Book Talk: Burned by Ellen Hopkins

AUTHOR: Ellen Hopkins

PUBLISHED: April 1st 2006

PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderry Books 

PAGES: 431

SERIES/STAND ALONE: Series book 1

SOURCE: Book Outlet

CHALLENGES: None

OUTLINE:

I do know things really began to spin out of control after my first sex dream.

It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious—yet abusive—family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation.

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers—about God, a woman's role, sex, love—mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it?

It's with a real boy that Pattyn gets into real trouble. After Pattyn's father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control until Pattyn ends up suspended from school and sent to live with an aunt she doesn't know.

Pattyn is supposed to find salvation and redemption during her exile to the wilds of rural Nevada. Yet what she finds instead is love and acceptance. And for the first time she feels worthy of both—until she realizes her old demons will not let her go. Pattyn begins down a path that will lead her to a hell—a hell that may not be the one she learned about in sacrament meetings, but it is hell all the same.

In this riveting and masterful novel told in verse, Ellen Hopkins takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From the highs of true love to the lows of abuse, Pattyn's story will have readers engrossed until the very last word. 

Video

In a nutshell

Characters

My Journey through Goodreads

Status

September 27, 2018 – Finished Reading September 25, 2018 – page 140  32.48% September 25, 2018 – Started Reading October 13, 2017 – Shelved as: books-i-own-not-read September 7, 2011 – Shelved

Fun pictures

Book Review: Crank by Ellen Hopkins

AUTHOR: Ellen Hopkins

SERIES: Series (Glass and Fallout)

PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderry Books  

PAGES: 537

SOURCE: Bought

OUTLINE:In Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank

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Quick Thought (or not)

If you haven't read any Ellen Hopkins books you're missing out. I know I say this with just about all her books I've read and reviewed, and it never changes.  

I read Crank at the end of 2013, and although it took me awhile to finish it that in no way portrays my feelings for a book such as this. Normally, I do my reviews with a quick thought, pacing, characters, and ending. This book however isn't that type of review layout I'm going to use because truthfully there's no way to put it into that. 

While I'll admit I love my vampires, werewolves, dystopian, witches, spies and all the others, Crank is not a book to be taken lightly. It is not a love story between a boy and a girl, but a girl and her addiction. It is not a book for the weak of mind, or the heartless. You have to read it with an open mind, and a caring heart. You're probably thinking why should I do that when this girl, Kristina gets addicted to this monster. 

Kristina's life hasn't been easy with an almost absent father, and when she goes and visits him her world as Kristina is turned upside down, and Bree steps up. As Kristina lets Bree take over she soon discovers the monster, and it is soon after that she begins to crave it, need it. willing to do anything for that next high. I can't tell you how she's feeling, but I know from talking to some who have done this that it's not something you'd wish on anyone else. I don't remember Kristina having anybody to lean on, or anyone who would stand beside her, and guide her through this darkness. With a dad not much better, and a 0n/0ff again boyfriend who helps her get that fix Kristina seems to be doomed, but near the end something happens that could pull her out of this slump. The question is will Kristina take charge of her life again and show Bree that Kristina is the stronger one

Now that I've sat here, and done the review I think I should really try and read the last two. The ending to Crank will leave you with questions as to what happens with Kristina/Bree and the obstacles she's facing. Sometimes falling and hitting rock bottom brings hope, and other times it's the place where it ends.

Book Review: Identical by Ellen Hopkins

AUTHOR: Ellen Hopkins
PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderry
PAGES: 565
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand Alone I think
SOURCE: Bought
OUTLINE:
Kaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for Congress. Everything on the surface of their lives seems Norman Rockwell perfect, but underneath run deep and damaging secrets. Kaeleigh is the good girl-her father's perfect flower, something she has tried so hard to be since she was nine and he started sexually abusing her. She cuts herself and vomits after every binge, desperate to feel something normal. Raeanne uses painkillers, drugs, alcohol, and sex to numb the pain of not being Daddy's favorite. Both girls must figure out how to become whole, but how can they when their world has been torn to shreds?

