About the Book
-
Author:
- Richard Peck
- Genre:
- Paranormal
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
BFF Charm: Nay (At Least Not Yet)
Talky Talk: Christopher Pike
Bonus Factors: Ghosts, New York City
Relationship Status: The Book I Was in Love With in 10th Grade
The Deal:
Kerry Williams feels like she has waited her ‘whole life ‘for high school, but of course now that it’s here, it’s terrifying. She slips in and out of her classes, always on the fringe, friendless and alone. So what happens when three of the most popular girls in school take her under their wing? Well, for Kerry, it feels like her life has just begun, but the more she follows these girls blindly into any situation, the more Kerry begins to question their motives, and her own. Just how far will she go?
BFF Charm: Nay (At Least Not Yet)
I have to be frank, here. I did NOT like Kerry through about, ahem, seven-eighths of the book. She was a young 15, sweet and very, very lost. Her inner monologue was full of melancholy precociousness, that I appreciated at first, (and thought could grow into a wise and wonderful amount of irreverent snarkiness in a few years) but that soon felt too self-pitying for this old. But the thing that gave me the most trouble with her was the fact that she believed- inside herself- that she was nothing without her three friends.
Now you might be thinking, ‘melancholy, self-pitying, no self-confidence- check, check and check! That’s the recipe for a realistic Sophomore, and it is! Peck made Kerry VERY realistic, in the saddest, most annoying way. So apart from the few moments of wanting to invite her to sit at my table so I could feed her some pep talks about humanity and feminism and self-confidence, I, for the most part, just wanted to look away… and check back in with her in a few years.
Swoonworthy Scale: 1
Spence Myers is clearly the hotty in this book. He’s hard-working, nice, and the editor of the school paper, so I crushed on him for the whole 5, maybe 6 pages he was given. There are a few nice moments that led me to believe there might be more between Spence and Kerry after the book ends, but we as readers were not treated to a viewing.
Talky Talk: Christopher Pike
I don’t mean any disrespect to Richard Peck, author of a gazillion books, by comparing him to Christopher Pike. But this is the first Richard Peck book I’ve ever read, and when I was 14, I read pretty much ALL of Pike’s works. This book has the same creepy vibe, the same ridiculous plot, and the same kind of focus on the friends who are your best friends who really aren’t your friends at all.
Bonus Factor: Ghosts
Why do I love ghosts so much? Especially malevolent ones? I guess because in my mind, ghosts represent fear itself. They only have the power you give them. (Knock on wood.)
Bonus Factor: New York City
And who doesn’t love dear old NYC? Because I’ll go anytime I can, and if I had a rich old aunt who kept an apartment in Manhattan, and said apartment happened to be stocked with vintage designer clothes and shizz-loads of makeup? Well, aunty dear, I think you’d have yourself a squatter.
Relationship Status: The Book I Was in Love With in 10th Grade
Seriously, when we were Sophomores, this book was the COOLEST cat in school. But it moved out of state just when the sparks were starting to fly between us, so I’ve always carried a little torch for it. Imagine my surprise when we run into each other 20 years later, and begin to reconnect. Only thing is, the book hasn’t changed much, and although the parachute pants and mini-mullet were SO cool back in the day, I found myself kind of embarrassed to be seen in public with the book now. So while I enjoyed our stroll down memory lane, and it will always have a special place in my heart, I’ve been given the answer of ‘what might have been’, and it’s a paunch and a bald-spot still trying to act 16.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received my review copy from Penguin. I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Three Quarters Dead is now available.
