Three Quarters Dead

Three Quarters Dead
by Richard Peck

Kerry is chosen by the coolest clique in school and so she thinks life has finally begun. But then it seems all over when her three friends are killed in a shocking car accident. Or are they? Only weeks after the accident, Kerry receives a text from one of the girls: We're all 3 here at my aunt's in the city. Take the 3:50 train. B there.
(description taken from Amazon.com)

This book made me angry. Kerry made me angry. I wanted to reach through my stereo and shake her. The worst part...some of my anger stemmed from the fact that I'm pretty sure I might have behaved just like she did when I was still in high school. For that, I give Peck major kudos. He has tapped into some real feelings, some real clique scenarios from teen life.

I still want to throttle Kerry, though. She is SUCH a pushover. Even in the conclusion of the story, she doesn't really save herself...yes, she stands up for herself (to an extent) but it just wasn't a really satisfying character growth at all. She's like a wet dishrag. Ick.

I was disappointed also with the supernatural segment of this story. Though the concept was sort of cool, it was only introduced very late in the story and not fully explored. There are definitely a LOT of better books available in this genre.

Full disclosure: Audio book sent to review for AudioFile magazine
2011 Zombie Reading Challenge title