Heart Beat by Elizabeth Scott

Summary:
Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love? (from GoodReads)

Review:
I think that Elizabeth Scott is a fantastic author and writes great YA contemporary novels. So I'm super disappointed that I did not enjoy Heart Beat as much as her earlier books.

I don't know what it is, but I have not been feeling the latest Elizabeth Scott books. Her earlier ones were amazing! I kind of think that I'm not enjoying the heavy topics, such as PTSD, trauma, and death that have been commonplace in her novels. What can I say, I like the light and happy books.

Heart Beat deals with Emma and her mother who is brain-dead. The central conflict comes from the fact that Emma is angry with her step-father for keeping her mother on life support in order to bring her baby to term. She's upset that Dan did not consult her first before making the decision and is convinced it's the decision her mom would not have wanted. This situation is super gray and I'm sure everyone has their own opinions. It's kind of messed up that they are practically using the mom as an incubator for this baby. It reminds me of the fact that women are sometimes treated as vessels for carrying fetuses, but that's a whole other discussion. At the same time, if there's already a baby growing, why not try to see if it can make it to term? It's a tough situation and kind of interesting to see it addressed in this book!

My problem wasn't that they were having a debate, but it was the fact that it is rehashed multiple times throughout Heart Beat. Every time Emma and Dan are on-page together, this argument is brought up again and again. I must have read Emma making the same points about 5 or 6 times before any progress is made in the argument and they can come to a resolution. Many times I just wanted Emma to move on and talk about something else!

I was also disappointed in both the character and plot development of this novel. Emma didn't really change that much except she wasn't as annoying at the end. We still don't know much about Caleb, though I did like what little I read. Nothing significant happens in terms of plot since most of it is Emma spending time with Caleb or yelling at her step-father.

Honestly, I did not like Heart Beat at all and am going to comfort myself by reading some earlier books by Elizabeth Scott!

Release Date: January 24, 2014
Rating: 5 out of 10.
FTC: received copy from LitPick

2014/Harlequin Teen/304 pages.

Miracle by Elizabeth Scott

Summary:
Megan survived the plane crash—but can she survive the aftermath? An intense, emotional novel from the author of The Unwritten Rule and Between Here and Forever.

Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful just to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn’t feel like a miracle. In fact, she doesn’t feel anything at all. Then memories from the crash start coming back.

Scared and alone, Megan doesn’t know whom to turn to. Her entire community seems unable—or maybe unwilling—to see her as anything but Miracle Megan. Everyone except for Joe, the beautiful boy next door with a tragic past and secrets of his own. All Megan wants is for her life to get back to normal, but the harder she tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, the worse she feels. And this time, she may be falling too fast to be saved....(from GoodReads)

Review:
So I unwittingly started reading this the day before I was about to leave to visit family ... on a plane. Luckily Megan survives so I wasn't too worried. Also I didn't understand how she was the only one to survive a plane crash until I realized that she was flying on one of those small propeller planes with only a few other passengers. It made a lot more sense after that!

Anyway, onto the novel. I've noticed that a lot of Elizabeth Scott's recent books have been really depressing with very tragic characters. I'm just thinking of Living Dead Girl, Love You Hate You Miss You, Heartbeat (which isn't released yet), among others. I absolutely loved both Bloom and Perfect You when I read them and they are much lighter. I'm not a fan of these dark novels.

And Miracle is definitely dark. Megan is the only one who survived a plane crash and the memories of it end up being pretty gruesome. She's obviously suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but everyone just ignores it because she's a "miracle." I think Megan should have spoke up a lot earlier about her issues but her parents shouldn't have just assumed she was perfectly fine. Luckily for Megan she becomes friends with her neighbor Joe and a woman at church named Margaret who help her to cope.

Miracle does have a hopeful ending but it was hard to connect with Megan. The book is pretty short so that might be it. I wish Elizabeth Scott would write something a little happier! I think her books are better when they are not super depressing, and now there is a definite formula to her books which I'm not a fan of. I need some surprises!

Rating; 7 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library.

2012/Simon Pulse/224 pages.

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Summary:
My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things for as long as I can remember.

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best there is—her mother. They never stay in one place long enough for Dani to have real connections, real friends—a real life.

But in the town of Heaven, everything changes. Suddenly, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known—or the one she's always wanted. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I have had Stealing Heaven on my shelf for a long time now (maybe 3 years?) and I just never got around to reading it. But I'm glad I did now, because I really enjoyed it.

What I like about Elizabeth Scott's books is that they're really simple, but still meaningful. The story isn't bogged down by unnecessary detail or description, so it becomes a really easy read. The premise is what attracted me to Stealing Heaven; I wanted to see what life was like for serial burglars. I'm actually surprised that Danielle and her mom have never been caught. They don't use fancy equipment or anything - just simple techniques and getting information out of people.

