Love You Hate You Miss You

by Elizabeth Scott

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061122858
• ISBN13: 9780061122859
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Harperteen
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Beautiful

This story is beautifully written, emotional and breathtaking. I adored it completely and i would recommend it to anyone.

Scott Delivers an Impressive Novel for Young Adults

Seventy-five days after the tragic death of her best friend, Amy struggles to figure out how she can go on without Julia. She is also fresh out of Pinewood, a rehab center, where she spent some time following the car accident. Now sober, sad and friendless, Amy must figure out how to live her new life and deal with her overwhelming guilt. Amy's therapist suggests she start a journal about "her journey." Thinking that's a dumb idea, she decides instead to write letters to Julia. Through her writing, she keeps Julia up-to-date about her post-accident, post-rehab life. While at first her entries are full of longing and sadness about her loss, as the journal continues and as the plot unfolds, the reader, along with Amy herself, uncovers deeper and deeper levels of the dynamics of her friendship with Julia. Being back at school is anything but easy. Amy feels her classmates' eyes on her --- even worse than usual. Before she always felt "tall and stupid," but at least she had Julia and booze. She drank so that her worries would "melt into warmth." But now there's nothing to take off the edge. And she carries a heavy guilt that her own actions led to Julia's death. She's convinced that she's a murderer, despite what everyone tells her. Her parents aren't much help either. They are so wrapped up in their lovey-dovey relationship, like they have been her entire life, that Amy feels unwanted in her own home and a burden to her family. At school she doesn't talk to anyone until she's forced to work on a group project with two boys, Mel and Patrick, and a girl, Caro. Amy once drunkenly made out with Patrick at a party --- typical behavior for her past life. She tries to pretend that night wasn't important, despite the spark she felt and the way Patrick looks at her in English class. As for Caro, she too was a part of Amy's life --- and was once even a friend back in junior high school before she became swept up with a clique led by bratty Beth. As the novel progresses, chapters vary with letters to Julia and Amy's life. Through introspection in therapy and journal writing and by facing the challenges of her new life, Amy learns to look at things differently. Maybe the friendship she had with Julia wasn't so perfect after all. Elizabeth Scott's 2008 book, LIVING DEAD GIRL, received critical acclaim while dealing with the chilling topic of a girl who was kept captive and abused by a kidnapper. While LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU focuses on issues of grief and guilt, there is also the positive theme of self-discovery. Scott takes a different look at a friendship --- after the relationship is gone --- in an interesting and powerful way. The journaling technique works well in this story because it's not overdone, and the current plot is woven in nicely. As usual, Scott delivers an impressive novel for young adults. --- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

My newest favorite from Scott

It's been seventy five days, and Amy still doesn't know how to function. Seventy five long days and Amy doesn't know how she's supposed to live without her best friend Julia. But she has to live, because living without Julia is her punishment for letting Julia die. And so Amy struggles along, barely able to bear her parents' phony concern, endure the trials of school, and weather her shrink's uncomfortably probing questions. Angry and frustrated, Amy starts writing letters to Julia instead of journaling as her shrink suggested. But with that writing comes reflection and remembrance, and Amy starts to realize Julia may not have been the perfect friend Amy held her up to be, that there is a limit to what she can control or change, and that the future also deserves a chance. Scott has continually been one of my favorite authors for her incredible writing, and she does not disappoint with Love You Hate You Miss You. Scott departed from her usual unique teen romances, as in Bloom and Stealing Heaven, with Living Dead Girl to tackle more intense and serious topics. Even though the idea of Love You Hate You Miss You isn't quite as original as Scott's previous novels, since the "teen doesn't know how to live once best friend dies" storyline has already been explored, this novel is still a moving and gripping peel into a mind devastated by loss. Amy is a realistic character, and her grief is compounded by insecurity, stubbornness, and loneliness. Her desires and despairs are surprisingly easy to relate to, because I'm sure everyone of us has visited a part of Amy's life at least once, if not in such extreme a way as she. Amy's struggles are so heartbreaking, and the reader really feels for her because of all she's gone through. I find the human mind so fascinating, so I appreciate how Scott has broken down Amy's head into surprisingly simple elements with such great insight. I like how Love You Hate You Miss You is much more than just a grief story; it's a contemporary psychological novel that explores the effects of our choices through the span of time. I completely fell in love with this novel and commend Scott for her delicate writing and superb storytelling. Fans of Scott's earlier writing in Bloom, Stealing Heaven, and Something, Maybe will likely enjoy Love You Hate You Miss You even is the plot is so much different than Scott's romances. This novel should also be read by fans of Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe, The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro, and the very similar Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers. Love You Hate You Miss You is my new favorite from Scott, and I can't wait to see what she has in store next.

Another wonderful book by Scott

There hasn't been a book by Elizabeth Scott that I haven't stayed up all night to read, but LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU is my favorite so far. My favorite part of the novel are Amy's letters to Julia, which are both heartbreaking and lovely. The book deals with themes of death and substance abuse--two issues that Scott doesn't hold back from addressing with a sense of realness. I can't wait for her next book.

Striking and emotional

In the seventy-five days since the accident that claimed her best friend Julia's life, Amy has been at Pinewood, a rehab center, recovering from her dependency on alcohol, trying to live with the absence of the only person who ever truly understood her and her overwhelming guilt concerning the night of the accident. When she gets out of rehab and is back home, her shrink asks her to keep a journal. Instead, Amy writes letters to Julia. Thus begins her tumultuous, painful, and somehow hopeful process of reconciling with the past, and learning to face the present. Elizabeth Scott has created yet again another beautiful, eye-opening, and magnetic read that will grab readers and take them on a roller coaster ride of pain and suffering, hope and joy. Scott's tight and brisk writing perfectly convey Amy's tidal wave of feelings--regret, guilt, loneliness, and resentment, but also her hope to find a place where she doesn't feel self-conscious. Scott's treatment of Amy's tendency to use alcohol as a crutch is very straightforward and blunt, and she doesn't let it get in the way of the story, nor does she try to preach to readers on the issue, which is a refreshing gesture some readers will appreciate. One of the main focuses in the novel is friendship, how it affects and molds who we are as people, and how difficult it can be to reach out to someone new. Scott captures all of the embarrassing, awkward, and frustrating aspects of connecting with those who you have misjudged and the complexity of relationships influenced by peer pressure and the need to belong. Another important element of the novel is how Amy's parent's are portrayed rather unconventionally; as parents who are too consumed with each other and are attempting to live the childless life they originally planned on rather than devote their time to being good parents. How they and Amy deal confront these issues and reveal long-withheld feelings is just another mark of Scott's excellent storytelling abilities. Few writers can pull off such emotional, authentic, and truly striking novels as Elizabeth Scott has done with Love You, Hate You, Miss You.