Ellen Hopkins

Gifted Kristina Georgia Snow takes a harrowing journey through the nightmare of drug addiction, in a book based on actual events. Original.

Crank

Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter, gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul - her life.

Amanda Autumn Berrey

And the only one who knew every little negative, dirty thing would have forgiven me anything.

Chase had stepped up to the plate. The pitch was up to me.

The problem with resolutions is they’re only as solid as the person making them.

It’s a lot more like jumping into accepting your own past forgiving brain, failures yourself ferreting freeing and those what’s self you love inside destructive and even demons those you despise.

He pulled me so close it hurt, laid his head against my heaving chest. Then hard-ass Chase Wagner cried. Oh, God, I’m sorry, Kristina. I should have been there for you.

We used to do coke, till “Just Say No” put the stuff out of reach. Now it’s crank. Meth. The monster. It’s a bitch on the body, but damn do you fly.

Geoffrey Froggatt

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." This book is based off of the author’s experiences with her daughter’s addictions, which makes the material more authentic and powerful. I recommend this book for fans of novels written in verse-poetry. I remember finding this book very dark but I don’t think most mainstream audiences would enjoy reading it.

Sara Uribe

This was one of the first books I picked up read in the middle of High school, it was something that I needed to read and I am so glad that I did. This is an unforgettable read with a powerful message. If you don't want to go on an emotional journey, this is not a book for you.

Audrey Lord

I didn't Think I would like this story because I don't really like people who do drugs. But it was so beautifully written that once I started I wanted to see whether Kristina would win or if Bree would.

Lacy W

My heart hurts after reading this book. As it so rightfully should. This isn't an easy topic to talk about. Drug abuse never is. Just watching Intervention is enough for me to see that drug abuse is a very serious and hard topic to discuss. 

We follow the life of Kristina. She's a typical teenager, filled with angst and just trying to make it through life. She goes to visit her dad and from there her life is a downward spiral fighting for her life from the monster. 

Kristina calls meth the monster, as it should be called. Meth is a hellacious drug. I have never tried it but I have seen some studies of what it can do the body and mind. After just one use of it, your mind is completely altered and chances are it will never be the same again. 

Having this written in verse makes the story that much more compelling. I was under the spell of Ellen Hopkin's beautiful writing. I felt all the emotions that Kristina felt and my heart just broke, page after page after page. This isn't an easy topic, as I mentioned, and I think that one needs to be cautious when reading books like these. They aren't for the faint of heart.

Jeannette Ordas

A huge, thick book that once cracked you realize is filled with white space. I felt bad for the trees.

Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind.

Alyssa 

really good book. I was intrigued by her point of view and seeing what she was going through.

Annie

Pop Sugar Challenge:
- a book over 500 pages

Kaela Childers

Danika Walker

Wow. I don't know what to say this is my first Ellen Hopkins book... and wow.
I guess I would recommend it, but only for like 16+
*Check Trigger Warnings!*

Aly Valenz

I read this for the first time back in 2019. The struggles she has between who she is and who the monster makes her, tells the story of how drugs can be a main focus in your life. Her perseverance and her harness to control it leads Through these pages  her story is told in a beautiful way and I strongly recommend it.

ashley hopkins

More reviews at Bookaholics Anonymous Online

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.

Olivera Mitić

liz mcclaran

Barbara Rosas

Amo este libro, en realidad te pone en otro punto de vista y la lectura es tan rápida que no te das cuenta de que te lo acabas de terminar.

Dorian Avers

Reading Ellen Hopkins makes me feel like I'm in high school again. My sister read Crank and a few others, I read Perfect, and I think Impulse. I remember being mesmerized and emotional about those books. When I sat down to read this book it took me a minute to not be annoyed by the pace and the fact that I spent just as much time turning pages as I did reading. Hopkins' pacing ends up being great though, it speeds up and gets you high with it. These books are a quick read, but they're a memorable one. Although I don't think I connected with this book or it's poetry as much as I did with Perfect and Impulse I did enjoy this and I'll probably read Glass soon. 
 A recommendation for anyone who's looking to read or buy this book: try to get the hard copies because the paperbacks do break up parts of the poems because of formatting. These are addictive books though.

Jeni Enjaian

I really wanted to enjoy this book much more than I did. I usually do enjoy narrative poetry. This book however, showed no reason for writing this book in poetry. Others I have read, like "The Sky Is Everywhere" had a reason. The character wrote those lines. They felt like they actually came from her. This book, however, shows no reason for Kristina/Bree to express herself that way. Nothing felt deep either, any of her reasons, any of her actions. I suppose that might come from the fact that Hopkins wrote this as a way of expressing what happened to their family when something similar happened to them. I can see why people rave about this book; I simply do not feel the same way.

Laura

Die Selbstzerstörung kann unfassbar anziehend sein, ganz besonders wenn das Monster im Spiel ist.
Aus der Ich-Perspektive erzählt uns Kristina, wie sie von einer begabten und beliebten Schülerin zu einem drogenabhängigen Gespenst wurde.
Sie spielt die Rolle der perfekten Tochter. Alles ändert sich, als sie ihren Vater in Reno besucht. Denn dort trifft Kristina auf das Monster: Crank. Eine Droge, die sie unfassbar schnell vergessen lässt, wer sie ist. Oder ruft sie doch nur die echte Kristina hervor, die sich bisher im Verborgenen hielt? Zwischen der ersten Liebe, dem ersten Sex, dem Finden neuer Freunde und einer hilflosen Familie rutscht Kristina unaufhaltsam in die Abhängigkeit.
Die ganze Rezension könnt hier:http://pinketuerklinke.blogspot.com/2... nachlesen.

Jess Houston

Crank + Glass

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | This is a rewrite of a review posted via my old book blog in 2007/2008.

The thing about Ellen Hopkins is that she manages to create a vivid picture of the darkness in the world through her lyrical writing. I've always found her to be brilliant and Crank is certainly the reasoning behind this. She's never one to sugar coat it, the bad, and she manages to make her characters believable and you're immediately drawn in to their minds like they're your own.

Written in free-verse, the story leads us into the plot of our narrator -- Kristina Georgia Snow -- heading off to see an absentee father and falling into the hands of "The Monster", crank, whatever it is you wish to call it. You see her struggle with identity and watch as she falls into a world so dark. Gone is Kristina and in her place is Bree.

Crank is at times difficult to read, her struggles feel so real, as she falls in love -- with her addiction, with a world you can't help but feel she doesn't belong in. It isn't extremely graphic but it is just the amount that can cause triggering effects for some in its raw emotion and touchy subject. Hopkins has never shied away from this.

This novel will always have a special place in my heart and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Gretchen Gomez

This book is the reason why I fell in love with Ellen Hopkins. However, I do recommend this for anyone 17+

It's about a girl who falls into drug addiction and how it became her one true love.

It's very dark. Nevertheless, amazing.

Crank

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