Review: Bloom

Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
(Amazon / Goodreads)

Goodreads description:

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.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

After reading so many depressing books lately, I was in serious need of some light, fun reading, and Bloom was perfect for that. Yes, the plot is predictable, but the whole story was just so sweet!

I'm amazed by how many different styles this author can pull of seamlessly.The writing in Bloom was great, but so different from what I expected after reading Love You Hate You Miss You (review) and Living Dead Girl (review). Elizabeth's Scott's writing is much more descriptive in this book. It was so vivid, I could easily imagine I was there with Lauren, while in Living Dead Girl (and in Love You Hate You Miss You, too, to some extent), lots of details were left to the reader's imagination, and the style was more sparse. Either way, Elizabeth Scott's writing is amazing.

From the first page on, it was easy to relate to Lauren. All of her problems were realistic, and most of her feelings were ones I'd felt before, too. The only times I didn't understand her were when she complained about her friendship with Katie. I got why she didn't tell her about Evan, but her saying they never talked about anything real wasn't true, in my opinion, so her complaints were kind of annoying.

The supporting characters were great as well. Without them, this would have only been an okay read with a predictable, overused plot, but they added a lot of depth to the story. All of them, even the ones who only played minor roles, like Marcus and Gail, were complex and multi-dimesional, and their backstories added a lot to the main plot. Well, all except Dave, but that was the point. Especially Katie was an interesting character. We don't get to know too much about her situation with her family, but we know the mom never gets out of bed (depression?) and the dad always has to work, so she's the one taking care of her two little brothers. I would have loved to know more about her life, and she would have made an interesting main character as well (for a different story, obviously).

Lauren's family and its effect on Lauren were developed really well, too. How her workaholic dad and the mom who abandoned her created Lauren's insecurities and fears really made me able to understand Lauren's character.

The romance between Lauren and Evan was incredibly sweet. I especially enjoyed reading about their past together, and how that affected both of them. Evan was a great character, and I loved the influence he had on Lauren.

I don't have much more to say about this book - it's a well-known plot made interesting by great writing, amazing character-depth and sweet romance. I recommend it to anyone who won't mind a predictable plot!