Between Here and Forever [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Scott (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 24, 2011

Abby accepted that she can't measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby's life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it's nothing compared to living without her.

She's got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she'd never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn't always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Scott's messages--that it's quite possible to break your own heart and that everyone deserves love--will resonate strongly with teens navigating their own first romances."


--Booklist

"Compulsively readable, this novel will appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman."

--SLJ

"An emotionally wrenching exploration of hope, acceptance, and pride, and Scott’s messages—that it’s quite possible to break your own heart and that everyone deserves love—will resonate strongly with teens navigating their own first romances.

--Booklist

"Teens who like other realistic dramas will enjoy this book, and underdogs will root for Abby as she discovers her own sense of self-worth." --VOYA

"The author creates well-developed characters in Abby, Eli and, eventually, in Tess, as Abby learns much more about her sister than she ever had expected to know. Supporting characters, too, easily stand out as real individuals.... Abby’s emotional growth from her experiences, conversations and introspection...will satisfy many teen readers." --Kirkus

About the Author

Elizabeth Scott is the author of Bloom, Perfect You, Living Dead Girl, Something Maybe, The Unwritten Rule, Between Here and Forever, and Miracle, among others. She lives with her husband just outside Washington, D.C., and firmly believes you can never own too many books. Visit her online at ElizabethWrites.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (May 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141699484X
• ISBN-13: 978-1416994848
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #785,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hey there, I'm Elizabeth. I write young adult novels. I've had a bunch of jobs over the years--I've sold pantyhose, hardware, and once spent three days burning cds during the dot.com boom (worst. job. ever.)--but hands down, writing is the best! You can read lots more about my books at my website, http://www.elizabethwrites.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet book! June 6, 2011

By Savannah (Books With Bite)

Format:Hardcover

What I like most about this book was the plot. I like that when I read a book, that I can connect with the characters and really get in their shoes. I love to feel their feelings and see their thoughts. Ms. Scott delivered such a great book that did just that. Not only was breathless reading this book, the plot was amazing.

Abby is you type of girl who lives in the shadow of her pretty, older, sisters. I just hate how insecure she it about herself. She see herself as nothing. A nobody. Someone who would never get a second glance at. While I was annoyed with Abby that she carried this trait so harshly, I see how the plot and her sister Tess will change of all that.

The plot was amazing. Everyone has secrets and no one is perfect. NO ONE! So imagined Abby who has seen her sister Tess as the golden one. The one who gets every boy, who has perfect hair and skin, who gets good grades. Abby learns more about her sister while she is in a coma than while she is alive. And learning this secrets helps Abby realize that no one is perfect.

The love interest in this book I thought was good. I felt for Eli and how he tried to communicate with Abby. Abby was just so into bring herself down that she never saw him. I'm glad that Eli was a good guy that saw Abby, re ally saw her. I was happy that Abby was once and for all, able to see herself.

Between Here and Forever, is a sweet, enduring book. I love the idea self-discovering of one's self, by learning someone's else's mistake. Sometimes it just takes more for us to see our self in the real light then the one we've been casting our self.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story and writing, disliked main character November 3, 2011

By Hannah @ Paperback Treasures

Format:Hardcover

I was really excited to read this book. It's Elizabeth Scott (one of my favorite authors) and the story sounded amazing - grief, figuring out who you are, and romance are some of my favorite topics for books, and for some reason I love reading about sisters. And while I still loved the writing and tone of the Between Here and Forever (there's just somehting about Elizabeth Scott's writing), this book fell short of my expectations.

My main problem with Between Here and Forever is the main character, Abby. I tried to feel her pain and her struggle with Tess being in a coma. But... her insecurites really got on my nerves. I can't really explain why - usually I'm fine with characters that are very self-conscious, since I'm that way too. Abby's insecurities, though, are more than even I can handle. I can understand her being self-conscious because she's had to live in Tess's shadow for all her life, but her unwillingness to believe anyone could ever like her was overdone, in my opinion. How she kept talking about how unworthy of love is out loud to other people struck me as strange, too. Maybe that's just me, but I'm insecure about my insecurities, too - I don't want people to know how much I doubt myself. That aspect really annoyed me, and when I can't relate to the main character, I feel somewhat removed from the whole story and can't really enjoy the book.

I also thought it was strange how Abby was so sure Tess was going to wake up and everything was going to go back to the way things were. Yeah, maybe she was in denial, but after a while shouldn't she have thought about Tess not waking up, or about Tess waking up but not being the same and not being able to go back to living her old life? The fact that Abby never doubted everything would go back to normal means that the issue of whether or not to continue life support was never addressed, and that really disappointed me, since that's a topic that fascinates me.

The secondary characters, though, are great. Like in every Elizabeth Scott book, they're fully-developed an complex. I loved reading about Tess and gradually finding out about her secrets. Eli is adorable - he's so sweet to Abby, and I really enjoyed reading about their relationship. Beth and Claire and their connection to Tess were interesting to read about too. Oh, and Clement is just awesome!

I've read some other reviews of this book saying that characters from Bloom make an appearance, but I honestly didn't notice. Can anyone who's read both Bloom and Between Here and Forever tell me what characters appear?

I feel kind of bad for giving Between Here and Forever only three stars. Other than being annoyed by the main character's low self-worth, I had no real problem with the book. I just felt somewhat underwhelmed throughout, and thought a lot of the problems could have been elaborated on more. That's not to say this is a bad book - Elizabeth Scott's writing is still great. But if you haven't read any of Elizabeth Scott's books, I recommend you'd start with a different one - Living Dead Girl or Stealing Heaven are ones I particualrly enjoyed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Between here and.... where? August 24, 2011

By Zellie VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As a fan of Elizabeth Scott, I was excited to hear that she was coming out with a new title and I was even more excited when I was offered the chance to review it through the S&S Galley Grab.

I don't really know what I was expecting with this novel but I can honestly say, this wasn't really it. I guess I was expecting Abby to be a little more angry than she was, I expected her family to be a little more complicated. I wasn't expecting Abby's entire life to revolve around her sister Tess. I wasn't expecting her to be obsessed with waking Tess up even though she felt second best to her when she was around (or awake rather since Tess moved away to college ages ago). I get that Abby was insecure, but when every other sentence is about her comparing herself to her sister for 250 pages, it gets a little frustrating. And to be honest, her obsession with Tess was disturbing! Poor Eli! I woulda freaked the hell out! I also think that after Abby found out the "truth" about Tess, her overreacting about Tess' life had absolutely nothing to do with her!

As far as Eli, I didn't really understand what his purpose in the book was. I get that he was a pretty face with his own personal problems but they just didn't really seem to fit into the plot. I was intrigued by the fact that Eli had OCD, as someone who has OCD I wish we had known more about Eli.

I finished the book feeling unsatisfied. We never really find out what happens to Tess. Another thing that bothered me was that there were far too many dashes and unfinished sentences/thoughts between the characters. I'm not saying that the sentences were completely cut off, just that Abby would often change her thoughts mid thought. Kinda confused things.