Elizabeth Scott (1) (1972–)

Elizabeth Scott is a genius. A literary genius. I’ve read some of Elizabeth’s other titles, and I find myself wondering, how can these be written by the same person. And I don’t mean that in a Stephenie Meyer/[b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)|Stephenie Meyer|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416pfGGLM0L._SL75_.jpg|2960529] way. To have that kind of diverse talent, it is simply effing amazing. I read this book in one setting. It is truly powerful. show more The emotion– sadness, despair it’s so apparent it’s freaky. How can I say that I loved a book about abduction, sexual abuse, and suffering? Why do you look out your car window when you drive by the scene of an accident, do you want to see a dead, possibly mutilated body? But I did, I loved it. It was a masterpiece. And not because of what it was about, but because of how it made me feel. It’s gripping, enthralling and completely horrifying. The most disturbing parts aren’t even written, but left to the reader to fill in the sickening details. I’ve read suggestions that this book shouldn’t be targeted to a teen audience. Why? Because ignorance is bliss? Because we don’t need to add to the things that teenagers are desensitized from? Don’t worry if you ignore the situation it will go away. That’s how our society deals with those things, right? Just sweep it under the rug. No one will have to know that the world is a dirty place. Do you ever have one of those moments where you want to let out a good frustrated scream... yeah, this is one of those times.... Elizabeth Scott you’re my hero. show less

Heartbeat: Enamoramiento y Decepciones (4.5)

Heartbeat cuenta la historia de una chica de 17 años, Emma. Emma era una chica muy estudiosa, disciplinada y responsable; era una "rompe-curva". Su madre se había vuelto a casar hacía un par de años con Dan, un buen hombre, y ahora -después de mucho trabajo, pastillas y visitas al doctor-, está embarazada a sus cuarenta y tantos años (nunca se menciona su edad exacta). Al ser una persona en sus 40, su embarazo es de alto riesgo y un día show more pasa algo inevitable e inesperado: una vena explota en el cerebro de la madre de Emma mientras sacaba una tostada de la tostadora para desayunar. Ahí es cuando todo empieza a ponerse mal.
Su madre muere, pero Dan decide mantenerla "viva" artificialmente con el uso de máquinas para que el bebé que está en su vientre pueda nacer. Pero Emma no puede perdonar esto. Es debido al bebé que su mamá murió, ¡¿y ahora para colmo mantienen a su madre "viva" por ÉL?!
Heartbeat muestra el proceso de aceptación, sanación y perdón que tiene que pasar Emma para sobreponerse a-pero no olvidar- la muerte de su madre.
Muestra su odio, su llanto, su tristeza, sus remordimientos, sus alegrías, sus locuras, sus arrepentimientos, muestra... todo. El libro es simplemente hermoso.
Tal vez parezca que amo el libro o soy una súper fan, pero no es así. Apenas lo leí ayer (bueno, esta madrugada) y realmente ODIÉ a la protagonista. Ella es tan... urgh! Pero, el libro simplemente me llegó y, aunque la odiaba, puedo entender por qué hacía lo que hacía. Tal vez si estuviera pasando por eso haría algunas de las cosas que ella hizo, aunque le pido a Dios que me mantenga a mi madre aquí un buen tiempito.
En fin, es un libro que me tocó muy profundo, tanto en el lado de amor familiar como en el amor romántico. Es un libro muy bueno, si puedes leerlo en algún momento, llorarás, te enamorarás e incluso tal vez rías un poco en ciertas partes, así que 99% recomendado. Y ese 1% que falta es por culpa de mi odio inicial a Emma. show less

The story of my life can be told in silver: in chocolate mills, serving spoons, and services for twelve. The story of my life has nothing to do with me. The story of my life is things. Things that aren't mine, that won't ever be mine. It's all I've ever known.

Danielle's first memory is of waiting outside a lavish house for her mother to return with stolen goods. As a child, she learns when to wait quietly for her mother and father to finish burglarizing the homes of the rich. As she grows show more up, instead of attending a normal school and having a regular life, Danielle is schooled in the art of thieving and soon makes her mother an accomplished accomplice. Her mother only believes in the value of what she can hold in her hands, but at the age of eighteen Danielle doesn't share the thrill her mother gets from stealing, instead longing for the normal life and normal relationships she has been missing out on for her entire life. Little does Danielle know as they enter the small beach town of Heaven with their eyes set on its lavish estates, that her life is about to change in more ways than she could have imagined.

