Fallout Review

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Release date: September 14, 2010
Pages: 662
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderberry
How I got it: For review from publisher
Other titles in series: Crank, Glass 

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—three of Kristina Snow’s five children—live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They share only a predisposition for addiction and a host of troubled feelings toward the mother who barely knows them, a mother who has been riding with the monster, crank, for twenty years. 

Hunter is nineteen, angry, getting by in college with a job at a radio station, a girlfriend he loves in the only way he knows how, and the occasional party. He's struggling to understand why his mother left him, when he unexpectedly meets his rapist father, and things get even more complicated. Autumn lives with her single aunt and alcoholic grandfather. When her aunt gets married, and the only family she’s ever known crumbles, Autumn’s compulsive habits lead her to drink. And the consequences of her decisions suggest that there’s more of Kristina in her than she’d like to believe. Summer doesn’t know about Hunter, Autumn, or their two youngest brothers, Donald and David. To her, family is only abuse at the hands of her father’s girlfriends and a slew of foster parents. Doubt and loneliness overwhelm her, and she, too, teeters on the edge of her mother’s notorious legacy. As each searches for real love and true family, they find themselves pulled toward the one person who links them together—Kristina, Bree, mother, addict. But it is in each other, and in themselves, that they find the trust, the courage, the hope to break the cycle. 

Told in three voices and punctuated by news articles chronicling the family’s story, FALLOUT is the stunning conclusion to the trilogy begun by CRANK and GLASS, and a testament to the harsh reality that addiction is never just one person’s problem.

Crank and Glass are two chilling novels about meth addiction, but because meth consumers every area of the main character's life, it's hard to get a connection to her that is anything more than pity. In Fallout, you get to connect to three characters whose lives have been completely affected by meth, which makes it the most chilling novel of the trilogy.

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer do some really stupid stuff, not gonna lie. But so many parts of their lives are so screwed up, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't do really stupid stuff. In their actions, you see the affect Kristina's bad teenage decisions have had for the past twenty years, and in that you realize that it could happen to you.

Hopkins' writing is, as always, wonderful, but I feel like it was a step up from Crank and Glass. Like she's evolved. I mean, look at these quotes:

"Always before, I just said no, left it solidly there. I waver now. I want to share everything with him. Want to know what he knows, feel what he feels, share the same space he's in."

“This is unstoppable, no holds barred. This is beautiful. Crazy. A beginning. Betrayal. Addictive. Aggressive. Alive. This is something to be afraid of.” 

Tell me that's not beautiful? I know for me, at least, it makes me more excited about wanting to give some of her non-Crank books a try.

So yeah, Fallout was definitely my favorite of the series. The different perspectives and the entire story-line was basically just made of win, and I can't wait to dig in to more of Ellen Hopkins' books.

Plot: Very good. Each of the character's separate stories had me fully absorbed.

Characters: I really liked them, in spite of some crappy decisions they made.

Writing: Really special.

Ending: All I could've asked for.

Kid friendly? There's drugs, sex, drinking, and swearing.

Overall:

I would glare at anyone that tried to keep me from reading this book.

I needed to know what happened to Kristina, Hunter, Autumn and Summer, and I could not be stopped.

Glass Review

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Release Date: April 19, 2011
Pages: 681 (Harcover)
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderberry
Most Appropriate For Ages: 14+
Where I Got It: Bought
Other titles in series: Crank

Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal. Whatever you call it, it's all the same: a monster. And once it's got hold of you, this monster will never let you go.

Kristina thinks she can control it. Now with a baby to care for, she's determined to be the one deciding when and how much, the one calling the shots. But the monster is too strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grips. She needs the monster to keep going, to face the pressures of day-to-day life. She needs it to feel alive.

Once again the monster takes over Kristina's life and she will do anything for it, including giving up the one person who gives her the unconditional love she craves -- her baby.

Glass was just as intense--if not more intense--than it's prequel, Crank.

This novel focuses on returning to addiction, and how it can completely and totally rule your life. Once again, Hopkin's delivers a frighteningly realistic portrayal of addiction. At times, though, the story got repetitive. This might've been intentional, but even if it was I still got kind of bored at parts because it felt like I'd already read it in Crank. But after some of that, the story becomes new and darker.

Even though Hopkin's writes in verse, I still get a great feel for the characters, which is a huge accomplishment, since this isn't usually the case for me. And I definitely got enough of a feel for the characters to know that I HATE TRENT AND I WANT CHASE BACK. *clears throat* Sorry...

I have Fallout on my shelf, and while I'm excited to read it, I can't just yet. Not because it will be sad to see the series end, but because these novels and so dark that now I need something lighter and easier.

Glass was rough. Drugs are rough. Glass was addicting. Drugs are addicting. Glass was good. Drugs are not.

Book Report:

Plot: Grabbing.

Characters: Stupid and stupider but somehow you still care for them. It's strange.

Writing: So good! I think I might have to go back through this one to find some of my favorite quotes...

Ending: Just kinda...ended!

Kid friendly? There's a lot of drugs, and a lot of sex, and some swearing.

Should I read it? After you've read Crank. You're not gonna want to miss a minute of this screwed up story.

Overall:

Crank Review

Author: Ellen Hopkins
Release Date: October 5, 2004
Pages: 536 (Paperback)

Publisher: SimonPulse

Most Appropriate For Ages: 14+
Where I Got It: For review from publisher


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 -- she's fearless. 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.
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Crank was dark, poetic, and completely grabbing. If you haven't read it yet, you should fix that.

First let me just start out saying that I seriously don't understand why this book has been one of the many to be (or attempted to be) banned. This book is a rough, realistic portrayal of a girl fighting for her life from drugs. It isn't glamorous; it's effing terrifying. I had never even considered doing drugs, but this book made me never ever want to think about thinking about looking the wrong way at drugs. This book should be on shelves. Teens should be reading it nationwide. Issues like this shouldn't be swept under the rug in reading material.

OK, had to get that out. Anyways....

I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy Crank, but I really did. The story completely sucks you in until the very last page...I feel weird saying that. That I enjoyed watching Kristina crumble from a good and normal and drug-free girl into Bree, who is everything but. I guess it was like a car crash you watched through your fingers. A really good car crash.

And could somebody PLEASE tell me why I waited so long to read one of Ellen Hopkin's books? The girl can write. I've read a verse novel before, so the format didn't bother me at all. Although at the very beginning the way she wrote, the long sentences and description, did take a little while to get used to. But once I did, it was just amazing.

I want to revisit this story very soon, which I will be doing with Glass, the sequel. Check this one out if you've had enough fluff for a little while. You won't be disappointed.

Book Report:

Plot: Well-paced, terrified, and grabbing.

Characters: When Chase cleans up, can I marry him?

Writing: OH YEAH.

Ending: Satisfying.

How kid friendly is it? Kids? Not really friendly for kids, as there is a lot of drug use (duh), sex, rape, drinking, blood-sucking...yeah. (But see the second paragraph.)

Should I read it? Totally.

 Overall: