Bloom

This is a fantastic first novel in a very original, clear voice. The heroine, Lauren, is a lot more three-dimensional and flawed than most YA main characters are allowed to be, but this ulimately makes her more sympathetic, not less. Although this focuses on Lauren's first real love, to my mind the best part of the book is her relationship with her distant, commitment-phobic dad. Neither father nor daughter is good at showing the other affection, but the love between them still ultimately manages to shine. I will be excited to check out Elizabeth Scott's next novels.

Girl dates boy. Boy likes girl. Girl likes other boy. Drama ensues. So goes the basic storyline of Elizabeth Scott's debut novel, BLOOM. But watch out, readers, there's a bit more heft to the story than meets the eye. Seventeen-year-old Lauren appears to be a typical teen queen bee. She's popular, she's pretty, and she's dating Dave, the cutest boy in school. Her best friend, Katie, is dating Marcus, Dave's best bud, and the four make an enviable team --- or so it seems. It turns out that Lauren is on the fence about her life these days, and she doesn't know quite what to do about it. She's tired of going home to an empty house --- what with her father practically living at the office after screwing up yet another relationship (her mom left them a long time ago). She is exasperated by Katie's inane banter (usually involving shopping or nail polish or Marcus). Worst of all, she's beyond exhausted with appearing "perfect." The more time she spends with all-American Dave and his cookie-cutter family, the more she realizes that she's not the person he thinks she is. She doesn't want to go to college close to home so she can be with him; she loathes the idea of having sex with him (he's more religious than most, hence the chastity); and she longs to connect with a boy who she can actually be real with and passionate about, rather than be seen as some adored girl on a pedestal. So, when bad boy Evan Kirkland shows up at school after a long absence, Lauren is beyond shocked. Especially because he's the son of one his father's ex-girlfriends --- and super hot. When he and Evan eventually reconnect, the sparks are undeniable and Lauren must choose between going after her unfulfilled desires with Evan and staying safe (and bored) with Dave. What makes BLOOM so readable is Scott's focus on picking apart Lauren's personality to get at the motivations behind her actions. Instead of a mere stock character, Lauren comes off as a justifiably mixed-up girl who is desperately trying to figure out her next move. Her affair with Evan is despicable but somehow understandable and, given her confused state, a necessary step to figuring out what's right. Scott also makes sure that Lauren's character is not perfect, but quite fallible. She shows the parts of Lauren that haven't quite grown up yet --- mainly, her propensity for making assumptions without really knowing the full story --- and fully flushes out her maturation process (hence the title, "Bloom"). There are times when Scott fixates on the idea of being "perfect" too often and other sections where Lauren's interior monologues seem repetitive. These quibbles aside, BLOOM marks the arrival of a fresh new talent. --- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

I really loved this book. It wasn't like the average fluffy and light teen lit books that I've read. It's romantic, deep, insightful and thoughtful. It's a real and true story of a teenage girl's road to first love and happiness. If you're a fan of Sarah Dessen, like I am, you'll love this book!

"I guess I kept hoping some kind of miracle would happen. It wasn't even like I was asking for a big one." So begins BLOOM, the story of Lauren, who finds herself stuck in an emotional limbo. She's not depressed, but she's not happy either. She feels as if she is missing something. But what? She likes playing the clarinet and working at the library. She gets good grades. She gets along with her father - well, pretty much - who has gone through a succession of girlfriends since her mother left a decade ago, when Lauren was six. She has a great boyfriend, Dave, but she feels like she doesn't deserve him. She has a best friend, Katie, whom she tunes when she starts talking about her own drama. Then Evan comes into her life. More accurately, he comes back into her life. When they were eight years old, their parents dated, but like all of her father's relationships, it didn't end well. Evan and Lauren haven't seen each other since. His unexpected appearance in her class initially shakes Lauren up, but gradually, they become friends again - then more. In both her dialogue and her internal monologue, Lauren's voice is honest, even raw at times. This is a great attribute to both the story and the character, whose biggest concerns are the deception she is carrying on and the confusion she is muddling through. She feels like there's a huge difference between who she is and who her boyfriend and her classmates think she is. As soon as she realizes what she _does_ want, it is then that she stops feeling so scared, and starts becoming her own person. It is then that she can bloom.

Lauren's life seems almost perfect at first. She's got a perfect boyfriend, Dave. She's not struggling with school. She's got an awesome best friend, Katie. She doesn't really fight with her father. Her life is good. Safe, but good. She's not happy, though. Lauren doesn't know why, but her life doesn't seem like all it's cracked up to be. Neither does her relationship with Dave, who may be just a little bit too perfect. She finds a chance to make herself happy when Evan Kirkland comes to town, but is she ready to let go and take the plunge? Is Lauren ready to leave her safe, boring life behind for the passion and happiness that she sees with Evan? She's not sure. She has, after all, struggled not to be like her mother, who let herself run away to pursue what she wanted even though it meant leaving her husband and young daughter behind. But does being who she, Lauren, wants to be have to mean sacrificing her happiness just to make the choice everyone else seems to think is right? BLOOM is a beautiful, powerful love story, a wonderful coming-of-age story, and most of all just an amazing novel told in Lauren's fresh, funny, and distinctive voice. Lauren is a strong, likeable character, and she is not the only three-dimensional character in the story--they are all fantastic. Fantastic is also a good word to describe BLOOM itself. Elizabeth Scott is a wonderful writer, and this brilliant novel makes me very excited to see what this author will write next! Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce