Review: The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Tags: YA, friendship, love, loyalty, family, emotional abuse

Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary

Everyone knows that you shouldn’t like your best friend’s boyfriend. But what if she starts dating the guy whom you liked first? That’s Sarah’s problem. Her best friend, the gorgeous but troubled Brianna, has started dating Ryan, the guy that Sarah has had a crush on for years. Ryan is the most wonderful guy Sarah has known, but Brianna deserves love in her life, and so Sarah walks quietly behind them, secretly wanting Ryan. When things turn even more complicated, though, Sarah must learn the extent—and the limitations—of love, and just which ones exactly are worth it.

Review

Elizabeth Scott knows how to get to a wide range of readers’ hearts, and her sixth novel is no exception. THE UNWRITTEN RULE is a quick but emotional read that—despite some construction problems—will easily hit home.

The book could’ve easily been another telling of the ages-old girl-likes-forbidden-guy trope, but Elizabeth Scott skillfully weaves in a complex family subplot makes it a fresh story—and gets our attention. The published synopsis fails to mention that Sarah’s justified concern for Brianna’s emotional well-being and what kind of love her friend deserves is the result of Brianna’s painful relationship with her parents. As a result, we can see that the typical YA contemporary love triangle can have more depth to it than just adolescent “tru luv” feelings. THE UNWRITTEN RULE beautifully illustrates the painful complications of love, and what it means for someone to deserve—or not deserve—love, and to what extent love can be used as an excuse for hurtful behavior.

But THE UNWRITTEN RULE is also flawed in the same way as Scott’s other books. Each individual element of this story—each character, subplot, or event—works well on its own, but combined together, something feels…off. Sarah has been in love with Ryan forever, and when he talks he’s a pretty nice guy, but “nice” doesn’t equate to love: I wanted, and didn’t get, to see the reasons for her crush on him. Brianna’s parents are cruel in their behavior towards her, but their cruelty almost seems like a caricature, a placeholder for the neglectful and woefully underdeveloped parent. And Sarah’s almost feisty one-on-one conversations with Ryan border on vibrant and flirtacious, while at every other time in the book she’s so passive a snail could take advantage of her. While I thought the individual scenes were powerfully emotional, they never extracted themselves from the “staged play” feel and into an effortlessly realistic story.

Along the same lines, Sarah’s character developed infuriatingly little throughout the course of this book. I loved the progressive revelations on the different kinds of love and relationships, but she really barely changed from beginning to end. If her lack of definite personality was an attempt at making her more of a relatable everygirl, the attempt failed. I was left feeling like I had gotten a glimpse into the complex world of conditional love, but the narrator’s passivity ensured that I could never be fully invested in the book. I liked the story’s message, but the story itself was too easily forgettable.

I have no doubt that THE UNWRITTEN RULE will appeal to fans of Elizabeth Scott, because it contains the usual amount of emotional insight and angsty-but-still-lovable characters that she is famous for. However, critical readers will be bugged by these subtle yet significant weaknesses. Nevertheless, THE UNWRITTEN RULE makes for an easy and still overall enjoyable read, perfect for a day when you don’t desire human interaction but don’t want to merely lie in bed, zombie-like. Believe me, it’ll make you feel like an involved member of society without needing to leave the confines of your state of solitude. And sometimes that’s what you really need.

Similar Authors
Sarah Dessen
Rachel Cohn
E. Lockhart

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5


Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - There's just something about it that I love. I understand that the fixation on feet (and kinda ugly feet at that) can be construed as odd...but the purple? You can't tell me that's not to drool over.

Simon Pulse / March 16, 2010 / Hardcover / 210pp. / $16.99

Copy received from author for review.

22-Day Something, Maybe Countdown Celebration

So you know Elizabeth Scott? That incredibly talented author who comes out with, like, 13095 books a year, which puts her up in the ranks of Cecily von Ziegesar (sp?) and James Patterson? Well, to celebrate her soon-to-be-released book Something, Maybe, of which we've heard numerous things about, Elizabeth is holding a 22-day-long countdown celebration over on her blog. If my sources are correct (and I try to make sure of that), that means that there are plenty of prizes galore to be given out. Oh, and plus, Elizabeth is simply a sweet person and her blog is always a great place to go to for prizes and interesting discussion.

Check out Elizabeth's blog for more details!

Review: Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Currently Reading: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Next Read: What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Just got a copy of Burton Raffel's new unabridged translation of Canterbury Tales from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer site in the mail! I am really excited. Last night at a class meeting an Old English professor quoted from Canterbury Tales, and then this gift arrives. The book looks very solid; it would function as an adequate doorstop. Luckily I'm not that abusive with my books. I'll give it a skim eventually and let you guys know how I find this new translation.

In the meantime...

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

18-year-old Danielle lives with her mother and they are professional thieves. They move quickly from affluent town to affluent town, staying only long enough to find out the information they need and steal what they target, and then they move on. Dani has learned to keep invisible and not form any connections. It may not be the life she wants deep down inside, but it's all she has, all she's ever known.

At the beach town of Heaven, however, things begin to be different. Dani meets several people she thinks she can actually be friends with--if not more. Unfortunately, her and her mother's lifestyles demand that she not make friends, not feel like she wants to settle down.

This puts stress on her budding relationship with two people: Allison, a talkative but genuine girl who lives in the mansion that her mother is targeting next; and Greg, a young and funny local cop who seems intent on making her smile... but he's a cop!

How can Dani not lose her mother's love and respect, while learning to go for what she wants?

Elizabeth Scott's books remind me very much of Sarah Dessen's in that the characters are well developed, believable, and lovable. Greg in particular is charming and will make every girl wish he was real. This is a fun and moving read for all teenage girls.

Rating: 4.5/5