I feel that the blurb and the cover of this book do not give away the powerfulness and deepness of the story as well as they could do.

When I first picked up the book, I didn't expect anything special, but within those pages was a hidden gem. I absolutely could not put it down, and it would almost drive me crazy at school when I was stuck in a noisy classroom when all I could think about was snuggling up with this book and getting transported inside once more.

Basically, the story is a series of jumping across time; going back and forth over different events and different happenings until you start to realise what is going on - until it gradually all blurs together. One day Alyssa watches her room-mate Lily get pulled out of the lake, drowned, by police officers and divers. She is driven crazy trying to find out what has happened, disagreeing with her peers and dodging murder attempts directed at herself in the process. She gets swept up in the messy business of trying to untangle Lily's complicated life in order to find an answer for an unexpected event that changes the lives of her, and many others.

The plot and ending of this story goes so much deeper and so much more twisted than I thought it would be. It's so entrancing that I spent hours doing nothing but trying to work out what had happened to Lily, and just when I thought that I had got it, it went further and further, more complicated and larger than was originally thought.

I also loved the characters in 'Young, Gifted and Dead'. They were so original but relatable, and although the new-girl-gets-the-popular-guy aspect was a bit clichéd, I really loved the variety of the relationships and personalities. By the end of the story I had gotten to know all of the characters and just wished that some of them would just come to life right in front of me, so I could be friends with them in reality too.

Don't be put off by the cover. This book is really good, and any teenage girl who likes mystery and books like 'The Gallagher Girls.' I absolutely loved it.

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