Reviews

People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins

fancypantsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional

3.0

shaunareads's review against another edition

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4.0

This is an important story around a very controversial topic.

I have never read anything by Ellen Hopkins. I don't often read poetry and it was in second person so the format of this book took a little bit of getting used to.

However, I love being in the character's head when I'm reading and this really allowed that. However, disturbing some of the characters might have been.

I took away a star because the story moved so slowly and the big event where I thought everything was going to explode at almost seemed pointless.

I know now that it was meant to be that. And it was interesting to see in the minds of the characters but it made a lot of the perspectives seem unnecessary.

disneymagic's review against another edition

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4.0

I love Ellen Hopkins- her formatting, her use of fonts, world building and getting into character, the way she handles difficult topics.
This book is the epitome of Hopkins’ writing but for one thing. The poetic style isn’t really there. But I really don’t mind.
People Kill People covers a really heavy topic in a very head on way. I’m personally not okay with the viewpoint of some of the main characters so I knocked it down a star for making me feel uncomfortable but it was a beautifully written story and I’m happy to say I have this as an ARC sitting on my bookshelf.

taylorlechat's review against another edition

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4.0

I could have done without the poetry and for some reason I had trouble keeping track of the main characters relationships with secondary characters. I did enjoy the ending though which I find rarely happens for me in books, but I wish it would have delved deeper into white supremacy as a whole and guns and gun safety as a whole.

deaton9's review against another edition

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5.0

A chilling but powerful look into how hurt and rage can lead to violence.

ktbkitten's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A good story. Very sad and dark. The ending poem is perfect and hit hard. 

aquigleyy's review against another edition

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1.0

Perhaps it is due to my own aging out of young adulthood, but Ellen Hopkins just doesn’t do it for me anymore like she used to. I used to love her books and wouldn’t be able to get enough, but now I find them to be a bit surface level and predictable. I used to love reading her poem format, but I didn’t love it as much this time around especially as they wove in between the fade in/fade outs (another interesting format choice that I didn’t much care for). While I was expecting the book to be about violence and hatred, I wasn’t expecting so much focus on racism and white supremacy and didn’t particularly enjoy reading through the thoughts of the characters who possessed those ideals – it seemed almost condoned or supported throughout the book. What I did like the voice of ‘violence’ that was present throughout the novel and with all of the characters – we all have the little devil on our shoulder that encourages us to act on our impulses and the italicized voice of violence or self-hatred showed how it affects all of us and is influenced by our subconscious desires. However, the book seemed to end suddenly right as things were climaxing, but the author was generous enough to give us a conclusion for each character. The events were more or less predictable and the viewpoint shifted to a different character just as things were getting interesting, heated, or violent. All in all, I may just have to stick to Ellen’s writings about addiction and mental health as she has a unique ability to write well about those topics, but this one just wasn’t a hit for me.

mrsscherbastsky's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely chilling, Ellen Hopkins never disappoints.

wrathofglasses's review against another edition

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5.0

Definitely the Ellen Hopkins I know and love. Great characters, some were a little thin but all around a read I couldn’t put down.

librarytheri's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0