Seventy-five days after the tragic death of her best friend, Amy struggles to figure out how she can go on without Julia. She is also fresh out of Pinewood, a rehab center, where she spent some time following the car accident. Now sober, sad and friendless, Amy must figure out how to live her new life and deal with her overwhelming guilt.

Amy’s therapist suggests she start a journal about “her journey.” Thinking that’s a dumb idea, she decides instead to write letters to Julia. Through her writing, she keeps Julia up-to-date about her post-accident, post-rehab life. While at first her entries are full of longing and sadness about her loss, as the journal continues and as the plot unfolds, the reader, along with Amy herself, uncovers deeper and deeper levels of the dynamics of her friendship with Julia.

Being back at school is anything but easy. Amy feels her classmates’ eyes on her --- even worse than usual. Before she always felt “tall and stupid,” but at least she had Julia and booze. She drank so that her worries would “melt into warmth.” But now there’s nothing to take off the edge. And she carries a heavy guilt that her own actions led to Julia’s death. She’s convinced that she’s a murderer, despite what everyone tells her.

Her parents aren’t much help either. They are so wrapped up in their lovey-dovey relationship, like they have been her entire life, that Amy feels unwanted in her own home and a burden to her family. At school she doesn’t talk to anyone until she’s forced to work on a group project with two boys, Mel and Patrick, and a girl, Caro. Amy once drunkenly made out with Patrick at a party --- typical behavior for her past life. She tries to pretend that night wasn’t important, despite the spark she felt and the way Patrick looks at her in English class. As for Caro, she too was a part of Amy’s life --- and was once even a friend back in junior high school before she became swept up with a clique led by bratty Beth.

As the novel progresses, chapters vary with letters to Julia and Amy’s life. Through introspection in therapy and journal writing and by facing the challenges of her new life, Amy learns to look at things differently. Maybe the friendship she had with Julia wasn’t so perfect after all.

Elizabeth Scott’s 2008 book, LIVING DEAD GIRL, received critical acclaim while dealing with the chilling topic of a girl who was kept captive and abused by a kidnapper. While LOVE YOU HATE YOU MISS YOU focuses on issues of grief and guilt, there is also the positive theme of self-discovery. Scott takes a different look at a friendship --- after the relationship is gone --- in an interesting and powerful way. The journaling technique works well in this story because it’s not overdone, and the current plot is woven in nicely. As usual, Scott delivers an impressive novel for young adults.

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