Emma's mother is dead. That's what she knows even though her
stepfather, Dan, has her kept alive through machines to save
his precious baby son still growing in her belly. Emma used
to love Dan like a father, but now she can't stand him or
her tremendous grief that threatens to break her. Just when
it seems like nothing can help, rumored bad boy Caleb
Harrison comes into the picture. He might just be the only
person who can understand what's she's feeling. Emma has to
discover through him and her soon-to-be baby brother what
being alive really means.
HEARTBEAT by Elizabeth Scott is one of the most moving and
beautiful novels about grief that I have ever read. Emma's
narration grips your heart from the first page, and it
doesn't let up for a second. Her voice is unique and
captures the horrible tragedy of losing someone you love in
a way that forces you to read into all hours of the night
trying, hoping, and praying to find a happier moment for
Emma on the next page. Amidst her grief and through her
slow-moving, but extremely powerful conversations with
Caleb, Emma's personality shines off the page with the all
the hurt, hope, loneliness, and strength she exhibits. The
depth of her relationship with Caleb just makes you want to
wrap them both in a hug.
Another enjoyable aspect to this story is in the secondary
character of Emma's best friend, Olivia. I like how Scott
shows her as an exceptional friend, but also a realistic
one. She isn't afraid to tell Emma what she's feeling, but
she also worries about her more than she lets on. I love the
little details about her own life, and I think she should
get a best friend award for being so patient.
HEARTBEAT is an exceptional book from beginning to end, and
if you enjoy deep, moving YA like Katie McGarry and John
Green, then I would highly recommend this.
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?