Complications of Living in Heaven

Sometimes in life, people do bad things. It’s the way we grow up and the way we realize what is acceptable in society. But sometimes, people don’t stop doing bad things, even when they are faced with punishment. And some people are victims, only doing these things because someone tells them it’s what they have to do to survive. That is the case of Danielle in the book Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott. Danielle and her mother are professional thieves, and they move from place to place stealing and selling things. But when she moves to the town of Heaven, she meets some people that make her realize that all she wants is a normal life. But with her mother pushing her to do her ‘job’, Danielle is caught between what she wants and what she feels she’s supposed to do.

Danielle has never had a good life. Her father was sent to prison when she was 5, he escaped when she was 7 and has made little effort of contact since then. Her mother is the one always pushing her to steal things and be the partner her dad wasn’t. She’s never had anything to call her own; never even living in one place long enough to feel at home. She’s never had any real friends or boyfriends, and she’s constantly comparing her life to normal kids’.

Her life starts to tilt when she meets Allison, the chatty daughter of the people she’ll be robing. Allison and Danielle, whose alias is Sydney, hit it off quickly. At first, Danielle didn’t know who Allison was,  she just talked to her on the beach, and hung out a few times with her. They shared problems, and even though Danielle thought she was a little annoying, they were still friends. But, being with Allison made Danielle more insecure about her life.

And this was amplified when she met Greg. Greg is a charming, quirky, funny guy that she meets in the supermarket. The only problem; Greg is a cop. He’s fresh into his new job, and takes an interest to Danielle early on. She tries to deny anything she feels because A. he’s a cop, and B. he’s kinda strange. But she eventually warms up to him and lets him take her out. Even though she knows it’s wrong, she still can’t help but like him. A lot.

I’m about halfway through the book, to chapter 16 on page 142. It’s not an incredibly long book, but it’s a fair length. It’s good so far and she seems to really like her new life, even though it’s a fake life. I can tell that she likes Greg, really is friends with Allison and likes her new house. She wishes that she can settle down there and stay there forever. But with Greg a cop, Allison her victim and her life as a fake one, she realizes that she’ll never have a real life. I think and hope she will though.