Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Despite feeling like she is one of those YA authors I must have read, Heartbeat was actually my first read by Elizabeth Scott. Her books have caught varying amounts of my attention, but when I had an egalley of this I figured it was as good a starting place as any. 

Heartbeat is Emma's story, and Emma is a teenage girl whose mother is dead. Except, she's got machines in her helping her breathe, and she's still pregnant with Emma's baby half brother. Because after her mom died, Emma's stepfather decided to keep her alive so that his baby would have a chance at surviving. Emma, who used to be a perfect student, doesn't care about anything except the fact that her mother is brain dead and the fact that her stepfather is forcing her body to stick around anyway-- and she can't imagine that anyone can understand what that is like. And Emma blames her stepfather for everything.

Okay, so Emma herself isn't super likable. Her hatred for her stepdad seems extreme, but that's because we get to be the reader, watching from a distance. So even though I wished she would grow up a bit, I could sorta understand where she was coming from. She is a teenage girl who lost her mother, and she wants somebody to blame for a tragedy that seems meaningless. But then she also goes blowing off her friend, Olivia, who does nothing but try to be there for her, in favour of this boy, Caleb, that is very good-looking but also causes a lot of trouble. And that I respected a lot less. 

Caleb himself is the kind of bad boy that needs saving and only the main character's love can do it because deep down he's a good person, stereotypical type of character that I didn't find that original or interesting. But, in combination with Emma, I like him. They are sweet together, and it's nice seeing people find redemption in each other, even if it's basically what you expect. So it was cute, and I did find their romance believable and not. 

Heartbeat is a pretty quick, easy read and the plot is interesting so it keeps your attention. It doesn't have me rushing out to pick up everything else Elizabeth Scott has ever written, but there are a couple of her books I have been interested in and heard really good things about, so I'm not deterred from grabbing those in the future. I think whether or not you like this book might boil down to if you can stand Emma or not, and while she wasn't my favourite main character, there were enough redeeming characteristics and realism to her actions that I didn't mind.

Overall, Heartbeat kept me interested enough to keep reading, and to read other books by Scott in the future, but it wasn't special enough to be something I'm rushing out to recommend unless this plot in particular interests you.

Release Date: January 28th 2014  Pages: 304  Format: Egalley
Source: Netgalley  Publisher: Harlequin Teen  Buy It: Book Depository

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott begins following a terrible accident which leaves Abby's flawless older sister Tess in a coma. Abby has always been the Other Sister, the one who isn't as pretty or as smart or as popular but as hard as it is never feeling good enough, it is worse not having Tess. So Abby hatches a plan to wake Tess up, and the key is the gorgeous Eli, but it turns out that meeting him opens doors Abby never would have expected and the truth about Tess is that she wasn't exactly who she seemed after all.

Between Here and Forever was my second young adult novel in a short period time about a younger sister who has lived her whole life in the shadow of a beautiful and outgoing older sister, only to have herself thrust suddenly into the spotlight when something tragic happens to the older sister. The book I read first with this storyline was The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, and I absolutely loved it, so it was going to be hard for anything else to compare. I also read The Properties of Water by Hannah Roberts McKinnon which has a similar storyline and lovely writing, although it is aimed at a younger audience since it doesn't contain sexual content like The Sky is Everywhere and Between Here and Forever do. So with all these books about younger sisters living life in the shadows, Between Here and Forever was definitely going to need something special to really capture my heart. And it almost succeeded.

The thing about Between Here and Forever is that I am sure a lot of readers will find Abby excessively whiny and insecure. And she is. Sure, she has a beautiful and popular older sister, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be able to find some friends of her own or that she should always be putting herself down. But when it comes to real life, especially as a teenager, it is so easy to fall into that pit of self-hate and self-deprecation that I completely understood what Abby was going through, and what it is like to never think you are anything special. I feel like that is something that many people, teenage girls especially, deal with no matter if they have a seemingly perfect older sibling or not. So I appreciated how Scott took this issue on, and how through her sister's injury Abby was forced to confront some of the insecurities she has lived with her whole life, as well as some of the negative behaviours, like pursuing a relationship with a boy interested in her sister, they have lead to.

That said, Between Here and Forever wasn't always exciting to read, and at times perhaps Abby's whininess was responsible for slowing the story down. I did find it authentic inside Abby's mind, but there times when I wished for a little more external action and a little less internal conflict, if only to keep me turning the page. This is especially true because although Scott's writing felt true to the voice of a teenager, that doesn't always mean it was particularly unique or beautiful to read and perhaps that was because it was a little too true to the character and sometimes a little poetry in the language is nice even if people don't really think or talk that way- for an example of this, see The Sky Is Everywhere.

This was my first Elizabeth Scott and there already several others on my To Read list, especially when it comes to her more thrilleresque titles like Living Dead Girl, which Nina posted a rave review of that moved it even higher up my list, Grace and the upcoming As I Wake. Although it was slow moving at times, Scott got my attention with Between Here and Forever, now it will be time to see if she can keep it.

Release Date: May 24th, 2011
Pages: 256
Source: Simon and Schuster Galley Grab
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