Ditched: A Love Story begins at the end with Justina being pushed out of a car in a very stained prom dress. She makes her way into a convenience store where she tells her story to the cashier. We are brought to the beginning of the story and Justina explains everything that happened leading up to her stumbling into the convenience store starting with the events that led up to prom.
This was a delightfully entertaining love story. While at first I didn't like Justina I grew to love her as the book went on and her missteps and disasters were so funny. She was flawed in a very real way but was still sweet. The other characters seemed very real from her best friend to Ian and Mike and Other Mike. The book was fairly short and a very fast read which I finished in a few hours. It reminded me of an end of the year crazy teen movie about that one crazy night where everything goes wrong but ends up ok in the end.
Appropriateness: This is a book with lots of teen behavior and the teenagers act like teenagers. There is drinking by other characters however, the main character does not drink. There also seems to be a constant search for designated drivers which gives this book a nice anti-drunk driving message. There is a set of stoner characters who talk about their bong. Justina's romantic situation is in part due to the fact that she and her best friend tried to kiss as many people as possible when they were younger which gives a nice message about how your past actions will follow you. There is no sex and the romance is limited to a bit of kissing. Despite all of this I wouldn't have a problem with handing this book to even a young middle schooler because the message is ultimately a good one. Justina has to deal with the consequences of her past actions and the whole experience is related in a way that does not glorify any of the negative behaviors. I would recommend this book to teens 13+
ARC Provided by Netgalley
