Rating: 2 stars

Kerry Williamson is a high school sophomore loaner who gets invited into the inner circle of three popular and snarky girls. Tanya is the leader; Mackenzie and Natalie her faithful followers. Kerry finds all three to be beautiful and is pathetically honored by their attention.

Although Tanya gives Kerry the impression that she’s helping her be a better person, it’s quickly evident to everyone—except Kerry—that she’s being belittled and used at every turn. Kerry is unable to see Tanya’s self-serving and manipulative ways, even when she's sent into the home of a fellow student to carry out a personal vendetta and then is coldly ditch by the trio when she's caught. Despite the obvious, the only message Kerry derives from the girls’ callousness is that she’ll be back to eating lunch alone. However, the next day the girls act like they've done nothing wrong and Kerry is thrilled to be welcomed at their table.

When Tanya and her two minions die in a car accident, Kerry is once again on her own—at least until Tanya sends her a text to meet them at her aunts NYC apartment.

My first experience with Richard Peck was an interesting one. On the one hand, the writing was fine, but the voice felt a little strange for a female targeted YA. As I was reading, I found myself marveling at how there were so many words, but absolutely nothing was happening. There was no action or build up to a climatic event; everything was just sort of dumped on the page—even the car accident that killed three of the main characters was practically mentioned in passing. Peck's attempts at shocking moments or statements were as impactful as a deflated balloon.

Three Quarters Dead read like an old Peter Straub short-story that was unsuccessfully stretched to barely novel length, rendering it one-dimensional, insubstantial and directionless.
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Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Dial; 1 edition (October 28, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0803734548