PROM THEORY is a standalone YA romance by Ann LaBar. For me, PROM THEORY is like a contemporary reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic novel EMMA but with teenagers. Unlike Emma Woodehouse, Iris “Bee” Oxtabee isn’t obsessed with matchmaking but, instead, trying to understand and figure out some patterns to attraction and mating. However, like Emma, Iris doesn’t mean any harm but winds up meddling in people’s personal lives and misreads her guy BFF. Also, like Emma, I think Iris’ behavior warrants some of the harsh reception she sometimes receives. Iris sets out to prove her theory, through some disastrous and some spot-on experiments, that romance and love can be explained and manipulated by biochemical factors. Her experiments are sometimes goofy and sometimes harrowing with often surprising and mixed results.

I love YA romance, and especially the “friendship-turned-romance” trope, so I was immediately intrigued by PROM THEORY. The EMMA parallels are a bonus. PROM THEORY is told strictly from Iris’ perspective, so you are left to guess at the motivations and true feelings of the other characters. Even without getting a window into his thoughts, it is obvious to everyone, except the socially awkward and anxious Iris, that Squeak has a huge and longstanding crush on her. Like Emma’s friend, neighbor, and brother-in-law Mr. Knightley in EMMA, Squeak seems alternately amused and frustrated by Iris, even though he obviously adores her personality quirks. Sometimes I think it’s unfair of Squeak to vent his frustration at Iris, when a big chunk of that frustration is his inability to tell Iris how he truly feels about her. All the main characters in PROM THEORY are compelling, but Ann LaBar makes them realistically immature and fitting their ages. Iris decides to experiment on popular high school jock Theo Grant in order to prove her theory. This proves complicated for many reasons – chiefly that Theo proves to be kind of a jerk and it also supremely disgruntled Squeak.  Through all the highs and lows of high school life, Iris’ friend Esther is not as neurotic and a refuge for Iris.  Esther is amused by Iris as I was and helps ground her while also acting in the crucial role of someone to listen and reserve judgement.

PROM THEORY has a brainy heroine who stumbles into a disaster of her own making but learns a lot about life along the way. Esther’s teasing, and the fun back-and-forth between her and her boyfriend Darren, add a little sweetness and levity to break up the drama. After everything, I still think some people were a little too hard on Iris, but I appreciated the flawed yet complex characters. I look forward to reading more YA romance by Ann LaBar.