Pretty in Punxsutawney by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Blink 

Released: 15th of January 2019 

A Groundhog Day meets Pretty in Pink mashup from author Laurie Boyle Crompton, Pretty in Punxsutawney tells the tale of a girl willing to look beneath the surface to see people for who they really are.

Andie is the type of girl who always comes up with the perfect thing to say…after it’s too late to say it. She’s addicted to romance movies—okay, all movies—but has yet to experience her first kiss. After a move to Punxsutawney, PA, for her senior year, she gets caught in an endless loop of her first day at her new school, reliving those 24 hours again and again.

Convinced the curse will be broken when she meets her true love, Andie embarks on a mission: infiltrating the various cliques to find the one boy who can break the spell. What she discovers along the way is that people who seem completely different can often share the very same hopes, dreams, and hang-ups. And that even a day that has been lived over and over can be filled with unexpected connections and plenty of happy endings.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual harrassment,

What I Have to Say 

I've always been a sucker for a good time loop story. Groundhog Day has been one of my favourite movies for a really long time. So seeing a YA version of it? Obviously this was a book I had to read. 

While I feel like maybe the format didn't work quite as well in book format, I still really liked it. Andie was a great character and it was really interesting to see her navigating through the various cliques of the school, finding out what was behind the stereotypical exterior. I loved how she used her time to get to know everyone and how hard she worked to fit in with each group. She showed so much empathy and compassion, even on her first day, sympathising with a girl who had only been a bitch to her. 

I also loved all the references to movies. Andie's movie obsession and the way she could understand the time loop because she knew the Groundhog Day movie. Though I have wondered before whether movies like Pretty in Pink and the Breakfast Club are that relevant for teens today, I think that any teen who likes eighties movies will have fun seeing Andie geek out about these movies.

This book was gifted to me by the Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.