Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Heartbeat
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Published January 28th 2014 by Harlequin Teen
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Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
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Heartbeat was my first experience with a book by Elizabeth Scott. I am kind of ashamed of myself for never trying out anything by her because I absolutely loved her newest story Heartbeat.

I was super excited to read this book because I’ve never read something quite like this before. I mean you hear of “issue” books but it’s not often that said issue is having to deal with an unborn baby alive inside of your brain-dead mother’s uterus. I know, I know, you can say whatever you think it’s right and we can definitely argue about our opinions but when you have a relationship like the one Emma and her mother had, the decision is way more difficult than you would think.

I got Emma, I really did. I don’t think there’s another human being I love more than my mother, and what happens to Emma is so terrible I understood perfectly was she was so angry and confused and I couldn’t judge her or blame her. I just let her be herself.

However, everything was so ridiculously heartbreaking that I didn’t know who to feel most sorry for; Emma with her dead mother or Dan with the decision to save the baby at all costs, and of course, Caleb and the tragic story of his sister and his own relationship (or lack thereof) with his parents.

The important thing though, is that no matter how depressing a life can get, this book talks about finding hope in the unexpected, and seeking solace in the arms of the ones that were always there too. And Scott did a marvelous job in making me believe that these people really did get that, and not only said things to wrap up the book nicely. Very moving story that made me reconsider the side I thought I stood on my whole life.