Book Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Heartbeat
by Elizabeth Scott

Genre: Young Adult / Contemporary / Romance / Tragedy

Ages: 13 and up

I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley and Kismet Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Description:

Since her mother's sudden death, Emma has existed in a fog of grief, unable to let go, unable to move forward—because her mother is, in a way, still there. She's being kept alive on machines for the sake of the baby growing inside her.

Estranged from her stepfather and letting go of things that no longer seem important—grades, crushes, college plans—Emma has only her best friend to remind her to breathe. Until she meets a boy with a bad reputation who sparks something in her—Caleb Harrison, whose anger and loss might just match Emma's own. 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?

My Thoughts:

This book was surprisingly painful to read in the very best of ways. I cried more than once and had a lump in my throat for almost the entire novel. It's not a very long book, but every page has an emotional depth that made me feel like I was reading a bigger book. Heartbeat wasn't my usual cup of tea (too sad) but it grabbed me immediately and the more I read, the more I was pulled in.

I loved how the author slowly revealed layer after layer of Emma's feelings; her grief, her anger, her hurt. She started with the ones on the surface, then gradually dug into Emma's soul. It's probably one of the most perfectly written character arcs I have ever read, beautiful and heartbreaking. Reading it, I firmly agreed with her stepfather's decision to keep her mom on life support to give the baby a chance to live, but it was impossible not to empathize with how awful it would be to have to tell yourself every day that your mom was dead, even though her heart was still beating. Then as more layers were revealed...Ms. Scott is most definitely a master at writing emotional anguish and tearing the reader's heart in different directions.

The relationship between Emma and Caleb was soft and sweet and lovely. They come together through mutual understanding of what it is to lose someone, and with them your entire way of life. Their romance brought a little much-needed hope to the narrative, keeping the story from getting too depressing.

The secondary characters are just as well-written as the heroine, particularly Dan, Emma's stepfather, and Olivia, her best friend. Even the minor, hardly-in-the-story characters were memorable, like Olivia's parents. They gave the book a wonderful, multidimensional feel.

I highly recommend this book, but I must warn you to keep tissues at hand for the inevitable tears.

Rating System: Profanity, Sexuality and Violence 
1 (mild) through 10 (extreme). Ratings may contain spoilers.

Profanity:
I rate it a 3.10 for one or two mid-level words and some mild swearing.

Sexuality:
I give it a 3.10 for teenagers making out, kissing, etc.

Violence:
I rate it a 1.10 for references to fatal accidents.

                   Lieder Madchen

Heartbeat Book Blitz + Giveaway!

Hello! Today I'm sharing a very interesting looking book with you, courtesy of Kismet Book Tours, and give you an opportunity to win a copy. So, take a look, enter the Rafflecopter, and come back in a few days to read my review. :)

About HEARTBEAT:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound

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?

Praise for Heartbeat

“An intense examination of a family coping with grief, this absorbing character study easily keeps pages turning.”

— Kirkus on Heartbeat

About Elizabeth Scott - Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Tumbler

ELIZABETH SCOTT grew up in a town so small it didn’t even have a post office, though it did boast an impressive cattle population. She’s sold hardware and panty hose and had a memorable three-day stint in the dot-com industry, where she learned that she really didn’t want a career burning CDs. She lives just outside Washington, D.C., with her husband, and firmly believes you can never own too many books.

And now, for the giveaway! Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway