Only love can make me stop. I saw this quote in Octavia's awesome review , and I had to look it up because I almost didn't believe it. I'd forgotten how bad this was. Love is positioned as a cure for mental illness. Trust me, romantic love can't cure depression. I really don't feel like complaining about this because so many other books have this same exact message, but I have a post about this on my blog, if anyone's interested in general thoughts on this topic.
I feel like it's a book for neurotypical teens who want to feel like their life doesn't suck. There's a quote from this review that I think sums it up best. This book would be great to read if you think your life's shit. No matter how bad it gets for you, these kiddies have it so much worse.
And if you think your life's worse than this, I recommend writing to Hopkins as you'll probably feature in her next book. It's just that these books don't portray the reality of being depressed or bipolar, to me. They portray the horror of it all in this way that's meant to shock you, without actually interacting or talking about mental illness in a productive way.
My lifestyle has caused me a lot of pain. I hope to change that when I get out of here. This doesn't look too bad; Tony has been a prostitute, so that's probably what he's referring too, right? Well, no. He's actually specifically referring to being gay here.
Let me repeat that: his "gay lifestyle" caused him pain. His gay "lifestyle. His redemption is becoming straight. I cannot begin to explain how harmful "positive character development in the form of learning you're actually straight" is.
A narrative implying sexual assault caused him to believe he is gay, implying that had he not been gay, he wouldn't have been sexually assaulted as much, is victim blaming and absolutely disgusting.
It's also technically likely he'd just realize he was bi, not that the possibility is ever mentioned. It's a lot rarer than homophobes would like to believe, and it's far rarer than straight people realizing they're actually gay, little as said straight people would like to believe.
I'm kidding. But the entire sexuality-change storyline is portrayed in an incredibly homophobic way here. It genuinely reads like fucking anti-gay propaganda. It is disgusting and it is horrifying to read. However, she needs to stop stereotyping neuroatypical and lgbtq people.
She's not being great and representing us. She's being shitty. I can feel her fucking disdain for me through her pages and I'm so, so tired of it. I really wish I hadn't given her another chance. And again, this review isn't meant to be an attack on you.
The book is in places well-written, exceedingly emotionally manipulative, and who knows, maybe Vanessa's storyline resonated with some readers. But I'd really ask anyone who's recommending this to consider the storyline for themselves and really, genuinely consider the canon of the book. Because this is really gross. Blog Goodreads Twitter Instagram Youtube View all 72 comments. Shelves: 1-star. Oh boy. Where to start This is my second time reading this book. I decided I wanted to do a reread as more of an in-depth analysis, looking for the problematic aspects I picked up on the first time around.
The Plot The story follows three teens who have found themselves in Aspen Springs Psychiatric Hospital, each having recently attempted suicide.
I have this picture in my head of Ellen Hopkins sitting at her computer, trying to come up with her next novel idea.
All of a sudden, it hits her! Why not make a list of all the horrible things that could happen and try to incorporate it into one book? Far too long of a list of complex issues for an author to deal with and execute well in one novel. Each of these subjects deserve care and consideration when being written about, but most of them are either barely touched on or dealt with poorly.
It came off as if the author wanted to cram as many issues as she could into the book simply for shock value. From the interviews with Hopkins that I have read, this book is not own voices, and it shows. Hopkins talks in all of her interviews about how she needs to write for teens because their lives are so complex and whatever, yet she obviously does not understand teens in the slightest.
More on that later. The Writing The thing is, this book actually doesn't start off that bad, but I think that's what makes me hate this book so much. I actually went in thinking I was going to like it, whereas books that are shit from page one I don't expect anything out of. Most of the writing is good, quite good even. There are some passages about death and depression that do feel real. The verse is fine, though I think the verse just serves to reinforce the emotional manipulation with those oh-so-dramatic indentations.
Ellen Hopkins has no idea how human beings talk to each other, let alone teenagers. Such as: "Voices. Strange faces. A witches' stewpot of spells. She's a bulldog. Like anyone thinks like this. You expect me to believe this guy, who was talking about orgasms a page ago, thought up this metaphor? Even a female dog wants her puppies clean and wrinkle-free—unless, of course, she's a Shar Pei.
Perhaps this sort of writing is an attempt to make the story more dramatic. You tell me. I just think it sounds weird. Oversexualization "A woman like that will work like clay—soften her up, touch her just right, the sculptor is guaranteed to have his way.
Yes, some teens are crazy horny but these guys are unrealistically gross. Let me chase away your thought of your Emily. Come to me when you get out of this place. I'll show you how a real woman makes love to men such as you, and I don't give a damn how high the stakes are. The oversexualization here is just a lazy attempt to make her characters sound like teens. It's uncomfortable and actually kind of insulting. He's a nutshell asking to crack.
