She's So Dead to Us

I almost, almost didn’t read ‘She’s So Dead to Us’ because of a review I had read about the book. Reading about mean girls and cliques is not really my thing, and sometimes makes me uncomfortable. However, I decided to give the book a shot. I am SO glad I did!

The story is about ex-Crestie, Ally. At first, I thought she was going to be a snobby protagonist that I wouldn’t connect with. I was totally wrong. (We do see small bits of it sneak out at times, though.) Ally is a very strong character. She is out-casted by all of her previous friends, made the butt of one too many jokes, and still she over comes this. That takes a lot of courage. I’m so glad she wasn’t a whiny character. I don’t think I could have taken that. I show more really loved this character.

The other characters I had a love/hate relationship with, even Jake. I wanted to like him, but damn boy, grow up! I really dislike it when the ‘hero’ doesn’t stand up for… well, anything. When he and Ally were together, it was great. But when he chose his Crestie friends over her, it just ticked me off. Shannon, Faith, Hammond and most of the other characters were absolutely annoying as well.

The writing in this book was really creative. Very fast paced, and kept my attention. The plot was well thought out and interesting. I tend to avoid drama like the plague. (I’ve had more than enough of THAT in my life.) That being said, I could not get enough of it in this book. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait to read the second book, which I liked as well. If you want a quick read that will draw you in, this is definitely the book to read! show less

Is YA chick lit called chicklet lit? Not sure… Anyway, that’s what this is, and I loved it (until the end that is – more of that later). It was great fun traipsing through The Inner Circles of Hell also known as High School Cliques. And the protagonist, Ally Ryan, is very appealing. She’s fun and feisty and has a genuineness that captivates both the fictional boys and the real-life readers at home.

Ally has come back to Orchard Hill High after 18 months absence, during which time she lived with her grandmother. She and her parents moved because her father, a hedge fund manager, lost all their money as well as a good portion of everyone else’s in the tony neighborhood. Slinking away in shame, Dad took them to his mother's and show more then took off himself without a word to his wife or daughter. After a while, Ally’s mother longed to get back to the The Lush Life, so she moved herself and Ally back to Orchard Hill, even though they have to live in a cheap condo (gasp!), instead of atop a crest overlooking the city.

Ally had grown up with the other “Cresties” – they had all been her best friends: Chloe, Shannen, Faith, Hammond, Trevor and Todd. Imagine her surprise to find they all reject her now! They feel their lives were ruined by her father’s actions, and take it out on Ally. Besides, she is now a “norm” (from the other “normal” side of town), not a Crestie, and therefore ipso facto socially inferior.

Complicating matters is the new family living in Ally’s old home. Ally feels an instant attraction to Jake Graydon, the boy now sleeping in “her” bedroom. (Ally rides her bike up to the crest to look at the house and sees Jake looking out the bedroom window: “The first thing I thought was, That’s my room. The second? Who are you and why are you not on television?”) Jake is interested in Ally too – he really likes her lack of pretensions and obliviousness to “girly” preoccupations. But he is, after all, now a Crestie himself, and reluctant to cross this powerful in-crowd and jeopardize his status. Jake is even more clueless than Ally about her old friends. They’re so rich and pretty and influential, they must be worthwhile, right? (And all that money doesn’t hurt, either.)

Ally faces similar conflicts. They all used to be her close friends. Now that she’s not one of them, she sees how shallow and mean and dishonest they can be. And yet, they have this allure …

She tries to adjust to her life as a reject. She gets a “norm” friend, and even a "norm" boyfriend, David, who is cute and sweet and cares for her a lot. But the siren song of Jake – her “Jakesession” (for obsession) as she names it – keeps calling out to her.

And what about her dad? Where the heck is he and why hasn’t he contacted them? Is he even alive? Her mom has a new “boyfriend” now – a widower from up on The Crest. Ally feels both hate and love for her dad, and while she likes her mom's new boyfriend, she hates that he’s there….

The story is told in alternate points of view between Ally and Jake, so we get to see the same events from both sides. The chapters are short and witty and spritely, much moreso than say, Dante’s tour of the rings of Hell in The Divine Comedy.

But I came to the end and … THERE WAS NO ENDING! It turns out to be Book 1 of a trilogy! GAAAAAH!!!!!!! This book doesn’t even pretend to be over! I had to check the binding to make sure another chapter didn’t fall out. GAAAAH! Unfair practice! Have a little faith, authors or marketers or whoever you are who makes these decisions. If I like the writing and the characters, I will come back and buy another book! You don’t need to resort to writing an installment instead of a book!

Evaluation: Very fun light read, but with a message about social class (somewhat common for this genre, albeit of questionable efficacy). However, you might want to wait for the other parts of the trilogy to be published before you dive in and then get left hanging. show less

Remember those bitchy girls in high school? You know, the one’s who make everyone’s life miserable just by being alive. Their beautiful, popular, and not short on horrible, bitter attitudes. Yup, this book is chock full of them. Mean girls to make other mean girls look, well, not so mean.

