Ellen Hopkins

Impulse

Ciara Janae ۵

Monicap

Oh my god. Is it weird that my limbs are, like, shaking right now?

Wow. Like, I totally, TOTALLY did not see that coming. I mean the inside flap said they'd all find love and heal and have nice fluffy feels at the end. 

But no. No. That is a lie. There are not nice fluffy feels at the end. they are unnice hard cold ripping-my-heart-out feels at the end.

But, on the other hand, I can now see why everyone is always so deeply affected by Ellen Hopkins books. I might read another one of her books when I've recovered from these feels.

Jordan Layne

I'm going to be honest: This book fucking wrecked me physically, emotionally, and everything in between. To put it quite bluntly, this book fucked me sideways. 
I'm not going to go into detail about the plot at the moment. I'll do that on my blog. I will, however, tell the people wanting to read the book this: Do it. It is a heartbreaking, yet beautiful read. The ending is the definition of "bittersweet". 
The characters (most of them, not just the three main characters) were very likeable. No, lovable. You felt so much sympathy for the main characters. If you didn't, what the hell? Are you a heartless bastard? Did you laugh when Marley from "Marley and Me" died? The writing was phenomenal. Not that I'm surprised, considering Ellen Hopkins wrote it. 
Anger. Pain. Happiness. Love. Sadness. Elation. Melancholy. These are the emotions I felt while reading this book. Honestly, it is one of the best books I've read in a while. In fact, it is the best book I've read in 2016 so far. 
If you haven't read this book yet, it is a must. In my opinion, this book is one of the most important pieces of modern day literature we have, especially when it comes to the subject matter. Suicide is a horrible thing. Depression is one of the deadliest, coldest executioners in the world today. Books about depression and suicide usually end happy, with the person healing and getting better. While that's all fine and dandy, it's not always realistic. This book did NOT supply a happy ending. It is the exact opposite. If you are looking for sunshine and rainbows at the end of this novel, prepare to be utterly disappointed. This book, for the most part, is realistic. The ending is realistic, not cute or happy.
Like I said, this book is important. It deals with the subject matter perfectly, unlike "This is Where It Ends" by Marieke Nijcamp. That book is pissall compared to "Impulse". Grab a copy, read it, and prepare yourself. This journey, while funny and cute at times, is no joke. It is real. It hurts. The ending will haunt me for a long time.

From the bestselling author of Crank, the story of three kids whose lives collide at a mental hospital after each attempts 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.

Alyssa 

sooooo sad! I wanted to bawl my eyes out! but I couldn't cuz I had company over and my mom was talking to me at the time I just finished it. :'( I felt that the characters were so real and very easy to connect with. my favorite of Ellen Hopkins so far! poor Conner! :'(  I just wanted to hug him! what was probably the worst thing is that Conner's parents felt like they were doing the best thing for him when they were really screwing him up even more.

**READ TRIGGER WARNINGS** Wow, I have a lot to say about this one. I can definitely relate to all three main characters: Vanessa, Conner & Tony. I relate to Vanessa a lot because at times I don’t feel completely like myself, & I have felt the urge to mutilate myself, my body, my emotions, mind & everything that comes with that. I have experienced depression & I do have anxiety so I can definitely relate. There’s romance, there’s complexity, there’s a battle with if I belong because of my sexuality & I relate to Tony because of that as well. 

Katelyn Broad

I have been a fan of Ellen Hopkins since I read Crank and this book did not disappoint. 

We follow three teenagers at a treatment center and learn the secrets of how they got there. All of them have one thing in common: they all tried to kill themselves. 

This book was beautifully written and I love the way the author formats the pages and the information into nice looking and almost poem-like pages. 

This book does have some twists and while I started to suspect what would happen at the end, it still felt surprising when it was unveiled. 

Warning: This book is incredibly sad and very hard to put down.

Maxie Froelicher

** spoiler alert **
           Tw for suicide, sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia in book

I read this book for the PopSugar challenge prompt “Books without an image on the cover” and the Around the World In 52 Books 2020 week 1 prompt “A book without the letter a, y, or t in the title”. This book is a lot. It covers a variety of topics and Im really glad how it tackles most of them. I especially like how it covered the fact that sometimes even with therapy and help, going back to the same environment you left will undo almost everything you’ve worked on. It’s important that kids know that so that they won’t give up on therapy when they’re able to finally get out of the environment they’ve been stuck in.

Jade Flynn

My first Ellen Hopkins novel! All I can say is that this book really hit home...hard. WOW, JUST WOW! I am definitely going to be picking up 'Perfect' as soon as I can.

Mary Graham

I don't think a book has ever made me think as much as this one did. This book is so powerful and deals with such a strong topic. This is a very beautiful book. I don't think a book has ever made me feel this sad. It makes you think about what you have in your life that you don't appreciate as much as you should. This is the first book that has ever almost made me cry. This was a beautifully written book.

Impulse

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