Review by Alex: Love You Hate You Miss You

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life" . . . I don't think so.

It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her.

And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you.

They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault.

Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia.

But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was-and the present deserves a chance too.

Now, Lauren's already reviewed this... almost a month ago. So I'm a little late. Oh well!

First Impression: It's Elizabeth Scott! Going to be nice smooth writing, interesting, good romance.

But it was more than my expectations. Love You Hate You Miss You is darker than most of Elizabeth Scott's other novels, except for probably Living Dead Girl. I say probably because I haven't actually read the latter, but judging from the description, I'm guessing it is.

Love You Hate You Miss You reminded me a lot of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (which I'm listening to on audio). It has the main girl's friend die and so the girl is messed up. Both have problems, Lia in Wintergirls with anorexia, Amy with drinking. They both had to deal with parents who didn't care before, and now after the death of their best friend, their parents are overbearing.

One of the best things I find with Elizabeth Scott is her unusual family relationship. I've heard of parents neglecting their child because they hate each other's guts, but the parents loving each other too much to pay attention to their child? Very original. I've never read anything like that. There's tons of other types of relationships too: Amy's friendship with Julia that may not have been a good influence, her tentative new friendships with others, and even some romance! Of course.


As usual, the writing is wonderful and smooth. I did find some parts weird where it changes from the normal past tense to present tense though. It was always just a paragraph, and it through me off. I think I would have preferred the whole book to be past tense. Regardless, very nice writing, as to be expected from Elizabeth Scott.


Amy's a great character, full of raw pain and angst. She's confused, lonely, and often angry at the world. As Lauren, said, you do grow to love her. I loved her from the beginning, because I tend to always like the messed up and angry, sarcastic girls. :D Boys too actually. Just characters in general because those are always the most interesting.


I found the plot to be a little predictable, not really new or unique, but loveable and bringing new life anyway.


Final Impressions: Wonderful! Great book. Probably my favourite by Elizabeth Scott because it's a little darker. :) You should go read it now! Especially if you're a fan of Elizabeth Scott or of Wintergirls. Actually, you've probably already read it since it's been out for a few months now...


Favourite Character: Amy! I enjoyed a lot of the other characters too, but probably Amy's my favourite. Her parents come right after. xD


5/6!

Review by Lauren - Love You Hate You Miss You

Love You, Hate You, Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life" . . . I don't think so.

It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her.
And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you.
They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault.

Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia.
But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance too.

When I first started reading this book, I was sor tof disappointed - I wanted another Perfect You or Stealing Heaven and instead I start reading about dead best friends, rehab, drugs, and all I wanted was a cute little story with some minor plot twists - but slowly, things started to change. By the end of Love You Hate You Miss You, I couldn't think of anything wrong with it.

You grow to love Amy, and although I didn't like her at first because she was really closed off and angry - which is totally understandable but still... - seeing her recovery, getting back into real life and growing as a person really drew me in. Usually, I have a hard time enjoying a story without that whole romance thing, but even though it was barely there in the book, it was right. Amy wasn't ready for the whole intense relationship thing, but it worked.

I also enjoyed the alternating between narration and Amy's letters to Julia and how their relationship changes through the letters - in the beginning, they were her only way of venting but as the book ends, she can barely write to her anymore. I guess what I found enjoyable was seeing Amy finally get her life together even though it was the result of tragedy.

6/6!

♥ Lauren

Review by Alex- Something, Maybe

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott


I wonder what it would be like to do high school things. To go out on the weekends. To kiss a guy. To have a normal life. A real one.

Everyone thinks their parents are embarrassing, but Hannah knows she's got them all beat. Her dad made a fortune showcasing photos of pretty girls and his party lifestyle all over the Internet, and her mom was once one of her dad's girlfriends and is now the star of her own website. After getting the wrong kind of attention for way too long, Hannah has mastered the art of staying under the radar...and that's just how she likes it.

Of course, that doesn't help her get noticed by her crush. Hannah's sure that gorgeous, sensitive Josh is her soul mate. But trying to get him to notice her; wondering why she suddenly can't stop thinking about another guy, Finn; and dealing with her parents make Hannah feel like she's going crazy. Yet she's determined to make things work out the way she wants -- only what she wants may not be what she needs....

I did like this book. And I love Elizabeth Scott. Both Lauren and I agree that Perfect You is the best, although Bloom comes a close second for me. Lauren didn't read Bloom since her name is the name of the protagonist and her brother's name is the name of the love interest. XD Such a coincidence, it's absolutely hilarious. I get such a laugh out of it.

Anyway, Something, Maybe was incredibly cute and sweet and adorable and all those nice adjectives that I love to use. It's a light, warm and happy feeling read. It's interesting and nice, but there's nothing groundbreaking. Love triangls populate almost every romance novel. And well, parents are always problems. Although, yeah, I have to admit, Hannah does have embarrasing parents. Mostly her father. Her mother isn't really so bad, she does what she does (which is wearing very minimal clothing for a legion of drooling men on the internet), but she's good and kind. Her father, on the other hand, is 72 years old and such a jerk. I'm not too sure jerk is the right word, but her father is definitely not... suited to be father I guess. He should be a grandfather at his age. I just find it extremely icky to think of Hannah's mom at age 21 and Jackson, her dad, in his 50s, together. Just... eew.

I found that probably, I'd describe most scenes in Something, Maybe as both corny and sweet. It just depends on if the scene's more corny than sweet, or vice-versa. Hannah's attempted heart to hearts with her dad Jackson are more corny than sweet, but I'm going to say that most interactions between Hannah and Finn are sweet rather than corny.

Let's see... the characters now. Hannah, I wasn't too fond of. I found her wishywashy with her crush on Josh. And the fact that she thought she was soulmates with him was just so... stupid. I could say naive but really, I think stupid fits Hannah more. I do think she was brave and strong at times, but most, she just kind of annoyed me. And she was so oblivious to Finn, it hurt. It truly did. I sometimes wanted to shake her to make Hannah open her eyes somehow to Finn. Or at least accept some of her feelings. On the topic of Finn... drroool. XD I adore Finn. He's hands down my favourite character in this novel. He's very... boy, with some disgusting eating habits, but he's not a jerk, even though he tends to be surrounded by them (friends, in other words). He blushes constantly, and rambles. A lot. This must mean me and him are soul mates right? We both ramble waay too much. XD

If you just read quickly through this book, it's like, oh, yay, romance. Dysfunctional family, uh huh. Seen this, read this, whatever. But get closer, and it really is good. It's layered, and the character's aren't always cardboard cutout stereotypes. I got sucked in while reading the second half of the book. Not superduper sucked in, omg, can't put this down, but sucked in nonetheless, and was able to finish this in a day. Granted, it's not a long book but... whatever. I still get koodos.

I read half this book in a kind of bad mood, so I guess my opinion isn't completed untainted, and solely on the content of the book... but oh well. I can't help it. My reviews can't be like that- because of course I am swayed by my emotions all the time. So while I did get a little annoyed by the predictableness of this book, it's still a nice read. Nothing amazing, nothing new, but nice.

4/6 I guess.