Review: Love You Hate You Miss You

Author: Elizabeth Scott
Pages: 304
Source: Library
Synopsis: It's been seventy-five days, and Amy still doesn't know how she can possibly exist without her best friend, Julia—especially since it's her fault that Julia's dead. When her shrink tells her it would be a good idea to start a diary, Amy starts writing letters to Julia instead. But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance, too.

Love You Hate You Miss You had me prepared for an emotional roller coaster. My only fear was that I wouldn't connect with the main character, Amy. I did though. Amy is a girl who doesn't want to be herself. She drinks sometimes to forget herself. She had a best friend, Julia, who she loved and who was strong, fierce, rebellious; basically, what Amy wanted to be. After an incident, Julia died. Amy was there when it happened and can't forgive herself for her part of the blame.

I cried a lot while reading this. I was rooting for Amy all the way. She felt so complicated: ungrateful, happy, angry, a mix of different emotions that were hard to distinguish. She was a real character, which made me love her. This book isn't a "Happily ever after" fairy tale. I think it's a mature story of loss and coping with it.

The other characters are also real. They're not all as developed as Amy but most of them are close. In all the characters there are good and bad parts (except Beth, where I didn't notice anything good). Some of my scenes was in the end with Caro who made a choice I fully agree with and the scenes with Amy and her parents. I think it's the most realistic parents/child scenes I've probably ever read.

Overall, this was an amazing novel. It was a bit hazardous for me to read because I was (and am) studying for exams while I was reading so I absorbed a bit of the excess negative emotions and got easily frustrated. It hooks you in, and with Amy's revelations about her life come some about your own. Love You Hate You Miss You was a book I'm glad to have read. I wish I read it sooner though! Four stars,

****

-P.E.