But this is not the kind of life that Danielle wants to live: she has no friends, no home, and no future. I felt bad for her because she deserved a real life. That's why I was so glad when Greg came in. He's a cop (uh-oh) but actually cares for Danielle and helps her see that she can change her circumstances.

Even though the story was simple, and fairly short, I still really enjoyed Stealing Heaven and its theme of making your own destiny and taking control of your life.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: Christmas gift.

2008/HarperTeen/320 pages.

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Summary:
Abby long ago accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister, Tess, but at least she knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

Abby's got a plan to bring Tess back, though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli. But then she learns a shocking secret about Tess. Something that was always right there, but she'd never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could. (from back cover)

Review:
I really love Elizabeth Scott and all her books, so I was excited to read her latest novel, Between Here and Forever. While it wasn't my favorite book, I still enjoyed the read.

I liked the concept of Between Here and Forever: Abby's perfect and popular older sister is in a coma and Abby will do anything to get her to wake up. When Abby sees a beautiful boy working at the hospital, she enlists him to talk to Tess because who can resist a good-looking boy? Abby is sure Eli will fall for Tess, which is what she's counting on, but when the two forge a relationship, Abby begins to reexamine how she views herself.

I liked Abby, even though she annoyed me a lot. For one, she never seemed to really like or get along with Tess, but still visits her sleeping body every single day. Abby has this skewed view of the world, in that she thinks that no one will ever like her because her sister is so much prettier, nicer, and all around better. As the story progresses, you can see that Tess was nowhere near the perfect child but Abby is still super hard on herself. It's difficult to read about a person with such low self-esteem. Luckily for the reader, Abby realizes that she has a lot to offer the world and that she deserves to be happy.

I really liked Eli, who becomes Abby's potential love interest. I'm not going to give anything away, but the boy has his own secrets and troubles, and it was nice to see Abby and Eli sharing their pasts.

Once we find out Tess's big "secret" that's when Between Here and Forever became really interesting. I had actually predicted something different, so I was surprised to learn what it was. After that point, there's a lot of narration about Tess and what happened to her before the car accident. I liked that Abby was able to realize that Tess, like any other human, is not perfect at all and still makes mistakes. This allows Abby to see her self-worth.

I enjoyed Between Here and Forever; it was a fast-paced and insightufl read. I would have liked it more if Abby wasn't so hard on herself all the time, but I know she had to be that way in the beginning so the audience could see her growth on the page. This was another nicely written book by Elizabeth Scott.

Rating: 8 out of 10.
Release Date: May 24, 2011
FTC: received from publisher.

2011/Simon Pulse/252 pages.

Grace by Elizabeth Scott

Grace was raised to be an Angel, a herald of death by suicide bomb. But she refuses to die for the cause, and now Grace is on the run, daring to dream of freedom. In search of a border she may never reach, she travels among malevolent soldiers on a decrepit train crawling through the desert. Accompanied by the mysterious Kerr, Grace struggles to be invisible, but the fear of discovery looms large as she recalls the history and events that delivered her uncertain fate.

Told in spare, powerful prose by acclaimed author Elizabeth Scott, this tale of a dystopian near future will haunt readers long after they've reached the final page. (Taken from back cover)

When I first began reading Grace, I didn't like it that much. Part of the reason was the "spare" prose mentioned in the summary. Since it was written sparingly, it's hard to get into the novel. The fact that this is a dystopian novel makes it even worse because not much was being explained or described, so I couldn't really understand what was happening. Fortunately, the book resembles some current day theocracies (the desert and suicide bombers point to the Middle East), so I had something to go off of. But everything changes in the last third of the novel, which is where everything starts getting really good. This is where the plot thickens and major character development occurs. The spare prose begins to work well here and it really is "powerful"; even though so few words are being used, Scott does a magnificient job of driving the point home and evoking emotion from the reader. It's at this point that you really begin to understand and sympathize with Grace. And don't let me forget about Kerr - what an awesome character! He is really mysterious, and when you finally learn his backstory, it's like wow! He is a really layered and deep character, and helps Grace along on her emotion journey.

The book was also interesting if you look at it in terms of current day affairs. It eerily resembles Middle Eastern governments. I don't know if any are quite this strict, but it certainly seems like a possiblity for the future. And there used to be a ton of stories on the news about suicide bombers, so it was nice to get the other side of the story because Grace was supposed to be one but ran away instead. I would never want to be a suicide bomber so I completely understood Grace's mentality and I was able to relate to her. I liked that even though Grace's people were fighting against the bad goverment, they weren't necessarily innocent either. It reminded me a lot of Mockingjay (District 13) and it was nice to see Grace realize that not everything is as black and white as she thought.

I thought Grace was a great testament to the themes of freedom and liberty, and it serves as a reminder that democracy isn't a given anywhere and that it's important to keep fighting for it. The book really makes you think (which is why I love dystopias - it gets your brain working). I loved seeing Elizabeth Scott write another serious book (like Living Dead Girl), even though her chick lit is fantastic too. I really think Elizabeth Scott needs a round of applause for being such a versatile writer! All in all, I would definitely recommend Grace.

8 out of 10.

Release Date: September 16, 2010

FTC: I received this book from the author.

2010/Dutton Juvenile/208 pages

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Ryan is the perfect boy for Sarah; he's cute, smart and they get along great. There's just one problem: Ryan is Sarah's best friend Brianna's boyfriend. Everyone knows the unwitten rule that you can't like your friends' boyfriends, but that doesn't stop Sarah from feeling the way she does. And when it seems as though Ryan is paying extra attention to Sarah, she will have to choose between her best friend and the possible love of her life.

I really enjoyed The Unwritten Rule. I say this every time, but Elizabeth Scott is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint. It's an interesting topic - liking your best friend's boyfriend. I've always wondered what I would do in this situation, but I'm lucky that this has never happened to me. I got to see it play out in this book, though, and I must say it's entertaining to watch. The thing with Brianna, Sarah's BFF, is that she isn't always the nicest person. She pretty much stole Ryan from Sarah, without even realizing it, because she's so much prettier and awesome-er (according to Sarah, which actually starts to get a little annoying. I mean, who wants to hear the narrator constantly put themselves down?). I think someone mentioned on another blog (I want to say Frenetic Reader?) that this is a cliche in YA literature: the protagonist having a friend that is so much prettier/nicer/smarter/all-around better person. And it is annoying.

Anyway, this background knowledge helps the reader sympathize with Sarah. She's not purposefully trying to hurt her friend, which makes it better, in my opinion. She's actually a nice person that you want to see succeed, in terms of boyfriend. I'm not going to say what happens in the end, but I liked the ending, and it isn't a cliched one, which is always good. The Unwritten Rule is an interesting take on the dynamics of friendships and boys, and makes you want to keep reading until the end.

9 out of 10.

The Unwritten Rule will be released March 16, 2010.

FTC: The author provided me with a copy of The Unwritten Rule, and I returned it to her.

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

It's been seventy-five days, and Amy still doesn't know how she can possibly exist without her best friend, Julia - especially since it's her fault that Julia's dead. When her shrink tells her it would be a good idea to start a diary, Amy starts writing letters to Julia instead. As she writes letter after letter, she soon discovers that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was - and the present deserves a chance too. With sarcastic humor, cutting insight, and beautiful prose, Elizabeth Scott delivers a searing story of a teenage girl struggling to put the pieces of her life back together. (Stolen from back of the book. It's too late for me to come up with something on my own.)

So as I was writing this review, I kept getting the two characters names mixed up. I'm thinking that it's an indication of the (non) effect that this book had on me. I had high expectations for Love You Hate You Miss You (as I do for all of Elizabeth Scott's books), but this one wasn't for me. I'm sure other people will love it, but it just didn't leave an impression on me. I didn't totally hate it - it was merely average. First off, I didn't like Amy at all. And that's a problem if you can't find any redeeming qualities in your main character. She took all the blame for what happened to Julia. I'm not going to say what happened (we'll let that be a surprise) but it was not Amy's fault at all. Maybe like 10 percent, but not enough to be called a murderer. She just moped around, complaining, feeling bad for herself. And since it wasn't her fault, I wanted to yell at Amy to get over herself. Instead of this book being about Amy's grief and healing, it was about her self-centeredness and unwillingness to let anyone help her. It drives me crazy when people think they're too good for therapists and give one word answers in response to tough questions. I don't know, maybe I'm being too harsh. Since I've never been in Amy's situation, I guess I can't really judge her. She did get better as the book went along, and did begin to heal, so that's good.

Okay, I'm tired of ranting about the stuff I didn't like. Things I did like include the title. That sounds shallow, but I think it perfectly sums up the book. I liked Amy's parents and thought they were really nice people, even if Amy couldn't see it. I also liked Amy's sort-of friend Caro. She was actually a really interesting person and I respected her a lot at the end of the book. So this was the novel of supporting characters (except the love interest Patrick, but that's a whole other story). Anyway, even if I didn't enjoy this book so much, I still really like Elizabeth Scott and think she's a good author. I can be critical sometimes, so if you think you can sympathize with Amy, you'll probably enjoy this book.

6 out of 10.

Release Date: May 26, 2009

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott

Hannah has an interesting family. Her father is a second Hugh Hefner, while her mother is just like a Playboy bunny, complete with skimpy outfits and a daily live webcast to showcase her "talents." This, unfortunately, is not like something Hannah likes to bring friends home to. So Hannah manages to keep a low profile at school, not talking to anyone besides her friend Teagan. But when she's at work at BurgerTown, she has a hard time not being noticed. Having a crush on co-worker Josh doesn't help matters, and neither does having sort-of feelings for other co-worker Finn. Hannah's life is full of drama already and now that her dad wants her back in his life, things are going to be crazier than his reality TV show.

Elizabeth Scott is one of my new favorite authors and I still can't believe how many books she has written in such a short period of time. As always, Something, Maybe did not disappoint. After reading Living Dead Girl, Hannah's problems seem trivial in comparison, but this book was perfect if you want a light and funny read. How can you not laugh at Hannah's family situation? It's definitely a lot different from the usual family dynamics and it was something I really enjoyed reading about. I'm glad that by the end, Hannah began to accept that her family was not normal and learn to love her mom even with the skimpy clothes. The romance part was cute, but unfortunately extremely cliched. I knew who Hannah was going to end up with just by reading the back cover. I still liked this book a lot and recommend it all fans of Elizabeth Scott.

8 out of 10.

Release Date: March 24, 2009

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

On the outside, Alice is Ray's daughter. They live in a small apartment, and he homeschools her. The neighbors don't ask questions, and they don't know the truth. They don't know that Alice is not the girl's real name and that Ray is not her father. When Alice was ten years old, Ray kidnapped her from an aquarium. Threatening her with the her parents' death, Alice has been forced to endure physical, emotional, and sexual abuse for five long years. Now that Alice is fifteen, she's too old for Ray's little girl fantasies. Alice knows her death is imminent, but what she doesn't know is Ray's plan for her, one far worse than death.

I can't really say I enjoyed reading this book, due to the disturbing subject manner. It's hard to like Living Dead Girl, because of the abuse that Alice has to endure. Fortunately, it isn't overly explicit, but I would only recommend it for mature, older teens. On the other side, I think this is an important book to read. You get to see a glimpse into the life of people who are sexually abused and see how they feel. Elizabeth Scott, as always, did a wonderful job portraying Alice. This book was written a little different than her other books, with shorter sentences. Some might say book was of a lower reading level, but readers need to remember that Alice is still only as smart as a ten year old, so her vocabulary and sentence structure would be limited. The theme reminded me somewhat of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, but I can't make any direct connections because I haven't read the book. Living Dead Girl also showed the reader how an abused little girl could still be strong and courageous, and how the abuse did not break her spirit.

6 out of 10.

Bloom by Elizabeth Scott

Lauren's boyfriend Dave is perfect. He's popular, friendly, good-looking and is in love with her. She doesn't understand why he thinks she's so special, because she feels less than desirable. But then Lauren meets Evan Kirkland, an old friend now back at school. She feels bad betraying her boyfriend, but she can't help falling for Evan. As she gets in deeper with Evan, she must make a choice: her "perfect" boyfriend Dave, or the love of her life Evan.

This book was so cute! It sounds kinda straightforward and unoriginal, but the book was really good. All the characters were interesting and had some kind of backstory to them. The only character that I didn't really like was Dave - even though he seemed like a great boyfriend. He was too perfect and when he talked he sounded robotic. So he was kinda boring. But Evan, I loved him. I thought it was kinda weird that Evan and Lauren lived together when they were kids because their parents were dating (it seemed awkward) but then it just gave their relationship some tension. Though, it was weird reading a book about a hot guy named Evan, because that's my younger brother's name and I couldn't help but think of him whenever I saw the name. That was the only thing I didn't like. Anyway, Elizabeth Scott is a fantastic writer and I can't wait to read her other books!

8 out of 10.

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Kate Brown is having a tough sophomore year. Her best friend Anna left her for the popular crowd, so Kate is virtually friendless. Her dad also quit his job to sell Perfect You vitamins at a small kiosk in the mall. Since this is a "family" business, Kate is forced to work after school and on weekends. Now lonely and stuck with an unwanted job, Kate finds comfort in her small encounters with obnoxious Will, a boy she pretends to hate. Suddenly, these small encounters lead to the two kissing in a back alleyway. Kate really likes Will, but is afraid that he thinks of her as just another girl.

Perfect You was really a spectacular read. Elizabeth Scott does a great job of adding humor to Kate's bleak and dismal life. Kate is very witty and she says and thinks things that make you laugh out loud. Everyone goes through tough times, so they can easily relate to her character. Even so, Kate carries herself with a certain grace that most people never see. The book is also funny and poignant and everything that a good book should be. It even teaches you a life lesson about happiness: you have to try to be happy in order to actually be happy.

This book may be unsuitable for younger readers because it contains mild language and adult themes.

9 out of 10