Twenty years ago, Brooke’s best friend Bailey jumped to her death right after being crowned prom queen. Since her death was quickly ruled a suicide, it was never really investigated. But it never sat right with Brooke; why would Bailey jump right after what was supposed to be the best night of her life? When Brooke returns to her home town to wrap up some loose ends, she sees Bailey everywhere and can’t help but remember their last year together. It doesn’t help that true crime podcaster Hannah Mead is in town now, researching Bailey’s death. When Brooke start receiving threatening notes, she wonders more than ever if a killer is living in her town.

I first read one of Laura Wolfe’s books earlier this year and was blown away by how good it was! So when I heard she had a new book coming out, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Told in dual timelines, Brooke recounts her past friendship with Bailey as the mystery surrounding her death unfolds in the present. I thought the author did a fabulous job portraying the complex friendships high school aged girls could have. My heart went out to several of the girls, and, without giving any spoilers, it’s not hard to see things happened the way they did. Though this was very character-driven, it also contained several jaw-dropping twists, which I loved!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC! “Prom Queen” released October 4, 2023! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly!

The Prom Queen was wild and I loved it! I loved how well this book was written as well as the story itself. I was hooked from start to finish and the ending was amazing as well!

In 2003, Bailey Maddox apparently committed suicide by jumping out of the bridge. The police ruled her death as suicide but some of the towns people believed that she was murdered. At the time of the murder, Bailey was made the prom queen. Now present day, Bailey's former friend Brooke returns back to the small town. A woman named Hannah is doing a podcast on about Bailey's death and Brooke found Hannah wearing Bailey's necklace--the necklace that Brooke had given to Bailey twenty years ago. And Hannah wanted to do an interview with Brooke--what are the secrets Brooke is having about Bailey's death? Was Bailey murdered or...committed suicide like the police think?

This was a nail biting thriller--and it was quiet unputdownable. It was also a page turner and there were twists and turns along the way. The story divides between the past and present--the past oulining the friendship between Bailey and Brooke and their friendship downfall and present with Brooke working with Hannah on the podcast. I like the fact that everyone, including the main character Brooke is a suspect of Bailey's murder so we never know who the murderer is until towards the end of the chapter. The ending was unexpected and I do like the little cliffhanger towards the end, making the reader guess about what is going to happen next.

Think about the movie " Prom Night" when reading this book--a kind of horror/thriller/slasher movier. This book completely worth five stars in my opinion.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

3.5 stars

I'm not someone who usually reads a lot of mystery/thriller. It's a genre that's always been disappointing and I lowkey have given up on it. And then I stumbled upon Prom Queen . From the premise itself, I knew this would be a pretty interesting read. To be honest, I was expecting the pacing to be quite slow but it was much faster than I expected. It was action-packed and full of intense scenes, to keep you on your toes. Trust me, I didn't put this book down because I wanted to keep on reading. I had a few guesses on who the suspect could be, but in the end, the person I had guessed, turned out to be wrong (but not exactly....spoilers!!).

While I am not someone who reads this genre, for those who are a fan of mystery thrillers, Prom Queen is a pretty enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of Prom Queen in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. What a mind bending read. There were so many things I loved about this book.

1. I loved our main character and narrator Brooke. She was incredibly relatable and hard not to like. She was the quirky, artsy, non-popular, girl-next-door that you may have been friends with or may have been yourself.

2. This was one book where a jumping timeline between past and present really worked wonders for the plot and kept me guessing over who had "murdered" (maybe? or was it really a suicide?) her ex-best friend from high school. You find out so much that happened by the older timeline, while current Brooke works to figure out a. if her friend was murdered in the first place, b. if she was, then who did it, and c. who is leaving her these creepy threatening notes. Along with worrying the a podcaster that came to town might blow up her life.

3. The podcaster section of the story. This is something I've seen in A LOT of books lately (and have gotten a little bored by), but Wolfe managed to make it both a central, yet more so supporting part of the mystery. It wasn't what the story was about, which was refreshing, and just added another investigative piece to the puzzle.

4. THE TWISTS. Can we talk about how this was a thriller in which I never saw the ending coming. There of course were hints along the way, and maybe some of you readers will see them more clearly than me....but I never predicted the ending at all. In fact, I had a thousand other ideas of who might have been the murderer. Never guessed it....and I like to think that as an English teacher, I have a knack for picking up on foreshadowing. Not this time.

