I've been reading some fairly heavy chunksters this year. So when one of my reps gave me a ARC of Elizabeth Scott's latest YA book this week, I found myself drawn in.Heart Beat is full of teen angst & issues a la Jodi Picoult.
Emma's voice feels authentic and likeable despite her pain and anger and grief.
Her mother has just died, but is being kept 'alive' on life support for the sake of an unborn baby.
Emma feels left out of the decision making process and becomes estranged from her step-father.
Her anger becomes self-destructive as she gradually fails her subjects at school & begins hanging out with the wrong kind of people, including bad boy Caleb.Emma's voice gets a little annoying by the end & it seems to take her a long time to work out a few home truths, but hey, most people I know fail to see what's right under their noses in the real world!
You can probably predict how this will end, but the predictable happy ending doesn't stop this book from being an entertaining, issue-based story with a little romance.
Heart Beat is due for release in March through Harlequin Australia.