Wonder if he's ever let a guy touch that pumped-up bod. I'm supposed to sympathize with this character? And she actually thinks a teenage boy would say this? Or even an actual person of any age? Misrepresentation of Mental Health Facilities This book shows a mental health facility as completely incompetent.
They don't help the characters at all. Books about mental health should make an effort to show or even imply good relationships between the teens and therapists and those trying to help them, because many teens reading books like these are struggling with similar issues.
All adults but one in the novel are absolutely horrific. It does not encourage those going through similar things to seek help from adults and professionals, which is such a missed opportunity. Let's not even talk about the fucking "level four wilderness camp". What did they think was going to happen?
But that aspect is just part of the Ellen Hopkins trademark overdramatic-shock-value-books. All it does is piss me off. The Characters Though this is a long book pages, lol the characters still feel underdeveloped. Things could have been delved into with more depth. Perhaps this was due to the verse? Conner: He could have been a sympathetic character, but he actually ended up sounding kind of creepy.
He comes off as manipulative, jealous, judgemental, homophobic, and rude. His thoughts are gross and often revolve around sex. He mocks the other patients dealing with mental illness.
I liked Tony, really. He was the most interesting of the three. More on him in a bit. Vanessa: Vanessa is a complete special snowflake. She thinks she's ugly but all the guys fawn over her and constantly tell her how beautiful and amazing she is. She's actually incredibly boring compared to the other main characters. Suddenly, in the last 40 pages or so, Vanessa reveals she had an abortion previously. Vanessa's abortion plot is so pointless.
It's brought up once near the very end and never talked about again. Why was it even included? We got no hints of it in her perspective and nothing about how it impacted her.
Missed opportunity. This is so problematic I hardly know where to start. Tony talks about how he thinks perversion is a result of being a target of perversion and then says he doesn't think he is gay, implying that his being gay was a result of being sexually abused.
However, this book reinforces the idea that gay people are gay because there is something wrong with them, and that being gay is a form of perversion. The story also implies that Tony needed to realize he was straight in order to recover. It also reinforces that people who have been sexually abused are somehow broken or damaged or worse—likely to be perverted. I can't get over how his storyline of redemption is a storyline basically where he is cured of being gay.
It feels like where I've always belonged. Here: "Vanessa and Tony—two fractured people, healed perhaps by unforeseen, not to mention unlikely, love. Implying that people who deal with mental illness are broken by calling them fractured and literally saying they were healed by love?!
The only characters that recover do so through falling in love, which reinforces that love is a cure for mental illness and the only way to recover is to fall in love romantically. Man, am I tired of reading that shit. Only love can make me quit. The main character blatantly says that love is the only thing that can cure her.
I think people get caught up in the overdramatized style, the emotional manipulation, and the pure shock value and it gets mistaken for good writing. This is definitely one of my least favorite books. I can only hope some others will see this review and recognize how many problematic tropes can be found in this book. View all 29 comments. Aug 31, Emily May rated it liked it Recommends it for: People who don't mind the disturbing.
Shelves: young-adult , , poetry. The fact is, this is my third read by Ellen Hopkins and all of the books I've read so far have affected me quite deeply.
I've discovered in this past year that I really like novels in verse, I couldn't imagine it being my thing before I first picked up Burned but all the ones I've read have been all the more emotional, moving and effective because of it.
Before I start on about what I don't like, I'll just say now: this book is worth your time if you are okay with the depressing, 3. Before I start on about what I don't like, I'll just say now: this book is worth your time if you are okay with the depressing, disturbing and occasionally gross. But, there's this one thing that is the same in all of Ellen Hopkins ' books, and to understand it best try and imagine the novel is two halves.
Not a first half and a second half but various different parts of the novel that either fall into half one or half two. Okay, now half one is like the very first Saw film: original, shocking, disturbing, horrifying but good as well because it's so different. Half two is like the rest of the Saw films put together. Ellen Hopkins is Jigsaw and she wants to play a game Half two is made up of the parts that made me think "surely Ms Hopkins is going to give these poor little buggers a break now?
In the same way that I quickly became tired of the Saw series and it's tendency to just keep inventing new and exciting ways to horrendously kill people, there were parts where I thought Ellen Hopkins went too far.
This book was pages long ominous but really didn't need to be, the story was good, the characters were interesting In the words of Bruce Nolan: " Ellen Hopkins is a mean kid sitting on an ant hill with a magnifying glass Tony was repeatedly raped by his mother's boyfriend, he runs away and ends up popping pills and trying his hand at prostitution in order to get by, he then attempts suicide and gets carted off to Aspen Springs Psychiatric Hospital.
There the doctors try and re-connect him with his long-lost father but Tony's unsure of his sexuality and his dad's some uber-religious and homophobic nutter.
