Friendly Fire review

[alobear]

Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale could have been a tedious, cliche-ridden school story.  It's about a girl from a children's home, who gets a scholarship to an exclusive private boarding school, which makes it sound incredibly banal.  And, indeed, a lot of the things that happen throughout the book are familiar, staple plot devices for these kinds of stories.  But there's something about the way it's written that makes it compelling - the characters all have depth and interest, and the story kept me guessing right to the end, suggesting on occasion that it would fall back on tired old twists, but never actually doing so.  The life of the school is rich with detail, and the contrast of the home lives of the protogonists is well drawn.  I'll definitely be getting more books by this author.