Saturday, April 12, 2014

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott – The Shortest Space Between Life and Death

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heartbeat-elizabeth-scott/1114668458?ean=9780373210961
 
Pro: The kind of book that isn’t afraid to tear deep into grief
Con: A lot of repetition in places; takes some time to get rolling

Bottom Line:  If you’re not looking for something bright and perky, here you go – it’s like a really simplified Jodi Picoult book. 

The cover of this book caught my eye (which is what all authors hope their covers do), and then the inside flap summary pulled me in. It’s certainly not a very long story, and though the concept the story is based on has been proven not to really work, we’ll skip all that and just go with suspension of disbelief.
 
Emma’s mom is dead. The baby her mother was carrying is not. So for the sake of the baby, her mother’s body is kept functioning until the baby can be born. This isn’t something Emma wanted or asked for – to see her dead mother every day. After all, how can she let go when even her mother isn’t allowed to? She blames a lot of things – especially Dan, her stepfather who made the decision without even asking what Emma thought. But things seem to change a little when the local druggie/badboy Caleb somehow gets into her life. Loss is something he understands more than anyone else around her, and perhaps with his help Emma will learn how to live again.
 
This is a book that is absolutely full of grief and isn’t afraid to pull any punches about it. It’s kind of like a teen Jodi Picoult or even Kristen Hannah in some ways, where everyone is so sad all the time and so angry about the things that are happening to them. To be honest, I didn’t expect that much depression and grief to be crammed into one teen book – and not even a long one at that.
 
At the same time, I think because of this book’s length and subject matter, that’s probably why after the first 30-50 pages or so I started to get irritated and a little bored because all we get is Emma being mad about her mom being dead. At one point I actually started to wonder that if I were to use the Ctrl+F function on the book, just how many times would the words “mom’s dead” show up. I kind of feel like a jerk saying this, but it got to the point for a bit there when I wanted Emma to get over it, grow up, communicate with her stepfather Dan, and stop being such a, well, a whiny teen about it. Emma kept assuming throughout the entire book that Dan just wanted the baby and didn’t care one whit about her mother, although through memories Emma brings up it’s very, very clear that Dan cared and still does. But she’s so stuck in her beliefs that she refuses to see it. Frankly, I wanted Dan to finally lose his cool at Emma, but he never does and instead always remains soft and attempts to be helpful to absolutely no avail.
 
Things did finally start to pick up, though, so the book became interesting again since we weren’t constantly hearing about how much it sucked that mom was dead and Dan only wanted the baby. Caleb coming into play wasn’t as intricate as I thought it might be – you quickly realize what his deal is, why he isn’t so bad, and why he’s the only one that “gets it.” He’s got his own scarred past and his parents certainly don’t help – although I find their actions a bit unrealistic, and what Emma finds in Caleb’s house only adds to the never-ending theme of sadness and anger so dark it’s like a black pit without a bottom.
 
Characters do sort out most of their issues, grow, and move forward, which was good to see. You also do finally realize Emma has other issues besides just hating on Dan for wanting the baby (although she never does seem to fully acknowledge that Dan is in just as much pain as her, if not more). And I did cry near the end because saying goodbye sucks no matter what. While Emma isn’t back to fully normal, at least she – and maybe Caleb too – are on their way as long as they stick together.
 
Not a bad book, overall, but it’s not going to become a favorite any time soon. I expected a little less anger and hate (at one point I did think of Yoda and how anger leads to hate and giggled a bit) throughout the book, thinking perhaps it might have more of a focus on Emma and Caleb, but no dice. Still, if this sounds like your kind of book then it’s worth the read. I’m off to go read something with a bit more pep in its step.


 Notes from the playlist: "A Father's Wish" by Randy Edelman

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