First, there's the guy that seems to pop up everywhere she goes - a cop named Greg. Despite her fear of what he is, Danielle can't seem to stop talking to him and soon even tells him her real name, a massive faux pas for a traveling thief. Then there's Allison, a rich but friendly inhabitant of one of the very houses Danielle's mother is looking to rob. As Danielle probes her for valuable information she finds that Allison doesn't seem like the type of person she'd like to rob but the type of person maybe she'd like to have as a friend, that is, if she was allowed to make friends. All of this and her constant reservations about her mother's choice of "career" make Danielle begin to reconsider the path her life is taking and consider that maybe she isn't so powerless to change her situation as she had always thought.

Stealing Heaven is an engaging read about a girl who wants nothing more than what most teenage girls have - a school, a friend, a boyfriend, stuff that belongs to her instead of to someone else. Scott captures Dani's longings for all these things and her mother's total lack of understanding of why anyone would ever want the things that Dani wants. The conflict between Dani's love and loyalty to her mother and her desire for a different kind of life is realistically drawn. The lush beach town of Heaven comes to life and it's hard not to love its friendly citizens and understand why Dani would desperately want to trade in her unusual way of life for a place among Heaven's population. Stealing Heaven strikes a good balance between the more fluffy parts of the book and more serious issues such as Dani's questions about the morality of stealing from the very rich, the difference between love and sex, and even the prospect of losing a loved one to cancer. This is a quick read about growing up and learning that it's never too late and you're never too powerless to make the decisions that can change the circumstances of your life. show less

UGH. I never had any intention of reading this book until Bitch Magazine posted a list of Feminist YA books on their website this weekend and, much to my surprise, this was on it. I questioned its place on the list, a staffer said they'd look into it, and I second guessed myself. Turns out I was right the first time: this isn't feminist at all. What's more, I'd say that this is the literary equivalent of torture porn, except worse than anything you'll actually ever see on the big screen; show more this book has no redeeming social value whatsoever.

(Edited a week later to add some thoughts I've better developed since discussing with librarian buddies who both love and hate this book.)

I can't deny that this book will appeal to horror-hungry teens, and as a librarian I have to give it credit for that. But frankly, it is ONLY as a genre horror novel that I can give it credit. Same way I don't want to watch Hostel, I don't want to read books like this. Clearly some people do, so however much I personally might have hated the experience of reading it, I can accept that this is a different strokes kind of thing. But I have a real problem with this book being marketed as anything other than horror. It SHOCKS me that anyone could call this a feminist work.

Does it make sense to say that the bleakness of this book makes it pointless? I just wonder, what does a teen reader, or any reader, have to hold onto at the end? Kyla is already apparently damaged beyond repair when the book begins, completely broken and tragic, but well on her way to monstrous, too: using her own sexuality to control others who she perceives as being weak; viciously mean when she has the opportunity to be; positively gleeful over the thought of freeing herself at the cost of another girl's freedom. It seems to me that with the ending she gives us, Scott lazily skirts around the possibility of recovery, of any possible empowerment or justice. And I'm not someone who thinks every book should have a happy (or even optimistic) ending, I just think that THIS book becomes pointless without one. There's no story here -- this is a completely bleak and voyeuristic snapshot of horrific abuse and NOTHING ELSE, merely something you tell little girls to scare them into submission. I think, in the end, a reader has nothing to gain from this book except for a good scare (which it certainly delivers), and I think that does discredit it, pretty much entirely, as a piece of serious literary fiction.

I will say that I thought Scott's writing was much, much better here than in the very boring and awkward Perfect You (except for the dialog, which this author cannot write at all).

But all in all I was happier person before I read this, and the world was probably a better place before it was written. Yuck. A million yucks. I want a shower.

For a better, smarter captor/captive book, try Room. For a better, smarter abuse book, try Push. show less