse, and a web of secrets and lies collide, with a jaw-dropping final twist!

Top Thrillers of 2023!

Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life trying to escape her past. In her hometown of Baltimore, MD, Amber was known as the "Prom Mom" who allegedly killed her baby the night of the prom (1997). However, she blacked out and did not know what had happened. At the hotel, she changed clothes and walked home. Joe never showed up at the hotel to change clothes (or so he says). The premature baby was found dead.

Her date, Joe Simpson, left her to dance with his ex-girlfriend. Amber gets the key to the hotel from him as she has stomach cramps and returns to the hotel they had reserved for the night's events. Joe was dubbed "Cad Dad" and claimed to be innocent.

(2020) Now, twenty-some years later, Amber's stepdad, Ron, dies, and she inherits his house and estate, which is quite large for Amber. She must return to Baltimore to sort out all the details.

(1997) Amber was once a math tutor for Joe (he was suspended from the lacrosse team), the hunky athlete at the high school. He was bummed when his girlfriend broke up with him. Amber and Joe do more than homework, and she becomes pregnant. Her parents nor Joe knows about the pregnancy. They have a deal he will attend prom with Amber.

Things do not go as planned, and before the night is over, Amber has a baby, is charged with manslaughter, and serves time in prison. She was a victim used by a careless boy who wanted only sex and then left to deal with the consequences on her own; her life was destroyed, and his barely disrupted.

Afterward, she attains her education in Florida. She resides in New Orleans and works for Upperline and Miss Margaret at a gallery where she runs an Etsy online store for artists (outsider art and artists from prison). When she returns to Baltimore to prepare Ron's house for sale (her mom died years ago), she sees a commercial real estate space and thinks could she move back and open a gallery here? Is she crazy?

Joe is now a successful commercial real estate developer married to a prominent plastic surgeon, Meredith. They own a huge mansion, but due to the pandemic, his business is failing, and a giant balloon note is coming due on the house. He is desperate and once again turns to Amber to help out. There is also more to Meredith than you know. Will Amber fall for Joe's tricks again?

To further complicate things, Joe is having an affair with a younger Jordan, a real estate agent. Jordan is putting on the pressure.

Amber and Joe reconnect. She opens Amber Glass Gallery. Amber is more sophisticated than in high school (and more calculating). Joe is on the verge of losing his wife, house, and reputation. What comes next is mind-blowing!

From Part I BEFORE: 1997-2020, to Part II AFTER 2020-2021 with a final 1997. Told from Joe, Meredith, and Amber's POV, the three will collide for an explosive ending where nothing is as it appears, and everyone has their respective agenda. Mix in Jordan, a dangerous scheme, a murder, and secrets from the past are unraveled —EXPLOSIVE.

UNPUTDOWNABLE —I read in two sittings. I could not wait to see how this one played out. My nerves were shot. as nothing is as it appears. After a book like this—no sleep. Your mind will be racing. You have no idea where the author is taking you but hang on the wild ride. Totally unexpected!

I LOVED Amber. Joe, Meredith, and Jordan are the bad guys. You will question every character, and your loyalties may change throughout the book. There is blackmail, scheming, secrets, lies, seduction, betrayal, greed, and murder.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A SCORNED WOMAN.

Trust me, when you get to 89% (more than one twist) through the END, all the questions will be answered, taking you to the ultimate wickedly satisfying, delicious conclusion. Thank goodness— I was worried there for a while.

In addition, the author sprinkles in the COVID-19 pandemic, masks, vaccines, politics, literary references, class, privilege, and social commentary, among other topics from these periods.

The most intelligent, clever, gripping, twisty, sinister, character-driven, and creative prom crime story you will read! It is jaw-dropping and brilliant. You will be shocked and delighted! Readers, be patient while reading because you will be shaking your head—it is worth the wait! Get this knockout cat-and-mouse psychological thriller on your TBR list now.

As always, Laura is at the TOP OF HER GAME. A huge fan, and this is one of my favorites!

PS. You may have seen the movie Prom Mom and the true-crime story of Prom Mom, Melissa Drexler, in New Jersey; however, Lippman's Prom Mom is so much better! If you love well-written, character-driven intelligent thrillers with a twist, PROM MOM is for you—Lippman fans will devour!

Special thanks to #WilliamMorrow and #NetGalley for a digital advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: July 25, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars ++
July 2023 Must-Read Books