What next for this poor kid? Like I wouldn't have felt sorry for him had he just been raped! Ellen Hopkins doesn't know when to stop, it's like "right, he's been abused, drugged up, prostituted, discriminated against I know, give him diarrhea as well! It's not like it isn't good. Half number one is fantastic: well-written, interesting, moving, gritty. And I can handle disturbing, it can usually get me hooked.
I just feel that Hopkins uses the shock factor too much and it becomes less believable because of it. View all 20 comments. Nov 24, Ebehi rated it did not like it. I started this book very excited. Firstly, the cover looked interesting, then I saw that the story was written in verse form and my excitement level went higher. Perhaps my expectations multiplied my disappointment. Halfway through the book, I was only reading because I had already started and wanted to finish what I had started.
Now what to start with There were many times when I couldn't distinguish the voices of the three different protagonists. I would start a chapter from a new person' I started this book very excited. I would start a chapter from a new person's perspective but I would have turn back to check whose perspective it was because I could have sworn that somebody else in the book had just said the exact same thing.
This is definitely a big NO considering the characters are supposed to be very different people. Trying to "figure out" was a phrase I heard too often. The main characters were too judgmental. I almost started banging my head against the wall each time one of them commented about how everyone else in the institution was crazy. I mean, Justin was considered crazy because he had strong religious beliefs.
And for someone who claimed to believe in God, Tony was not cutting Justin any slack. Dahlia was constantly insulted even though they didn't really know her story.
All in all, the only impression I could get was that these were just regular kids with problems but the main characters were too concerned with forming weird love triangles and figuring each other out that they only took the time to gossip about everyone else. Vanessa didn't seem at all special or kind per se, so I don't understand why Tony and Conner were both so fixated on how pure and perfect she was.
All she did was act anti-social with everyone else. And the only time she actually socialized was when she was insulting Dahlia. Their stories ended up not being very interesting. Only Tony's story seemed even remotely engaging.
And for all the internal whining they did, and all the times when the story was cut off before some "big revelation" Conner didn't seem like anything more than any regular rich kid with not-overly-affectionate parents. Vanessa didn't have much to tell either, and much of what was going on with her could be explained away because she was bipolar. And the way she would describe her dad as if she hated him, then as if he was the greatest person in the world was just very confusing.
There were just too many oversexualized references in the book. Especially in places that they were not really necessary.
The love thing was just strange. And no one actually sees? Except Conner. And for all their friendship, Tony and Vanessa are not considerate enough to keep their PDAs out of Conner's sight especially since he liked Vanessa too. All these, and more, make me so frustrated with the characters that I cannot really relate with them. One star for effort and emotion.
But if she's writing in verse form, Hopkins should try to pay more attention to it because towards the end it just got sloppy as if she wrote really short prose then just arranged it in lines. I mean, is the HUGE secret she had been holding all this while? Impulse - by Ellen Hopkins. Format Hardcover. Paperback A green circle with a white checkmark in the center. Hardcover A green circle with a white checkmark in the center. Deliver to Edit zip code.
Ship it. This item isn't sold in stores. Help us improve this page. About this item. Specifications Number of Pages: Genre: Juvenile Fiction. Sub-Genre: Social Themes. Format: Hardcover. Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books. Age Range: Teen. Author: Ellen Hopkins.
Language: English. Street Date : January 23, TCIN : UPC : Description About the Book From the author of the acclaimed "Crank" comes a gut-wrenching story of teens in crisis.
Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act of desperation--suicide. About The Author. Sonya Sones. Ellen Hopkins. Product Details. Publisher: Margaret K. Related Articles. Awards and Honors. Resources and Downloads. Activity Sheets Poetry Brochure feat. More books from this author: Ellen Hopkins. Educational Value. Positive Messages.
Multiple stories explore the depths of despair physical, sexual, and emotional abuse can cause. Positive Role Models. Lots of swearing and graphic talk. Characters are on medication and one character in particular talks about past drug use. What parents need to know Parents need to know that each of the main characters has tried to commit suicide, and each has suffered abuse sexual, emotional, and physical. Continue reading Show less. Stay up to date on new reviews.
Get full reviews, ratings, and advice delivered weekly to your inbox. User Reviews Parents say Kids say. A good book - but maybe not for kids. Ellen Hopkins is a great author, and this may be her best book. Unfortunately, the subject matter is not entirely appropriate for anyone under 15, and is iffy f Continue reading.
Report this review. Adult Written by jessieforsythe March 4, Powerful Novel Great For Teens This book is beautifully written and touches important issues that need to be addressed with teens, especially in light of recent teen suicides across North Ame Teen, 17 years old Written by soccersam September 19, However magpiesings is way off base, the Teen, 13 years old Written by syndromia September 25, It's okay. What's the story?
Is it any good? Talk to your kids about
0コメント