Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Heartbeat
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publish Date: January 28, 2014
Source: Netgalley

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a YA fan.
• You don't mind tough subjects.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?"

My Two Cents:

"Heartbeat" is the story of Emma, a teen who just lost her mother... sort of. Her stepfather is keeping her mother on life support because she's pregnant with their child. Emma can't deal with not having closure. She's also falling for bad-boy Caleb, who's being ignored by his family and blamed for something he didn't do. This book definitely deals with some tough subjects and I liked it.

Probably the most interesting part of this book to me was watching how Emma deals with such a horrible situation. She doesn't really know what to make of the situation with her mother (and rightfully so). I thought that the author did a really good job of bringing all of those emotions to life.

I wasn't really sold on the whole love story. It grew on me eventually as we find out what is going on with Caleb's family and therefore get to understand him a little bit better. At first, the love story felt like a very typical good girl meets bad boy. It was also interesting to me that Emma was falling for Caleb as so much was going on with her own family.

Overall, I did really enjoy the story. I enjoyed that the book dealt with a serious subject and showed some real emotion!