I was provided a ebook copy by Harleqin Teen through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review
Release Date:
January 28th, 2014
Goodreads Summary:
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?
Review:
I requested Heartbeat because in the past I’ve enjoyed quite a few books by Ms. Scott. When I first started reading the book I had kind of regretted requesting a ARC of it because I saw Emma as whiny and just too full of grief to see anything. After the first 50 pages though, it picked up and boy am I happy I stuck it out at the beginning.
The raw feeling and emotion that is felt when you are reading the novel is intense. I feel like it’s more intense than the emotions felt when reading TFiOS. Emma is blinded by her grief and is practically alone. Her best friend Olivia tries to help her as much as she can, but Emma needs someone who can understand her grief and why she is so angry. Enter Caleb.
Caleb is also broken, but he has tried to put himself together as much as he can. He understands Emma. He is Emma’s wake up call making her see that life doesn’t get better or easier. You just learn to live with it and accept life, sour lemons and all. He basically tells her I can’t fix you nor do I know how to. I loved this because the guy doesn’t fix the girl, he is just there for moral support. Emma is the one who eventually finds a way to start living again.
Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the intensity of the emotions and how raw they felt. If you are a major crier, this might not be the book for you, but you can go ahead and give it a try.
The Talking Bookworm 