JaAuthor Wrap-up: Elizabeth Scott

Or what should really be called “I’m getting freaking sick of the frenemy.” Honestly, is it too much to ask for the main character’s besty to not be an evil back stabbing, slutastic, boy stealing, bit of a witch? Though to be fair, I admit that not all of Elizabeth Scott’s books included the frenemy. And I had been reading a few non-ES books in between that did deal with the wicked besty. Hence the frenemy induced overdose.


Stealing Heaven - This actually started off better than it ended. The beginning entertained me right off the bat. Here’s a girl, Dani, who’s been living her life as a grifter and thief. Her accomplice and teacher is her beautiful but cunning and manipulative mother. I thought her mom was a bit one dimensional and a little distant. Their relationship was more of a partnership between criminals, lacking that mother and daughter bond.

Upon arriving to a small town called Heaven, Dani befriends two people. Allison should be the snotty rich girl you’d love to hate but she’s not. She’s kind, loyal and open. Normally someone so inherently nice would annoy me, but in Allison’s case it’s not fake. I loved Scott’s ability to create a likeable character who isn’t snarky, rude or moody (qualities I normally dig). Greg was adorable, though he definitely lacked in that burning flash of attraction found in characters like Jonah, Gale or Gabriel. But his charm and thoughtfulness made him endearing and definitely likeable.

Unfortunately it seemed to slow down near the end. But the story left me wanting another Scott fix so I’d have to say –

I didn’t suffer too terribly.


Something, Maybe - A story about a girl who remains constantly embarrassed by her mom (yeah her mom’s a step above a porn star, but seriously, who doesn't have parents that embarrass them), in love with the “deep thinker” (who’s really just an intellectual poseur), and deals with an absentee father (who reads like a Hugh Heffner if he ever did the Real World). The main character in this story was so clueless to the obvious; I felt the need to bang her over the head with a blunt object in hopes that she’d get the point. The true object of her affection, not the wannabe tree hugger, is cute but the main’s obtuseness seemed to detract from the story.

It also ended rather abruptly. I would’ve liked to see a bit more development in the characters and a little bit more….closure.

I didn’t suffer too terribly.


The Unwritten Rule – Again, I’ll say this, I’m sooo tired of the Frenemy. Although, I'm not quite sure if this is really a case of the Frenemy. Did her besty knowingly and intentially poach the boy she liked? Or was her besty clueless to the whole thing?

I believe a true besty would know who you crush on, regardless of how secret you try to keep it. I mean T ferreted out my crush on “Flatface” in the 7th grade and I swear I was so covert about that. Either way, it begs the bigger question. Why can’t these main characters have good bffs that aren’t total witches? Do they need to take classes in character judgement? Should that be a recommended class course: Identifying the Frenemy 101 (or "Sorry dude, but your besty is an evil witch"). Nin and I argued the point, but the only conclusion we could come up with was that the main needed to grow a back bone and her love interest to cease from being a stupid boy.

I digs.


Perfect You – This story was good but it was also a bit redundant. Girl’s father goes nuts, quits job and peddles miracle vitamins at the mall. Girl loses besty and becomes social outcast. Girl argues with cute boy from class. Girl struggles to find her way in the story of life, occasionally stopping to kiss said cute boy.

Similarly in Something, Maybe, the love interest is painfully obvious. However there was just enough of turmoil and trauma in the relationship (mostly due to communication and misunderstandings) to keep me entertained. Because you know me, I like my love stories to be epic. Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined and bloodshed. Not that there was really any bloodshed, but there was most definitely a hickey or two.

I digs.


Of all four Scott books, I liked Perfect You the best. Though because of the overwhelming redundancy of the frenemy plot, I’ve since transitioned back to the darker realm of YA-lit, the one that deals with vamps and other assorted things that go bump in the night. But Elizabeth Scott’s books definitely made for entertaining reading.