Review: Between Here and Forever

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

Synopsis (From Goodreads): 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...

All Abby's life she has had to live under her sister's shadow. She has never been able to be as good as Tess. Abby thought that once Tess went off to college then everything would change and she would be able to live her own life away from the comparison. Then the car accident happened which put Tess in a comma. Now she is only seen as poor Tess's sister.

Abby devotes her life to Tess, spending most of her afternoons at the hospital. She thinks if Tess can wake up she will be able to get on with her life and live without the constant stigma of being Tess's sister. Then she meets the mysterious boy, Eli, who she believes will be able to wake Tess up. What she finds on her quest to wake her sister up is something about herself as well as her sister, something that she had never seen but has always been there.

Elizabeth Scott has created a believable story of family secrets and self-discovery. Abby is just an average teenager who lacks self-esteem who has always had to live with to comparison of her perfect sister. Anyone who's had to live in someone else's shadow can easily relate to her. Even when given a compliment, she doesn't know if people are feeling sorry for her or just seeing her as her sister.

Eli is another character that is full of mystery and problems himself. All the characters in the story have their own background and little quirks that makes them believable.

The mystery of who Tess was, drew me into the story as Abby tried to solve the big secret that Tess was keeping, one she had never paid close enough attention to. As Abby searches for the answers, she also has to learn that she can live her own life, free from the stigma of being Tess's sister.

Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

2011 YA Reading Challenge: #23 of 50