Elizabeth Scott

I have a lot of favorite authors. Like, twenty: John Green, Maureen Johnson, Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Dessen, Jaclyn Moriarty, Lauren Myracle, Suzanne Collins, Melina Marchetta, and , to name a (many) few. If you personally have a favorite author, then you'll know that if they release a book every few years or even every other year, it can be torturous waiting. Even one a year is sometimes too much. This is one of the reasons why I first discovered Elizabeth Scott. A book review blogger noted that she writes a LOT of books, all of them good. I didn't start reading them until November, though, for some reason, when I read Something, Maybe. Readers of this blog will know that I enjoyed it greatly, and since I've read two of her other books, Love You Hate You Miss You and Living Dead Girl, and am currently reading Stealing Heaven and Perfect You. It is thus jaw-droppingly awesome that she is publishing 3 books this year, because I really like her work. Anyways, so this post is basically about her work.

It comes to you in 3 parts:

1. Love You Hate You Miss You

Today's review is Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott.




Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about 'my journey.' Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life," I like to think of an inspirational poem I heard not long ago... I don't think so.




LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU by Elizabeth Scott




2009, HarperTeen, 288p




buy at your local bookshoppes or at THE BIG A (link not provided, as I'm trying to break my Amazon addiction)




Notable awards: BBYA




Notable books by the author: Living Dead Girl; Stealing Heaven; Bloom; Something, Maybe; Perfect You




Summary: It's been 75 days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her. And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault. Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia. But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was--and the present deserves a chance too.




Review *mild spoilers*: LYHYMY was my 3rd Elizabeth Scott book, after Something, Maybe and Living Dead Girl. Those first two are, of course, vastly different, and I suppose that's why I wasn't certain what to expect from this one. After reading, I can say that it's quite close to the middle of the spectrum, because while definitely closer to the Living Dead Girl side, it doesn't get close. I mean, there's hope, you know? LHG was kind of...bleak...to say the least. Though it was good. But this isn't a LHG review in any case, so I digress.




I really liked this one. I only review books I like, it seems, partly because if I don't like a book I generally just don't finish it. You have no idea how many books fall through the cracks because a) they just don't interest me or b) they're terrible. [Hint: I check out maybe 10-15 books every time I go to the library, and I finish maybe seven to nine.] But I really did. Elizabeth Scott is an amazing writer, and I especially love the way she works delineation like a slave driver. Her characterization is eerily spot-on. The people in Amy's school could've been people from my school. Hell, during the scenes in classroom, I could picture them taking place in my English and Science classrooms, that's how real her characters are. Amy's wryly sardonic voice is strangely moving, and it's heartbreaking to read about how she blames herself for something that's not really her fault. The letters to Julia were alive with Amy's anguish and pain, and the way she blames herself for the accident is so freaking sad. The secondary characters were just as vivid, and though I would've liked to see Beth get hers, hopefully by MURDER, the ending was great.




Verdict: Painful, stark, yet ultimately hopeful, Love You Hate You Miss You is an amazing book in the vein of John Green's Looking for Alaska




Rating: 10.




Thoughts on the cover.









2.




On that note, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE UNWRITTEN RULE!

The Unwritten Rule is Elizabeth Scott's upcoming novel (March 16 from Simon Pulse) about a girl who likes her best friend's boyfriend. It's an intriguing premise, to say the least, and it's Elizabeth Scott. Who, if you haven't yet gotten it from my post, is amazing.

STUFF ABOUT THE UNWRITTEN RULE:

Here's a link to the info page: HERE

Additionally, you may want to visit Readergirlz, where Elizabeth is author in residence. I generally don't visit there much, but you might find it intriguing.

3. Mockingjay

This part isn't about ES, but it is about THG, a completely unrelated acronym.

If you haven't heard yet, it has been announced that the 3rd hunger games book will be called Mockingjay. Cover art and more info HERE.