Review: Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Between Here and Forever
Elizabeth Scott

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Pages: Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse (May 24, 2011)

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and 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.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that 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...

Abby is a character who many can relate to. She doesn’t have a lot of self confidence because her sister is the one who has caught the whole town’s attention. She has a hard time seeing past that and realizing that she is a person in her own right and it takes Tess’ accident for Abby to confront these issues. She knows that her sister will come back to them and when she does life will seemingly get back to “normal” (whatever that is). Though she takes drastic measures to ensure that Tess will wake up, it seems that her efforts are in vain; until she meets Eli. Eli is her ray of hope, but for reasons she has yet to discover.

Elizabeth Scott has, yet again, written an amazing novel. Her writing has yet to disappoint me and I was so excited to see this one in my mailbox that it immediately moved to the top of my pile. I loved Bloom and Perfect You and knew that this one would be in the same category for my reading. Her writing style, ability to write the characters so well and relatable, and presentation of plot is on that continues to astound and inspire me as a reader and writer. I loved this book just as I have all of Scott’s others and will definitely be adding it to my bookshelf (classroom and home)!

Happy reading!

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Perfect You

Elizabeth Scott

Genre: YA Fiction

Pages: Paperback, 284 pages

Publisher: Simon Pulse (March 25, 2008)

Kate Brown's life has gone downhill fast.
Her father has quit his job to sell vitamins at the mall, and Kate is forced to work with him. Her best friend has become popular, and now she acts like Kate's invisible.

And then there's Will. Gorgeous, unattainable Will, whom Kate acts like she can't stand even though she can't stop thinking about him. When Will starts acting interested, Kate hates herself for wanting him when she's sure she's just his latest conquest.

Kate figures that the only way things will ever stop hurting so much is if she keeps to herself and stops caring about anyone or anything. What she doesn't realize is that while life may not always be perfect, good things can happen -- but only if she lets them....

Perfect You is yet another example of relatable writing from Elizabeth Scott. We have all been embarrassed at least once by our parents and Kate Brown is no different from that. Her dad decides that selling vitamins is the next big thing and Kate attempts to help him in his quest like all good daughters would, right? All the while she is dealing with the loss of her best friend and the new found interest of Will, whom she is convinced doesn’t really like her.

I found Kate to be very relatable and very well written. Elizabeth Scott has a way of bringing her readers in a making her characters so much like them that you forget you are reading Kate’s story and you feel as if you are the character herself. Kate’s emotions, reactions, fears, and thoughts are so real to the reader throughout the novel and you find yourself hating her parents for being so blind and falling in love with Will right beside her.

When I pick up Elizabeth’s books, I know I will not be disappointed and this one is yet another example of why I know that is true. Great read!

Bloom by Elizabeth Scott

Genre: YA Romance

Age Level: 7^th grade & up

# of Pages: 240

Award Winner:

Publisher: Simon Pulse (April 24, 2007)

Lauren’s life seems perfect. She has the most popular guy in school pinning after her, she just got her first jazz band solo, she is doing great in school, and she and her best friend Katie have gotten seats at the coveted table at lunch. Lauren’s outside appearance of happiness is in total contrast of the inner turmoil that she faces daily. She isn’t happy and she can’t figure out why. As she analyzes her life she realizes that her boyfriend, Dave, is just a little bit too perfect and his ultra-religious parents only add to the misery. She wants to get away from the perfection in her life and move toward the happiness that she knows is out there for her. The only problem is, she doesn’t know how to gain that happiness without hurting people around her, especially Dave. She doesn’t want to be like her mother who left Lauren and her dad behind when she was little to pursue what she wanted. Yet after meeting Evan Kirkland, Lauren sees that passion and happiness are hers for the taking and that she can leave behind the safety and monotony that her life currently has.

Lauren and Evan quickly find that they have a connection that is on a much deeper level than that of any relationship she has had before and that both excites and terrifies her. She begins making decisions to pursue her happiness and in the mean time begins lying to everyone around her and losing those who are closest to her, especially her best friend Katie. Lauren is faced with the decision of going against what she has always known to avoid confrontation or following her heart, and Evan, and gaining the happiness that she constantly craves.

Bloom is a wonderful coming of age story as well as a powerful love story. The tile gives the reader a glimpse of what is to come in this story through Lauren’s voice. I love Lauren in this book because she is so relatable. She is funny, strong, well written character whose distinctive voice and likeability make this an easy read. This was one of those books that I read in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. Lauren deals with things that even adults deal with in life even though the circumstances may be different. We all want to be happy and Elizabeth Scott has done a wonderful job using Lauren to show how happiness isn’t always easy to come by. Scott is a wonderful writer and this being my first read of hers only excites me to see what else she has coming our way!!

Visit Elizabeth at http://elizabethwrites.com/

Elizabeth Scott - Love You Hate You Miss You

I haven't read this yet but I love Elizabeth Scott and her other books. Check out why she says she writes for teens! More to come today...
xoxo

jennie

more about "Elizabeth Scott - Love You Hate You M...", posted with vodpod

(originally posted 8/24/2009)