Video Review: Hate List

AUTHOR: Jennifer Brown
PUBLISHER: Little Brown and Company
PAGES: 405
STAND ALONE/SERIES: Stand alone
SOURCE: Library

OUTLINE: Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets.Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.

STARTED: Feb 26, 2011
FINISHED: Mar 2,2011


MY THOUGHTS:

I did this review in Vlog format. Hope it's enjoyable.

Oops I just realized there's 4 parts to the book. When I was looking through it at my quotes.


MY QUOTES:

-People do it all the time--assume that they "know" what's going on in someone else's head. That's impossible. And to think it's possible is a mistake. A really big mistake. A life-ruining one if you're not careful.
-Because who you are is supposed to be the easiest question in the world to answer, right? Only for me it hadn't been easy for a very long time. maybe it never was. (Val)
-Being my friend would be a tough risk to take. (Val)
- A little edward Scissorhands or something, but in a cool way. (Stacey)
-Pretending my heart wasn't breaking, Pretending I wasn't angry, confused, scared. (Val)
-Life isn't fair. A fair is a place where you eat corndogs and ride the ferris Wheel. (Dr Heiler)
I hate when you say that. (Val)
-So do my kids. (Dr)
- It's the sunrise that gets people's attention. Rebirth always does. (Bea)
- Being pretty isn't everything, but sometimes being ugly. (Val)
-Now that I knew who I wasn't, I was determined to remember who I was. Who I would become. (Val)

BOOK TRAILER: I liked.

Cut Review

AUTHOR: Patricia McCormick
PUBLISHER: Push
PAGES: 160
STAND ALONE/SERIES: Stand alone

STARTED: 12-12-10
FINISHED:

OUTLINE: Fifteen-year old Callie is so withdrawn that she's not speaking to anyone including her therapist at the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor send her after discovering that she cuts herself. Her story unfolds primarily through dramatic monologues, gradually revealing the family turmoil that led to her self-destructive behavior. Her little brother, Sam, is ill he nearly died in her care. Since Sam's illness, Callie's mother has become so worried and fragile that she rarely leaves the house. Her father has responded to the psychological and financial stress of Sam's illness by disappearing into his work, and when that doesn't work, into his drinking.

MY THOUGHTS:
I went into this book not really knowing anything about. I saw it on the shelf at HPB, and the cover kind of drew me in, along with the title. A little weird I know, but if you knew my background when I was younger. I don't think it would be so weird. (Trust me my poetry is proof) I went into the book thinking it would be good (not in like a happy sort of way), but more of an emotional way. I wanted to like it, but it just didn't have the connection with the characters I was looking for I guess.

Callie is the main MC who gets sent to this "rehab" center called Sea Pines, or in the words of the girls that go there "Sick Minds" (I thought this was kind of cute) because of her addiction to cutting. While she's there she doesn't really seem to wanna make any attempts to get better. She doesn't talk to anybody there, not the girls, counselors, or in group. In that way it's kind of hard to follow because you have mostly her thoughts on the girls, the counselor, and others at the place. No actual interaction until almost the end. At the end like I said is when she started to actually open up to people, and started telling her story as to why she was there, and the guilt she had from her brother being sick, and her mom having to deal with her brother, and then her dad's business.

The other characters in it Debbie, the over-weight girl, Becca and Tara the anorexic girls, and Sydney and Tiffany who are addicted to drugs. Then a new girl named Amanda shows up later whose also a cutter. Honestly I couldn't make myself like any of  them except maybe Amanda when she showed up just because she seemed like she didn't care. She had that smart-ellic attitude.

So I'm kind of torn between how I feel about the book. I think it could have been more thought provoking for readers had it more details I guess you could say. This is one of those type books where it's hard to write about because I don't really know how to put it into words. It was apparently a banned book too although I didn't see the explicitness of it. That is just me though. *shrugs*

I would have to say maybe 2.5 stars.

Still remember though just because it didn't work for me. It still may work for you and it really is a short read. :)