10/10 this was a seriously fast read. I started it yesterday and managed to finish within 24 hours. I could not put it down, and could not stop wondering what happened. Highly recommend.

My first Laura Wolfe book and definitely not my last. I devoured this book!! I *love* books that have a podcaster trying to solve old crimes and this one did not disappoint. And I also love books that keep you guessing the whole time. I changed my mind so many times. And the ending! A complete page turner and I highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy.

High school prom queen dies the night of prom. Did she jump or was she pushed? 20 years later small town secrets start coming to light thanks to a true crime podcaster that comes and stirs things up.

Wait wait wait wait.... what?! That ending was EVERYTHING! Just when you think you have your answers, BOOM! Something new comes to play. The time line jumps also really brought everything together for me. Apparently you really don't want to peak in high school.... yikes. This book was so well done and I enjoyed the carrie-esk story.

I absolutely loved Prom Queen. I loved all the twists and turns, I enjoyed all the characters and was rather shocked by the highly satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley and everyone involved in allowing me early access. All opinions are my own.

“Prom Queen” is a captivating thriller about prom queen Bailey Maddox who allegedly kills herself after being coronated prom queen. 20 years later, a podcaster comes to the small village of Cove Haven to question whether Bailey killed herself or was murdered.

The starting is very captivating, we get right away into the story and the short chapters, as well as the dual timeline keep the reader interested from early on. I enjoyed this thriller, and would recommend to everyone who is looking for a fast pace and addictive book. It has some plot twists and an ending that I was very far from imagining. The only downside, for me, was the lack of multiple point of views, which lead me to think some characters were less developed than others. Additionally, the multiple POVs would increase the suspense, as some chapters in the middle don’t give this vibe and could have ended up with bigger cliffhangers. Other than that, I enjoyed this book and for sure want to know more of Laura’s books.

This review will also be available on my Goodreads profile and, later on, on my instagram account (@cat.literary.world)

This is a good and well written thriller told over a dual timeline.

Best friends Brooke and Bailey have been bffs since forever. At the end of high school Bailey finds cheerleading and cool friends and moves away from her childhood friend. Drink, parties and secrets lead to the death of one of the friends.

Years later the death of one of the friends after their prom is revisited by a podcaster. Many of the original characters are still or back in town. Who has so auto hide?

Well written and a good sense of threat and terror. Well worth a read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Prom Queen written by Laura Wolfe was a find on NetGalley last month. A suspenseful YA/NA novel that promised lots of intriguing fun. It's the first book I've read by the author, and I enjoyed it enough that I'll give more a chance. I was glad it didn't focus on too much drama at the prom, rather the events leading up to the big dance and then a murder, but little focus on the specific events at the prom. In a way, this helped generate solid mystery and kept it more as a New Adult novel, given much of the plot takes place a decade plus later.

Podcasters are all the rage right now, and I'm a fan of Only Murders in The Building, so this lent itself well to current tropes. Writing was good. Character development felt natural. I missed a bit of balance between attitude and empathy, mostly feeling like there weren't any black or white characters (in terms of shades personalities, not skin color)... everyone was sorta normal except one person who wasn't - but that was the killer, whose identity we didn't know and kinda surprised me. A fun read for a rainy afternoon.

Prom Queen is a fun coming of age thriller that had strong true crime vibes with characters that all wear the trauma of the past on their sleeves. The teenage years impact us in ways that we fail to see at the time. Parental marriage breakdowns, friendships drifting apart and life experiences being just a few that alter our personalities from our formative years and beyond. Prom Queen does a good job of breaking that down and examining how lives can take a drastic turn no matter is you want them to or not.

Brooke was never going to be part of the popular crowd, but she didn’t care, she had her best friend, Bailey, and their group of misfits. That was until Bailey got into the cheerleading squad and literally dumped Brooke like a hot potato. She still wore her friendship necklace, but she was pretty much checked out from the relationship despite wearing the matching piece of jewellery.

