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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
The verse style is kind of distracting and pulls you away from the story but otherwise this is a very unique and terrifying tale full of pain at every corner and a sense of overwhelming descent into a world of shadows.
I have to confess Crank by Ellen Hopkins sat in my to-be-read pile for quite a long time, several years, in fact. I'm not sure why. There was something about the book that intimidated me before I ever opened it. Maybe I resisted the idea of a book about drug addiction written in a series of poems. Once I started it though, I was drawn in, seduced, addicted... I wanted more. I read more than I intended at each sitting. I wanted to know more. I felt a connection to the characters in the story. I felt the allure and the self-disgust. I cried at the consequences the addiction brought to those involved. I cheered in the hopeful moments and bemoaned the lost moments. Hopkins pushes buttons with effective character building and story telling that feels at once voyeuristic, enlightening, poetic, real, and addictive.
Oh my. There is so much to say about this book. There were times my stomach was in such knots, I had to take deep breaths and a break. Written in short image prose, not an academic definition, but my best just now, the shapes matched the message. Based on the author’s daughter’s descent into the tunnel of meth addiction, the reader is flung into the hell. This is the best piece I’ve read on teen addiction. Don’t be put off by the 535 pages. There is only a paragraph or two on each page. I read this in a day.
The subject matter that Ellen Hopkins covers is so heavy and depressing. However, she is one of the most gifted writers that I have come across. The style is written like a poem and it makes the story even more powerful. Truly unique.
Yikes---hard to read, but very powerful "Go Ask Alice"-like tale of a middle-class girl's descent into the circle of meth. Glad I got to meet author Hopkins in April.
Longer than the time list on the library site. That's not the problem. This TERRIBLE in audio. I keep reading that the poetic nature is what makes this stand out. I have to assume that the reader is breaking in the middle of sentences because that's where the lines break in the book? It's so choppy on audio.
This was first posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings on August 25, 2012.
Melissa's Musings:
I've never read anything by Hopkins before, so this was very different for me. It's an intense read.
I have to admit, it took me a while to get used to the fact that it's written in verse, but I really grew to like it. I liked the way that writing it in verse allowed Hopkins to play with the words and their arrangements on the page, like the formation of V's when Kristina is talking about her virginity, or the cascading slopes when she describes her descent into madness. I also liked how in some of the pages, the words are spaced in such a way that you can get two different meanings out of them. If you read them all together, as part of the story, it can mean one thing, but then when you read the separated words on their own in a line it can mean something completely different. Writing the story this way really makes you think.
I did feel bad for Kristina at one point, because it seemed like her family was kind of dysfunctional, and they really didn't pay all that much attention to her. I also felt for her when she got raped, because that's just wrong. But in the end, she put herself in her situation with the choices she made and she's the only one who can help herself out of the drug addicted haze, so I felt, I don't know, indifferent to her in that regard I guess.
I have to admit that I was disappointed right of the bat at the very first page at one thing in particular. I suppose I'm the only one to blame for this since had I read the synopsis first I would have known already. But, everyone raves about Ellen Hopkins so I didn't even think to read the synopsis before starting this. Since it's in the synopsis anyway, I don't really think I'm spoiling things by saying that I was disappointed to read about "the baby" in the book on the very first page prior to even beginning the story. I think putting that out there on the first page wasn't really necessary. It spoils a major plot point right in the beginning. You could have let the story build up to that without announcing it beforehand. It would have been more effective if there had just been a note added at the end. But, I suppose it doesn't really matter either way, it was just a little annoying as a spoiler when I first read it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading more of Hopkins' work. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to try reading a new and unique way of writing a story.
Melissa's Musings:
I've never read anything by Hopkins before, so this was very different for me. It's an intense read.
I have to admit, it took me a while to get used to the fact that it's written in verse, but I really grew to like it. I liked the way that writing it in verse allowed Hopkins to play with the words and their arrangements on the page, like the formation of V's when Kristina is talking about her virginity, or the cascading slopes when she describes her descent into madness. I also liked how in some of the pages, the words are spaced in such a way that you can get two different meanings out of them. If you read them all together, as part of the story, it can mean one thing, but then when you read the separated words on their own in a line it can mean something completely different. Writing the story this way really makes you think.
I did feel bad for Kristina at one point, because it seemed like her family was kind of dysfunctional, and they really didn't pay all that much attention to her. I also felt for her when she got raped, because that's just wrong. But in the end, she put herself in her situation with the choices she made and she's the only one who can help herself out of the drug addicted haze, so I felt, I don't know, indifferent to her in that regard I guess.
I have to admit that I was disappointed right of the bat at the very first page at one thing in particular. I suppose I'm the only one to blame for this since had I read the synopsis first I would have known already. But, everyone raves about Ellen Hopkins so I didn't even think to read the synopsis before starting this. Since it's in the synopsis anyway, I don't really think I'm spoiling things by saying that I was disappointed to read about "the baby" in the book on the very first page prior to even beginning the story. I think putting that out there on the first page wasn't really necessary. It spoils a major plot point right in the beginning. You could have let the story build up to that without announcing it beforehand. It would have been more effective if there had just been a note added at the end. But, I suppose it doesn't really matter either way, it was just a little annoying as a spoiler when I first read it.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading more of Hopkins' work. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to try reading a new and unique way of writing a story.
I could not put this book down. Just like the cravings of the main character I too was craving to hear more and more. I've got to read the other books by Ellen Hopkins.
Wow, what a powerful book about addiction to crystal meth. I really felt for Bree/Kristina and her journey at just 16 years old. She deals with so much on her own.
Contains rape.
Contains rape.
I guess a teenager would find this novel original and engaging. However, as an adult, I don't feel this book has any real staying power.