Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Summary (courtesy of GoodReads):  It's been seventy five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her, and she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone, and Amy doesn't want to talk about it. No one knew Julia like she did. No one gets what life is without her.
                  No one understands what it's like to know that it's all your fault.
Amy's shrink thinks she should keep a journal but instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia. As she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past holds its own secrets--and that the present deserves a chance.

And here's what I thought:  I actually really liked this book.  I thought it was an interesting story, and I liked Amy (even though she's got issues).  Elizabeth Scott really wrote Amy so well that I forgot a few times that I was reading a made-up person's story -- it just felt real.  Interspersing the story with Amy's journal entries really added to the read, as well.    The story seems pretty straightforward at first: Amy is finishing up a stint in a rehab facility due to her drinking, and something has happened to her best friend, Julia.   We're not sure right away what has happened to Julia, but Amy reveals little bits at a time, building the story into a complete picture throughout the book.  By the time the story is at an end, there's not only an understanding of what happened to Julia, but what the friendship between Amy and Julia was really like. 

As I said, I actually really liked Amy, even though she had some serious screw-up tendencies.   The way that she expressed her thoughts, I felt like I really knew her, and understood where she was coming from.  Her relationship with her parents isn't the best, but it's not like her parents are awful --- they just seem to ignore her.  Her contact with them seems to have her on the outside looking into her parents' relationship with each other, and it's easy to understand why she seeks more connections with people outside of her family.  Julia seems like the perfect friend for her .... or is she?  The more Amy examines her friendship, the more she learns about herself, and what Julia was really like.    Reading this story made me feel like I was tagging along on someone's journey of self-discovery.  And, as I said, sometimes I just got really caught up in this story --- which was a good thing.

And where did I get this book?  Library!