Guest Review: Between by Jessica Warman

Title: Between
Author: Jessica Warman
Publisher: Egmont
Publication Date: 3 Oct 2011

Synopsis from Amazon

Only the good die young. Right? Elizabeth Valchar has it all: friends, money, beauty, a cute boyfriend and assured popularity. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she is found drowned next to her parents' boat. Everyone thinks it was a tragic accident - teens drinking on a boat, a misstep leading to a watery death. But Liz is still here after death, and she doesn't know why. There are gaps in her memory. Her only company Alex, a boy killed by a car a year earlier, Liz sets out to piece together her life. But their small coastal town is hiding many secrets - about families, boyfriends and friendship. Plus, Alex hates Liz for being mean when they were alive. Was she as squeaky clean as she thinks she was? Could it be that she herself is hiding the biggest secret of all? Can Liz discover the truth? And if she does, who can she tell? An engrossing, compelling thriller that peels back the layers of small-town life to expose true, ugly, cruel human nature.

GUEST REVIEW BY MADISON YEAR 9 

This book is about the most popular girl in school, Elizabeth. Her life ends tragically on her 18th birthday. Although she is dead, she is another place, a ghost of sorts but not gone from the world. She meets a boy, Alex, who is mysteriously connected to her death. Alex accompanies Elizabeth in her search to find the missing pieces of the mystery that surrounds her death. Alex is the only person to be able to see Elizabeth after her death. Although Elizabeth's family and friends are portrayed in the book they truly believe that she is dead and gone from their lives completely.

My favourite character was Alex because he is very understanding and forgiving of Elizabeth. I felt sorry for him after all he had been through and how he was alone for a long time. Yet he didn't give up; he was still there helping Elizabeth cope.

I disliked the fact that  you didn't get to learn more about Alex's past, I really would have liked more of his side of the story in order to understand his motivations and interactions especially regarding his relationship with Elizabeth.

Also I would have liked to have seen Richie (Elizabeth's boyfriend) and their relationship portrayed differently. Although Elizabeth seems to have a deep connectin to him when she tries to connect with him he doesn't seem to feel her presence at all. I would have really liked it if he could have felt her presence even for just a short while.

I really enjoyed the book and liked Jessica Warman's writing style. I would definitely read more books by her. A cleverly written, interesting and moving story.

Overall I would give this book 4 out of 5.