From Goodreads,"From the bestselling author of Crank, the story of three kids whose lives collide at a mental hospital after each attempt suicide.
Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.
Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.
Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.
Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.
And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.
In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun—and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life—but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place."
Goodreads - Impulse
Awards and Nominations:
- Georgia Peach Book Award (2008)
- Lincoln Award Nominee (2013)
April is always a favorite month of mine because I get to share my reviews of poetry books! They are always fast reads, but usually pack a lot of punch in them. I am finding that it is difficult to easily find poetry books with a solid story. Ellen Hopkins has become one of my go-to's for books with prose or poetry.
Impulse is about 3 teens, Vanessa, Tony, and Conner, who all land themselves in a rehabilitation treatment center after trying to commit suicide. Different paths have brought them to this shared place, but together the three will help each other to move through the levels to migrate back into society. The looming question is will they make it through the levels and through the Challenge to go back to a normal life.
I hate to be this person, but there's a *SPOILER ALERT* ahead. If you don't want a spoiler alert, I advise you to stop reading.
At the end of the book, Conner commits suicide by jumping off the huge cliff they climbed while at the Wilderness Challenge. The entire time I was reading the book I knew that someone wasn't going to make it to the end. About halfway through the book, I had a clear picture of who wasn't going to make it. Hopkins worked really hard to write Conner as a character that was distancing himself and she somehow managed to distance him even though he had the same amount of "sections" as everyone else. Conner's fault was that his parents expected perfection out of him and he couldn't do that. He couldn't be that person, and they were too caught up in their own world to see that and not change for him. I ultimately feel that Conner's parents killed him by their overly high expectations for him. I think this was a great topic to cover because it isn't something that is written about a lot. All parents have expectations for their children. I think some kids see that and push themselves beyond the limits that they should. It is good for this entire topic to be in books for kids to see that they aren't the only ones that feel pressure from parents, especially as teenagers.
I love that Ellen covers so many topics in all of her books. However, this one I felt had so much packed into it that it was hard to get what "message" was trying to get across. The book covers sexual abuse, physical abuse, AIDS, sexuality, parent expectations, self-mutilation, drugs, and suicide. It was very overwhelming. I think the overarching theme was suicide and mental health, but I just felt that with three main characters it was a LOT shoved in my face.
Overall, the book was a lengthy read (as almost all of Hopkins' books are), but it had solid characters that took their time building up their story. I would have rathered had this from one point of view and less topic coverage. It should have focused on a few key points and let the rest go. I give this 4 stars and I am excited to read the follow-up book Perfect.
Impulse is about 3 teens, Vanessa, Tony, and Conner, who all land themselves in a rehabilitation treatment center after trying to commit suicide. Different paths have brought them to this shared place, but together the three will help each other to move through the levels to migrate back into society. The looming question is will they make it through the levels and through the Challenge to go back to a normal life.
I hate to be this person, but there's a *SPOILER ALERT* ahead. If you don't want a spoiler alert, I advise you to stop reading.
At the end of the book, Conner commits suicide by jumping off the huge cliff they climbed while at the Wilderness Challenge. The entire time I was reading the book I knew that someone wasn't going to make it to the end. About halfway through the book, I had a clear picture of who wasn't going to make it. Hopkins worked really hard to write Conner as a character that was distancing himself and she somehow managed to distance him even though he had the same amount of "sections" as everyone else. Conner's fault was that his parents expected perfection out of him and he couldn't do that. He couldn't be that person, and they were too caught up in their own world to see that and not change for him. I ultimately feel that Conner's parents killed him by their overly high expectations for him. I think this was a great topic to cover because it isn't something that is written about a lot. All parents have expectations for their children. I think some kids see that and push themselves beyond the limits that they should. It is good for this entire topic to be in books for kids to see that they aren't the only ones that feel pressure from parents, especially as teenagers.
I love that Ellen covers so many topics in all of her books. However, this one I felt had so much packed into it that it was hard to get what "message" was trying to get across. The book covers sexual abuse, physical abuse, AIDS, sexuality, parent expectations, self-mutilation, drugs, and suicide. It was very overwhelming. I think the overarching theme was suicide and mental health, but I just felt that with three main characters it was a LOT shoved in my face.
Overall, the book was a lengthy read (as almost all of Hopkins' books are), but it had solid characters that took their time building up their story. I would have rathered had this from one point of view and less topic coverage. It should have focused on a few key points and let the rest go. I give this 4 stars and I am excited to read the follow-up book Perfect.
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