I know that teenagers are extremely fickle beings. They fall out more times than I have hot dinners. It only takes an unkind word or a perceived slight to set them off. Believe me I own one of them! But I found the actions of Brooke sickening. I got quite angry reading the scenes were she would basically use her friend for nothing more than amusement got me wild. If I’m being honest there weren’t really any of the characters that were particularly likeable.

This wasn’t my favourite read if I’m honest. I’m such a character orientated reader and I like them to have strong backstories and I just felt as though that it was all plot and not much character. They lacked substance and grit. We knew really from the outset of how the night of Bailey’s death panned out and there weren’t many secrets to be unveiled. It took the mystery out of the mystery novel.

The podcaster element has been done before and I didn’t feel that it really brought anything new to the table The story was okay, but it didn’t stand out as anything special in a genre that has almost seen it all. I need to be shocked, and Prom Queen just wasn’t able to do that for me.

Title: Prom Queen
Author: Laura Wolfe
Pub Date: 09 Oct 2023
Rating: 3.5/5

I just want to start off by saying how much I enjoy books that introduce the mystery on the first page. I think it was clever to pique the readers' interest in where it might go.

Prom Queen centers on Brooke, who has returned to her high school hometown because she needs to sell her deceased mother's house. Twenty years ago, on the eve of their prom, Bailey, her best friend from high school, died, and the cause of death was determined to be suicide. However, a podcaster named Hannah has arrived in town to look into the matter once more and determine whether it was truly a suicide.

It took me a few chapters to get used to the dual timeline, but I believe that the plot works incredibly well because of how the past and present are happening at the same time.

My only complaint is that the true crime podcast cliché in thrillers is starting to grow old on me. It's probably the third book this year that I've read that revolves on a podcast, but I kept reading this one because I was curious about what happened to Bailey.

To anyone who like a good mystery, I highly recommend this book. The epilogue's twist was just incredible.

Thank you to Laura Wolfe, NetGalley, and Bookouture for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Prom Queen, whodunit, high school murder or suicide mystery full of suspense with a duel timeline ....what more can one ask for!

This book is full of misdirection and plot twists. The I Know What You Did Last Summer/Carrie/Mean Girls vibes had me not wanting to put this down. And the ending....shook

Thank you NeGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Just wow! When I thought that I had the ending all figured out, this author goes and pulls the rug out from underneath me! Such a chilling and thrilling read. highly recommend and can not wait to see where this story goes.

Twenty years ago, Bailey died. It’s twenty years later and Brooke, Bailey’s best friend, is back in the small town where it happened. The townspeople think she is involved, but when strange things happen, Brooke must find who really committed the crime.

A novel filled with red herrings and plot twists, to keep us guessing. I found my heart pounding at certain scenes, intrigued at what was going to happen next. This was a super fast-paced thriller and I couldn’t put it down.

A fantastic read I would highly recommend.

What a fab, fast paced thriller!
I read this in 2 days because I just couldn't put it down.

There's so many twists that I really doubt you will be able to suss out the ending before it happens!

Definitely recommend reading if you like edge of your seat thrillers

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

How can one not not be interested in this book after reading the cover. I mean come on! This is a high suspense mysterical novel with a twist to whodunit. I love the writing style and it was the perfect book to read when i was feeling overwhelmed cause i flew through it.
4/5

@lwolfe.writes has written a fantastic psychological thriller that will leave you guessing and completely in shock with the ending of Prom Queen! A podcaster comes to town to investigate whether the suicide of the 2003 Cove Haven Prom Queen was just that or whether she was murdered. The podcast investigation brings to light secrets that townsfolk would rather have left in the dark. This story is told in dual timelines and will leave you guessing until the very last page. I highly recommend reading this one!

Thank you @bookouture and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

(This review was also shared on the Barnes & Noble website)

Wolfe is a favorite of mine. I’ve read many of her previous titles and with each book she keeps me more intrigued than the last one.
Prom Queen by Laura Wolfe is a story that is fantastically written with vivid descriptions.
She has written a thriller full of twists and turns that hit you when you are least prepared for it.
This is the perfect read if you looking for something that is really intense to capture your attention from the very start. The characters are so interesting and devious.
Overall, the book is fast-paced, suspenseful, and fun to read.
A thrilling and twisty ride, I found this book to be very entertaining and I really enjoyed the ending.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!