But it works y’all.

It works in a big way.

Oh, and did I mention a sexy studly jock type boy that every girl in school wants to get her hands on? Yup, there’s that too. Plus a quirky goth-like potential BFF, an emo alterna-boy with a sweet natured desire for friendship and love, and any number of other kinda stereotypical high school inhabitants crossing Ally’s path. But you know what, those stereotypes fit here. Because even though we get some show more good focus on these peripheral characters the bulk of the story is about Ally.

Who’s Ally, you ask? She’s the girl whose father lost all of her ritch-bitch former best friend’s money.

Cue teenaged angst!

Let me tell you….boy, oh boy, there is no shortage of teenaged angst here. Ally isn’t without her secrets, she has quite the cross to bare with her former friend Chloe. Jake, the boy she lusts after, has a doozy of his own too. Heck there are loads of secrets and all sorts of nefarious activities to be had in this novel.

This is not a story where the reader doesn’t have a clue where certain paths are going. But, I’ll add, that aspect isn’t such a bad thing as the story is more about the journey of getting to these points than making them these grand sweeping unexpected moments. There was definitely no lessening of the impact when they occurred.

I’ll also add that there was at least one surprise at the end that I didn’t really see coming and it was a doozy of a cliffhanger to leave me with. In fact, the ending was so abruptly cliffhangery that after the very last page and the very last line I thought for sure the ARC I was reading was missing pages. I was so convinced of this that I immediately went out and purchased the book (which I would have done anyway as I always do for books I review that I love) to be sure! Then when I realized the end was intended to be that way I started to madly look around online to see when the sequel is coming out.

Dude, I’ve got a long wait!

**pouts**

But I will wait, with bated breath even, for the second in the series to land in about a year because this first is just that good. It’s a great piece of fun. It’s angsty, emotional and delicious fare that the chick-lit, romance, contemporary fiction reader will love. show less

SHE'S SO DEAD TO US, by Kieran Scott, was a fabulous tale of riches to rags and the social suicide that transpires. The shame and devastation in the wake of a tragic mistake puts Ally in the war-path of the wealthy and powerful people of Orchard Hill, can she survive unscathed?

This book was a typical rich versus poor high school story. But the difference is that our heroine has been on both sides of the fence, and after being out of the game for two years she discovers all the rules have changed. I typically dislike the high school brats versus the innocent but this book had a different flavor that I enjoyed. Ally Ryan used to be rich and popular so she was aware of the personalities of those who shunned her. These girls have since show more stepped up their game which left Ally trailing behind without a clue of what to expect next. Shannen, Faith, and Chloe were absolutely ruthless and brutal to those outside their clique. They held themselves so high above the rest (no thanks to their equally pretentious parents) but held more secrets and scandals then anyone. These girls stopped at nothing to get back at Ally for what her father did, which made them vicious opponents for an already broken girl.

I have great admiration for Ally. Although she had to fight each day against the Cresties, she still tried to make her high school years somewhat bearable by participating in activities she truly loved. But her constant downfall was the determination to become what she used to be, even though it proved time and time again to be impossible. A certain phrase comes to mind in her situation, 'Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.'

I had conflicting emotions for Jake Graydon throughout the book. Of course I fell for the typical popular hottie situation right off the bat, but there were times that his reputation got in the way of how he thought he should feel and I wanted to knock some sense into him! With the different POVs throughout the book we were able to take a deeper look into the mind of Jake as well as Ally. He was a man of two faces and I appreciated the different approach that Scott took to this character.

The cover of this book was subtle and thoughtful. The pearl necklace intact represents higher society, but with it breaking apart shows the disconnect that Ally experiences in the return to her hometown.

Overall, this story was engaging and fun! The only downfall is the massive cliffhanger which left me yearning for more, stay tuned for the sequel! show less

Okay, let me start off by saying how misleading the cover and title are. I was expecting some light, two-star read. Boy, I was wrong.

It's been two years since Ally Ryan's father swindled millions from the wealthiest families of Orchard Hill, and she and her family were forced to leave town in shame. But now she is back, even though not all of her old friends are happy to see her. When Ally goes to visit her old mansion, she finds someone else living there. The smokin' Jake Graydon who has taken her place among her former Crestie friends. The two feel the sparks, but it ain't so easy because it isn't just them in the equation.

I really like this book. It was one of those that take you completely by surprise. I was sucked in immediately, show more and I had a really hard time putting it down. The writing was easily consumable, and the characters were a blast. The plot had some twists and turns I wasn't expecting, and it refrained from being gimmicky for the most part.

