Helpful Score: 5
This book was amazing. As a high school teacher, I found it helped me to have an insight to the minds of teens dealing with suicide and depression. Beautifully written. It will keep you up late turning the pages.
Helpful Score: 1
I couldn't put this book down. Just like the rest of Ellen Hopkins books, it was breath taking, a story for young adults and older, about the hardships many people would never even imagine. Her writing is magical, each page its own chapter, all the words coming together to form a shape of its own. A beautiful book...
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book i read it in one sitting i was up until 3 AM reading it. *warning to those who want this book its very addicting. Its also one of the best books i've read so far this year
Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com
Three troubled teens cross paths at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital, after attempting suicide. Connor, Tony, and Vanessa all have demons that try to pull them under and get them to succumb to the temptation to try it again; this time making sure they succeed.
Connor's overbearing family, only concerned about his GPA, or his making the varsity football team, or getting into an Ivy League college, offer no solace during his time of need. Feeling suicide is the only answer after a deeply emotional love affair ends, he takes a gun and points it to his chest before pulling the trigger.
Tony, after many years in a juvenile home for a crime that still haunts him, decides to ease his feelings of despair and loneliness by swallowing a handful of pills, only to vomit them up and be found by the police lying on the sidewalk unconscious.
Vanessa is a cutter. In order to ease her mind in any time of stress she slices her skin with anything sharp enough to do the job. One day, when she was drowning in her blue ocean of sadness, she cuts too deep. She feels herself slipping into the abyss until her younger brother, Bryan, walks in and finds her. When he calls for their ex-nurse Grandma, she is able to hold off death.
After arriving at Aspen Springs, Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are introduced to a life under constant surveillance, strict routines, and hours and hours or counseling. Immediately the three form a bond, feeling drawn to one another as if they might be able to save each other from death. Together they navigate the regulations of the hospital and make progress toward healing as they tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets; things they won't even tell their counselors.
Ellen Hopkins uses her wonderful free verse style to weave together the story of three troubled teens as they attempt to heal the terrible scars left by their lives. The consistency the author uses when alternating the points of view makes the story easy to follow. Hopkins gives away just enough information that the reader feels a part of the story while still saving a big bang for the end. IMPULSE is a great story that reveals the importance of family during the healing process and is a must read for anyone who knows a teen.
Three troubled teens cross paths at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital, after attempting suicide. Connor, Tony, and Vanessa all have demons that try to pull them under and get them to succumb to the temptation to try it again; this time making sure they succeed.
Connor's overbearing family, only concerned about his GPA, or his making the varsity football team, or getting into an Ivy League college, offer no solace during his time of need. Feeling suicide is the only answer after a deeply emotional love affair ends, he takes a gun and points it to his chest before pulling the trigger.
Tony, after many years in a juvenile home for a crime that still haunts him, decides to ease his feelings of despair and loneliness by swallowing a handful of pills, only to vomit them up and be found by the police lying on the sidewalk unconscious.
Vanessa is a cutter. In order to ease her mind in any time of stress she slices her skin with anything sharp enough to do the job. One day, when she was drowning in her blue ocean of sadness, she cuts too deep. She feels herself slipping into the abyss until her younger brother, Bryan, walks in and finds her. When he calls for their ex-nurse Grandma, she is able to hold off death.
After arriving at Aspen Springs, Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are introduced to a life under constant surveillance, strict routines, and hours and hours or counseling. Immediately the three form a bond, feeling drawn to one another as if they might be able to save each other from death. Together they navigate the regulations of the hospital and make progress toward healing as they tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets; things they won't even tell their counselors.
Ellen Hopkins uses her wonderful free verse style to weave together the story of three troubled teens as they attempt to heal the terrible scars left by their lives. The consistency the author uses when alternating the points of view makes the story easy to follow. Hopkins gives away just enough information that the reader feels a part of the story while still saving a big bang for the end. IMPULSE is a great story that reveals the importance of family during the healing process and is a must read for anyone who knows a teen.
Read this book in just 2 days!! Was a great read!! Ending most definetely leaves you hanging. Very interesting if you have every dealt with depression or being suicidal.
I absolutly loved this book. It's very well written and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good read.
An overall good tale of suicidal teens in a psych facility. A quick read completed in just a couple hours, thanks to the "poetic" style it is written in. Some questions are left unanswered but they are minor. A sequel would pique my interest. My biggest complaint is the "teenagers fall in love and are cured of their deep seated mental illnesses" arc that many books like this tend to put out there. It just isn't believable.
i love ellen hopkins' books, but this was my least favorite. the others, i finished in one or two days, because they were so interesting, but this one dragged for me. i struggled to finish reading this one!
Not my most favorite Hopkins' book but I still thoroughly enjoyed this. If I were to rank, in order, I'd put the Kristina books first, Tricks second, and the rest third.
There is no book by Ellen Hopkins not worth reading IMO. I truly think she has talent seeping from her pores. I'm so thankful I found her books when I did and that I've been able to keep up with the new releases. So many works degrade with time and this is not the case with Hopkins'. While some other authors claim to bring better and better novels to the table without actually coming through, Hopkins' doesn't talk it - she brings it.
There is no book by Ellen Hopkins not worth reading IMO. I truly think she has talent seeping from her pores. I'm so thankful I found her books when I did and that I've been able to keep up with the new releases. So many works degrade with time and this is not the case with Hopkins'. While some other authors claim to bring better and better novels to the table without actually coming through, Hopkins' doesn't talk it - she brings it.
