What We’re Reading

Impulse | Ellen Hopkins

Rating:

I’ve long been a fan of novels written in poems, and this was no exception. Following the stories of three teens, hospitalized after their various suicide attempts, it isn’t always the easiest book to read.

Vanessa is a cutter, and was hospitalized after her brother came home to find her bleeding to death in the bathroom. Connor was the perfect kid, aside from his affair, and his incident with the gun. Tony’s life was different from the outset. He spent years in Juvenile Detention, and then some on the streets. After the loss of the closest friend he ever had, he wasn’t sure he could go on anymore.

Throughout the story, Vanessa, Tony and Connor’s stories intertwine, weaving in and out of one another. Tony and Vanessa form a bond which will likely last the rest of the their lives, and which is instrumental to their healing process. Connor, left feeling only he has nowhere to turn, has the hardest time of all. With seemingly the best life, based on appearances, he is a hard lesson in things are not always what they seem.

Any Hopkins fan will definitely appreciate Impulse, as would any poetry lover, or anyone who’s found themselves in a similar situation to its main characters.

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The Impulse | Ellen Hopkins by Jaemi, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 1:43 pm by Jaemi and is filed under Book Review. Find similar posts by selecting and of the following tags: interpersonal relations, mental illness, novels in verse, poetry, psychiatric hospitals, suicide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.