Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Release Date: May 24, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 256
Review Source: eARC from S & S GalleyGrab

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
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...

My Thoughts:
You should know something about me: I love Elizabeth Scott’s books. Like really, seriously love. She is definitely one of my favourite contemporary YA authors, so I was thrilled to be able to read this one early through GalleyGrab. When I started this one I just fell into the story right away with an emotional response. I was so frustrated with the main character, Abby. For the most part she’s not someone whose thoughts it is pleasant to read about. I hated how much Abby hated herself. I just wanted to give her a wake up call. It was so counter-intuitive how all she wanted was her life to be about more than her sister, and yet all she did was compare herself to Tess. It was strange to me that Abby would be so blinded that she would idolize Tess and put her up on a pedestal when Tess was clearly a very troubled person who treated a lot of people badly.

It’s clear that frustration was what I felt as I read this book. The self-deprecation that Abby always shared openly was painful to read about. She always assumed the worst and interrupted people in order to put herself down. This was insanely hard to get through, but thankfully Abby (very slowly) begins to see herself in a different light. Eli is a character who helps Abby see that she’s worth something, and that she’s separate from her sister, in a positive way. Eli was completely precious. His life was not without its own hardships -- in fact, it was pretty tough, but this helps Abby to see that what others see as perfection (as she views both Eli and her sister) isn’t always so.

This was a bit of a tough read, but well worth getting through. I so appreciate how Elizabeth Scott can write practically every type of book out there and do it well. If you’re looking for an emotional story about family, loss, and acceptance, I definitely suggest you pick this one up. My joy at reading Elizabeth's lovely prose far outweighs the frustration I felt with Abby.

Rating:
[4/5]

Find Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca