Bloom

Lauren is dating Dave, and he's perfect. Together, they're perfect. Everything's perfect... except that she can't really talk to her best friend about what she is feeling, and she feels like an outsider among Dave's friends, and she can't tell anyone that she actually likes to play the clarinet, and she doesn't tell anyone about how her mother left her family when she was six, and her father is never home - but even when he is home - she can only say what she thinks he wants to hear, and she has her mother's grey eyes and is scared to become just like her but can't tell anyone that either, and, and, and...

Everything's perfect, until Evan Kirkland shows up in her world history class and her entire life is thrown upside down.

A quick paragraph excerpt from page 40:
"He looks at me and a smile blooms across his face. A real honest-to-God smile. I feel like I can't breathe."

Elizabeth Scott's Bloom plays off the idea that even when everything looks perfect, it's not perfect. The hottest guy in school falls for the most average girl, she becomes popular, they begin dating, and the story ends. Usually. This story picks up after that story ends. What happens after the relationship begins? How real is the average girl's new found popularity? Is happily ever after ever really happy? Can a perfect relationship last when an average guy is added to the mix?

I really enjoyed this book. Although I consider myself an observant reader, I actually missed a few things, a few connections, that were later repeated and expanded my understanding of some of the characters. Lauren is average; she's not perfect. And that's what makes this book so enjoyable.

A-Z Challenge completed - *Scott, Elizabeth - Bloom*
currently reading - *Alive and Well in Prague, New York - Daphne Grab*