There were two narrators to this story; Jake and Ally. They provided a nice balance for each other. And surpisingly, I liked both of them. Ally was a great female character. She was athletic and confident, while still having vulnerability. I liked how she wasn't all about "getting her man" and then whining about it. She stood up to the people who tormented her and was always in the game. Jake was swoonworthy and a pretty believable guy. He was arrogant, but had a conscience. I liked the romance between them. It wasn't all about the lust, but had some heat.

The teens acted like teens. Some of the girls were bitches. Some of the guys were dorks. They cussed and partied without being of Gossip Girl proportions. Trevor and Todd reminded me a lot of the Weasley twins. Annie was fun. I really liked the whole cast. Maybe the whole Crestie/norms thing was a little unrealistic, but then again, I don't have any mansions around where I live.

This book is really one of the best of its kind. Entertaining without frilliness. But the one thing I did not like at all was the ending. For all of you that are going to read it, know right now that it is not a stand alone, and that it is the first of a planned trilogy. I was not aware of this going into it, and was very put off by the cliffhanger ending. My rebellious side was like "Nuh-uh, hell no. We ain't gonna get sucked in by this ploy." If the book was of a lesser quality, then I defintely wouldn't read the sequels. It is just because it is so good that I am going to be first in line for the second book.

This is off-topic, but one thing I don't understand is why Kieran Scott uses her pen name for some works, but her real name for her others. What is the point of a penname at all if everyone knows it's a penname? show less

Nearly two years ago, Ally Ryan’s family slinked out of town one night after her father lost lots of his and his friends’ money in a poor investment. Now, Ally is back in her old, moneyed town of Orchard Hill, but things are very different. Her father has disappeared, her old friends still hate her for what her father did, and she’s no longer accepted by the Cresties, the people who live in the rich part of town.

Ally is determined not to let them walk all over her, however. She befriends a couple of nice “Norms”—unmoneyed kids at their school—but also continues to cross paths with the Cresties, including Jake, the hottie who lives in her old house and is friends with her old friends. As assumptions clash and attitudes fly show more between the two of them, can these friends, enemies, and lovers of Orchard Hill set aside their financial differences and get along? Or will drama and vengeance ultimately prevail?

SHE’S SO DEAD TO US is a perfect addition to the YA subgenre that consists of friendship drama, red-hot romance, and money troubles. Kieran Scott (who writes the Private series under her pen name) has introduced to us a new set of characters whom you’ll want to know every sordid detail about.

For a book in a genre with the potential for characters to fall unconvincingly flat and stereotypical, SHE’S SO DEAD TO US is, like Kieran’s other books, remarkable with its character development. Ally is rightfully the star of the show: she’s an appealing protagonist who refuses to let others walk over her. Whereas many MCs in other books like to brood endlessly about wrongs done to them, Ally will simply confront the person and let them know what she thinks. This kind of assertiveness is HOT, and it’s easy to see why the other characters either can’t help liking her or love to hate her.

SHE’S SO DEAD TO US is presented in Ally and Jake’s alternating first-person POVs. Normally male POVs written by female authors leave me unconvinced, but I found myself actually very much liking Jake here. Yes, he can be an arrogant hottie, but as we follow him and see how he gets to know Ally, we perfectly comprehend his mindset.

Plot-wise, the novel feels as though it’s been done before, but what makes this worth reading is how effortlessly we get sucked into these privileged suburban teens’ shenanigans. The book ends in such a way that I most definitely am going to pick up the next in the series. This is a must-read if you love these types of books, and for the rest of us, it’s also a easy and delicious read, perfect for those mindless days where we want to sink ourselves into other people’s petty problems. show less

This book, even with its familiar plot, was completely addicting. When I started it, I only planned on reading a couple chapters, but I just couldn't set it aside.

From the start, the reader knows what's going to happen, but the characters are so engaging that it doesn't seem to matter. The novel is told in alternating chapters by Ally and Jake. I liked Ally right from the start; the reader can see that she's a good person, regardless of her questionable past. Jake, on the other hand, did not immediately gain my favor. Ally might worry about the opinions of her abandoned friends, but Jake is completely ruled by them. He has absolutely no desire to go against the grain, which is monumentally frustrating throughout most of the novel. show more Despite this horrible trait, Jake managed to win me over. I can only attribute this to the realism of his character; many teenage boys would rather follow mutely than rock the boat and, in the end, Jake does do the right thing. He is by no means perfect, but he has grown, which I can appreciate.

My favorite aspect of the novel was Ally and Jake's relationship. The emotions and little details of their romance were vibrantly written. Kieran Scott perfectly captured the emotions of an all-consuming crush; the kind of crush that leaves you incessantly daydreaming, prone to love struck gazing, and completely frustrated. The fact that their relationship is taboo added to the intensity.

She's So Dead to Us isn't deep and it doesn't impart any great wisdom to the reader, but it is fun and gave me that fluttery feeling that's only caused when two characters have undeniable chemistry. show less