Her voice is generally smooth and assured, carefully toeing the line between casual and too slangy, and I think this works well for Allys character. But Scott works hard to make Ally a strong and likeable character, while allowing her not a few moments of nuanced weakness. I have to admit that the central conceit of this novel does leave me a little cold, as Im not one to take great pleasure in the vicarious experience of someone elses misery. Give me Sweet Valleys Unicorn Club any day! Indeed, rather than employing something as low-key as the cold shoulder routine, the group gets a little bit Mean Girls and more than a little bit Carrie on poor Ally. Despite Allys every effort, her erstwhile friends have little intention of letting her back into their arch clique. Despite Allys mothers rose-coloured outlook on life, its immediately clear that Ally has sustained a mighty fall from the glittery ranks of the soi-disant elite Cresties, those who live on the uber-moneyed Crest Ridge area, to something apparently only a fraction above Untouchable status. Of course, one should never underestimate the incomparable schadenfreude of a group of snotty and entitled teens. While Mr Ryan is currently AWOL, Allys mother has been working to recreate the upper-middle class live she had previously enjoyed in Orchard Hill. This departure, it turns out, was one that essentially involved the Ryans fleeing the inescapable fall-out resulting from the crash of a hedge fund managed by Allys father. Its with rather well-justified trepidation that Ally Ryan returns to her hometown of Orchard Hill after an abrupt departure two years earlier. Shes So Dead to Us, YA author Kieran Scotts newest outing, deals with the difficulty of navigating the social labyrinth of not just the schoolground, but also casts a wider net, examining also the wider social networks of which school itself is just a part. So instead of Allys new low-key, happy life, itll be back into the snake pit with the likes of Shannen Moore and Hammond Ross. Now, two years later, Allys mother has landed a job back at the site of their downfall. It was the last thing Ally Ryan saw in the rear-view mirror as her mother drove them out of town and away from the shame of the scandal her father caused when his hedge fund went south and practically bankrupted all their friends friends that liked having trust funds and new cars, and that didnt like constant reminders that they had been swindled.

Blurb: Perfect, picturesque Orchard Hill.

She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott