Between Here and Forever Review

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Title: Between Here and Forever
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: May 24, 2011
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 256
Source: S&S Galley Grab

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...
Abby feels like she's always been living in a shadow. Tess had this personality that drew people in, and Abby always felt she lived in her shadow. She'd never be as pretty, or smart or athletic, or so she thought. But when an accident leaves Tess in a coma, Abby is left wondering where her place actually is. She's always been Tess's little sister - how can she live without that defining her life? Abby is positive there is a secret switch to wake Tess up though, and she's confident in her happy ending. The thing is...Abby never really knew the real Tess, and the real Tess might not just wake up how Abby wants her to.

Between Here and Forever is (I confess) my first taste of the contemporary author phenomenon that is Elizabeth Scott. Before you stone me in the street, please remember that contemps have never been my thing, so I always avoided such stories like the plague. Between Here and Forever portrays a heavy balance of character arcs, stunning revelations and plot points that fuel Abby's story forward from the first page to the last. With carefully crafted characters and strong emotions, Between Here and Forever is the embodiment of a story with a stunning twist that will leave the reader speechless.

I loved the writing style of Between Here and Forever. The writing is clear and succinct, the prose isn't flowery or overdone and the tone is accessible. I think that's the true strength of the book. That said, I'm going to have to throw this out there - I am so dang sick of self-deprecating female protagonists in contemporary fiction. I desperately wanted Abby to step out of her shell and come into her own in Between Here and Forever, but she seemed to just have this "woe is me" attitude throughout the entire story. She always made snide little comments about how ugly she was, or how stupid she was, or how she could never be like Tess. Ok, cool, we all have self-loathing moments, but it was so over-dramatic. I wanted to punch her in the face. I will, however, say that the revelation about the truth of Tess's character managed to save Between Here and Forever for me. The one thing I felt lacked in the story was more development of Eli's character. I felt he was a bit of a shadow lurking behind Abby's overdone hatred of herself. That said though, the sweet romance on the story was simple and believable, so that, too, was a good thing.

All in all, Between Here and Forever is a good read, and the author is a fabulous writer. I loved the voice, and truly it was just the main character that drove me mad in the end. I give it a 4 out of 5 for the writing and the overall story, subtracting only for Abby's ridiculousness and not knowing enough about Eli. I would recommend this one to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy contemporary fiction.

I received this eARC free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

25 comments:

  1. I am sick of self-deprecating female protagonists too. It's hard to feel sorry for a character when he/she is constantly whining.
    I haven't tried any Elizabeth Scott books till now; I think I will start with some of her other books and come to this later.

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  2. It has been a while since I have read one of Scott's novels, and while I am not a huge fan of self-deprecating protagonists either, I am surprised that you gave this a 4 out 5 rating, which tells me tht the writing and story does over come this flaw. Great review.

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  3. I love Elizabeth Scott but Abby's whining annoyed me too which is why I didn't like this one as much as some of Scott's other books.

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  4. I starting this tonight. I love Elizabeth's prose too - simple yet elegant. Definitely one of my favourite writers. Great review :)

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  5. I think the way she acts would bother me too. I do not people who whine now and again but she just seems to do it too much

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  6. Either a book works or not - the fact that you are courageous enough to try a genre you are not sure about I find very appealing. I do the same. If the writting was so good as you state, I might be tempted. Great review!

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  7. Feel the same way you do about the female characters! And I also like Elizabeth Scott's writing style. There's something so simple about it, but it flows just right you just can't help but read it.

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  8. It's always frustrating when a character is so down on herself. But that does seem quite realistic for a teenager. It's hard to view the thoughts most of us had when we were young from the outside looking in.
    This book sounds like a story that's been done and done again, but if anyone can do it well, it's Elizabeth Scott.

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  9. I love this author and this book! To me this book hit so many areas in my life. I am a really harsh critic when it comes to myself,so I related to the character right away. Nice review!

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  10. oh i love this review

    and i am so glad you liked the book as i have had mixed reviews but am determined to love it as i ADORE Elizabeth scott.

    my fave book of hers is STEALING HEAVEN. i really think you'd love it :) it's got an oder YA vibe with the MC being 18 and the love interest being 20 :)

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  11. Don't worry Melissa, I'll be getting stoned in the street along with you, I haven't read anything by this author either:( I suck.

    I'm with you on the self-deprecating female characters, they always tend to grate on me after a while and I want to reach in and slap them out of their funk. I definitely want to read about this stunning twist though, that alone is enough to make me want to pick this one up!

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  12. Between Here and Forever sounds great! I love what you said about Elizabeth Scott's writing style. I'm glad she impresses in her latest book! Great review! :)

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  13. Haha! "Woe is me," indeed. You crack me up, Melissa.

    It is with a Shameface that I admit to never having read Scott either, but I plan to soon, I just may not start with this book.

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  14. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I love Elizabeth Scott but this is by far my least favorite of her books. One thing I really liked about the book was Eli's "flaw". It's so easy to judge people by the way they look and I really liked that this physcially perfect guy had a huge "flaw". Goes to show you know nothing about another person's personal struggles. But I'm with you on Abby's attitude!

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  15. I don't agree with you that Abby was ridiculous and I don't think she was all that over-dramatic either. For me, I though it was definitely real and relatable, and that's what I liked about it the most. Abby lived in Tess's shadow for so long, that I'm not even a little bit surprised that she ended up feeling that way about herself for so long, I think that towards the end of she book she was starting to try and really break out of that shell and maybe that's something we should take away from the book. As far as Eli and not knowing enough about him, the book was mostly about Abby and what was going on with Tess, so I didn't mind that there wasn't any more than we were given on him.

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  16. YAY, now read the rest :) ps. did you get my email?

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  17. Nice review -- makes me just curious enough about the book to grab it from the library. :)

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  18. Ugh I wanted to punch Abby too. She was so negative it was getting me down. This was my first Elizabeth Scott book too though, and I did like the writing, so I'll be checking out her other books.

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  19. I would have loved more Eli! Many people couldn't stand Abby in this book and I understand that, I was able to get over it. I'm glad you liked it! :)

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  20. I haven't read this one yet. I did read Love You, Hate You, Miss You and as I remember, the character was a bit mopey and down on herself, but she'd lost her best friend in a drunk driving accident. She felt so guilty about it that I thought she had a right to feel that way. But she grows in the book from the mopey woe is me girl to someone that can hold her head up. If you read it, you'd be really surprised at the twists in the plot. I listened to it on audio and enjoyed it. (I'm having a hard time enjoying audio books.)

    Heather

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  21. Oh I don't know if I could stand Abby, and if Eli needs more development... but the story sounds interesting... oh I'm on the fence. I may try this one from the library.

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  22. I've never read an Elizabeth Scott book either but it's good to hear that you enjoyed her writing. I keep saying that I need to read more contemps, so maybe I should get around to that. Great review!

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  23. Love Elizabeth Scott! I haven't read this one, though. Thanks for the review!

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  24. I really must get this book. I've not read a book by Elizabeth Scott either and I keep hearing such good things about her.

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  25. It was a good book, it surprised me, I have read things by Scott before and I was exepecting this one not to disapoint me and it didn´t. But, yeah Abby was exasperating sometimes and I agree that we shoul have known more about Eli (<3)
    Nice review ^^

    -Mariana S
    http://smartgirls-read.blogspot.com/

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