REVIEW - Bloom by Elizabeth Scott

Book Information

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Series: n/a | Book No.: n/a | Source: Bought | Pages: 231 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary

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Lauren has a good life: decent grades, great friends, and a boyfriend every girl lusts after. So why is she so unhappy? 

It takes the arrival of Evan Kirkland for Lauren to figure out the answer: She's been holding back. She's been denying herself a bunch of things (like sex) because staying with her loyal and gorgeous boyfriend, Dave, is the "right" thing to do. After all, who would give up the perfect boyfriend? 

But as Dave starts talking more and more about their life together, planning a future Lauren simply can't see herself in -- and as Lauren's craving for Evan, and moreover, who she is with Evan becomes all the more fierce -- Lauren realizes she needs to make a choice...before one is made for her.

Review

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When you think YA fiction couldn't possibly be infested with annoying, bratty, selfish teenagers, you are proven wrong one thousand fold. 

Bloom promised to be a good book, (because it's by Elizabeth Scott, the author of The Living Dead Girl) but as I read it more and more, it sounded like Scott was attempting to write a teenage soap opera, staring Lauren Smith as the 'helpless, horribly lucky teenager' with two "hunky" guys after her. How much more horrible can you get? A love triangle? SERIOUSLY? Over-played. 

And who are these two lucky guys? Well, one happens to be her BOYFRIEND, the perfect Dave (which Lauren repeats this adjective to explain Dave in EVERY way, shape, and form). He's a gentleman, waiting until marriage for sex, and wants to involve Lauren in family and church activities due to the fact that he's an AWESOME GUY! He's sweet, wonderful, and doesn't push Lauren to do nothing that she doesn't want to. So why isn't she happy? Because there isn't a "spark" anymore. So why doesn't she dump him? She believes going out with him is the "right" thing to do. I have a boyfriend just like him, and I love him. I just can't see why Lauren complains about him.

And then there's the heart-throb Evan. Yes, she spent some of her childhood with him, so she's familiar with him. So, naturally she falls in love with him. Oh freaking joy. . .

She has to deal with this, and while she's going out with Dave, she's KISSING Evan. I have no respect reading about a character who can one second be holding hands with her awesome boyfriend then the next, she's at Evan's house dry-humping him. It's so annoying, and as I said, I can't respect or relate to a character that will do that. 

Another thing: Lauren constantly states throughout the WHOLE book that she feels bad for cheating on Dave, but she CONTINUOUSLY does it, and then finally at the end, she breaks up with him. Too late. He already knows that she cheated on him, and he's mad.

BUT. SHE'S. STILL. HAPPY! You know why? Because now she has her precious Evan. Makes. Me. Sick! What's resolved with that?

Horrible ending. Couldn't she just TALK to Dave, tell him what's on her mind? Of course not. Because that would involve having something complicated and something long-term, which obviously she doesn't want to get involved. 

I ABHORRED this book so much. You might enjoy it more than I did, but I will never give this book another thought except for disgust. 

About the Author

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I grew up in a small town in southern Virginia, and I do mean small — we didn't even have a post office! My parents were both teachers, and they both taught at the local high school.

You can guess what's coming.

Yep, that's right. I ended up having both my parents as teachers, and actually took classes with my father for three years.

As nightmarish as that sounds, it actually wasn't so bad. In a high school as small as the one I attended, it was pretty much a given that if I took certain classes, I'd have my parents as teachers, so it wasn't really a shock to see them listed on my class schedule. Plus, when I was in class, they both treated me like I was any other student. In fact, my mother made me give up my seat because I talked too much! I still haven't forgiven her for that. (If you read this, Mom, I'm just kidding, I swear!)

After I graduated from high school, I went to college. I had all these huge plans involving a glamorous career (in what, I had no idea, I just knew I didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere) and I'd also sworn I'd never get married. Naturally, I ended up majoring in European Studies, which prepared me for only the most unglamorous of jobs, and met my future husband when I was a freshman.

Speaking of jobs, I've had a bunch over the years — I've been an editor (I didn't say I was a good one!) and an office manager (which is a fancy way of saying secretary). I've also sold hardware, pantyhose, and even worked for a dot.com company when they were as prolific as weeds. (I burned cds, and the job was just as boring as it sounds.)

I write young adult novels, and frankly, don't ever see myself writing anything else. I read a lot, and I love all kinds of books, but young adult books hold a very special place in my heart. Being a teenager is both the most amazing and the most frightening thing — there's so much going on with you, your friends, your parents, and handling that and school and having to think about your future... it can be really exciting, but it's also a lot to deal with!

It always astonishes me when people talk about how easy it is to be young, because it isn't easy at all. I remember some of the books I read when I was growing up so vividly, not just because they were wonderfully written, but because what was in them really spoke to me. I believed authors like Judy Blume knew exactly how I felt in a way no one else did, and writing books like that, books that really speak to you, is my dream.