Changes

Charlotte Usher is desperate to be popular. She has spent the entire summer break transforming herself to try and fit in with the 'in' crowd all in an attempt to try and attract the attention of Damen, a popular and handsome jock. Yet even after all her hard work she still remains invisible at best, despised at worst. Finally, in a moment of tragic bad luck, Charlotte chokes on a gummy bear, alone in a classroom, and dies. This isn't the end of the story however, it's actually just the beginning, because Charlotte isn't going to let the little inconvenience of being dead get in her way...

I liked a lot of the ideas in this book, the whole 'dead girl' trying to win the heart of the most popular boy was intriguing, and the separate world for the deceased students, with their own classroom and teacher, and being forced to graduate still even though they've died. It throws an interesting twist on the usual American High School teen romance. However, I had a ''big'' problem with Charlotte. I just didn't like her. At all. She seems to have no redeeming features throughout the story, so you just don't care about her as a person and, frankly, I wasn't surprised she'd had no friends at school because she was such a pandering, shallow, mewling fool of a girl! Thankfully for the book , there is another key female character, Scarlet, who is much more interesting, and likablelikeable. She's still living, and she turns out to be someone who can still see Charlotte after she's died and so they become friends, of a sort. Scarlet is quirky and independent and strong-willed, and she and Charlotte form an agreement where Charlotte is allowed to take possession of Scarlet's body to try and win Damen's heart.