I won this book through a contest at Teenreads.com, so a big thank you to everyone over there! I kind of totally forgot about entering the contest and was pleasantly surprised one night to come home and find this awesome book in my mailbox. Here’s my review of Elizabeth Scott’s novel Heartbeat: :)
Mourning and sadness take many forms, but author Elizabeth Scott’s stunningly honest and emotional portrayal of her narrator Emma’s grief over the death of her mother in her novel Heartbeat is a refreshing new voice in young adult fiction.
However, Emma isn’t only suffering the loss of her mother, she’s also suffering from what she perceives to be her step-dad selfishly keeping her mother alive to potentially save her unborn half-brother. This twist in the story turns Scott’s novel from an average story about loss into an innovative and heart-wrenching tale about a girl fighting to overcome her loss while also struggling to accept the new life that will soon enter her family. Having seen similar stories on the news in the past about women being kept on life support to deliver their children, it’s awesome to see YA authors finding the teen voices in these clips of coverage we see everyday.
Emma’s narration is direct and honest, although it can feel overly simple and redundant at times. She doesn’t waste time with metaphors or indirect ways of expressing how she feels, which amplifies the raw emotion of the story. Readers will be able to feel Emma’s anger, frustration, sadness and loneliness through the pages. They will also be able to see how she progresses through the process of mourning with the help of a complicated relationship with neighborhood bad boy Caleb and her best friend Olivia. By the end, readers will feel satisfied with the outcome of the journey they have seen Emma endure.
Scott creates a cast of characters that are simultaneously relatable and quirky in their own ways. Olivia, Emma’s devoted best friend, is repulsed by modern technology, opting to write school papers on a typewriter and use encyclopedias instead of Internet research. Caleb, haunted by the death of his sister, is driven to commit dangerous crimes. However, Emma sometimes falls into the background of her own story as her life is defined by the loss of her mother, her apathy about her schoolwork, her anger towards her step-dad and little else.
Dialogue, though, is the strength of this novel. The way the characters speak to each other in Heartbeat is remarkably accurate and natural. Through Emma’s conversations with Olivia, Caleb and Dan she changes and learns about herself, her mom, life and death.
Another strong element of Heartbeat was the romance between Caleb and Emma. Scott transforms the classic bad boy stereotype to have Caleb reflect the devastation Emma feels from losing her mother. The result is an endearing romance stemming from mutual loss that readers will root for.
Heartbeat is an emotional and endearing tale about a girl’s journey from grief to hope. It provides an honest portrayal of grief at a young age, of the search for why and how to move on. This beautiful and well-written story also exceptionally demonstrates the importance of friends and family in difficult times. It also shows that, while not everyone should drop concerns about school completely like Emma, in the long run those assignments and papers aren’t worth excessively stressing over. The memories we have with the people we love are far more important.
While Heartbeat is definitely geared towards teen girls, readers of any age and gender will be able to appreciate Emma’s story and will enjoy making the journey alongside her.
4/5
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