Review: Stealing Heaven

Title: Stealing Heaven
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Release Date: 27 May 2008
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 307
Rate: Lovable

Synopsis from Goodreads

My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things for as long as I can remember.

Dani has been trained as a thief by the best--her mother. Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver. They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends--a real life

In the beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes. For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home. She's making friends and has even met a guy. But these people can never know the real Dani--because of who she is. When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known--or the one she's always wanted.

My Thoughts

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott is happy making book. Today I was completely overwhelmed by my school work. I felt so much anxiety that I looked at my books and couldn't open them. I turned to this book and read 5 pages, laughed, and felt 8 times better. It gave me the shot of contentedness that I needed.

Dani goes along with anything her mother tells her. It frustrated me. Her mother raised her to obey. I wanted Dani to have a mind of her own. When around Greg, she had no problems making her own decisions, but she would barely allow herself to enjoy him or anything else. She never went to school, made friends, or dated. Her life was devoted to to her mother. Her mother was devoted to stealing. She didn't want to steal, though. She wanted to own her own home, furniture. She had to make her own decisions. To realize she had a choice.

It's definitely a page-turner. Greg and Dani picked at each other and made me giggle. Burdens rest on Dani's shoulders, but the story is rich with humor and sweetness enough to leave me content with a smile on my face. Greg brought in the humor and sweetness. He was instantly attached to Dani and determined to to get to know her. He was charming in a young boyish way that did not remind me of a cop, but there was no way to forget that he was a cop. Dani was constantly noting his uniform and reminding herself to watch what she says around him. He was still able to easily captivate her and me.

Finding time to read Stealing Heaven brought some much needed joy to my day. If you haven't read it, I suggest you bring the same happiness into your day, too. I'm excited to pick up more books by Elizabeth Scott.

Positive Thoughts

I enjoy college. I enjoy learning. I was homeschooled until I began college, so I feel that I am more eager to learn than many off the burnt-out kids who went through the public school system. Sure, there are people who are engrossed in their classes. Sure, people are more interested in classes that are involved in their major than they are in the other required classes. But, I do not want to burn out.
I want to engage in discussions. I want to be one of the students raising my hand and asking the professor questions during and after class. I want to read all the material. I want to do well on my exams. I want to be involved in co-curricular activities. I want to be a knowledge guzzler and learn. I want to be a good student. But, I find myself surrounded by students that despise every piece of worked assigned.
Do you know what comes up when you search "studying" in goodle images? A picture of a note that says "Studying is boring", and a bunch of photographs of frazzled looking people.
The students try to convince the professors not to put information we covered on the tests. They try to get out of doing homework. They don't do the reading. They complain and complain. It is wearing me out. I was sitting in my room and dreading doing my homework. I was thinking about how much I am dreading my Psychology exam. I don't want to do that. I want to stay motivated. Those school kids and their negativity are wearing me out. I LOVE COLLEGE.
I am telling myself to continue loving it. I am telling you that I will not let the negative students wear me down. I am telling you that I will continue to love college.
I will enjoy putting information in my brain. I will love looking up fascinating articles. I won’t be overwhelmed, and instead I will love reading about the brain in Psychology. I wanted to be in college for so long. I will look back on this time fondly and wish I could relive it. I will appreciate college. I will continue to love college.