Reviews

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

bethanyangharads's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5 stars

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Before I even get into the review for this, heads up, this book has triggers galore! On Goodreads it seems to be marketed as YA, but I disagree. Although this has teenage main characters, there are some extremely heavy things talked about which are not suitable for younger audiences - new adult and up, at least! The triggers include, sexual assault, drug addiction, alcoholism, adoption, suicide… anything you can think of and I can almost guarantee it will be in here.

Okay, the story itself is quite important. I like how Hopkins brings these discussions out and make you think about things e.g. how disruptive the foster system can be, how drug addiction effects families etc. But I didn’t like the layout. This book is written in versed poems, sometime couplets, sometimes ‘instagram style’ poems. Whilst there is nothing wrong with poems, in this novel format, it resulted in me having little to no immersion. Every time there was a random spaced lined I would lose the flow of the story. This happened to the point where the last 200 pages were a real force for me to push through.

I don’t think the message in the story is bad, but the layout of it was so hard for me to personally get in to, I couldn’t give it more than 2.5 stars.

Triggers: everything. Like literally, you think it, it is probably in here. 80% sure of that.

andaleeiswriting's review against another edition

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5.0

Great ending to a great trilogy.

chaoticallyv's review against another edition

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4.0

I wasn't fond of this book. The writing style is still good but not as strong as the previous two books from this series. It jumps between the three view points of Kristina's oldest children. Well not completely unconvincing there are places within the book that make you think twice. It does make for an interesting read.

grislygateau's review against another edition

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4.0

Fallout takes place about 15 plus years after Crank and Glass and is the final book in the trilogy. The story is told from the perspectives of Kristina's three eldest and estranged children which shows the reader the how far reaching the consequences of her addiction to crystal meth have been for her family. I wish I'd read this closer to finishing Glass so I remembered it and was better able the place some of the event referred to in Fallout. The 3 different stories woven together in prose was effective in telling the siblings stories and was a quick read despite the book being 600 plus pages. I enjoyed this book and thought it was great way to end the trilogy.

damne's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

howifeelaboutbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

It's written as poetry, though easy to read straight through like prose, without being bothered by the funky line breaks - just remember to read each section's title, as they play into the following poetry. The book is told from three teenagers' points of view. All of them have the same mother, who is a meth addict, and all of them live in different places, with different relatives. They all struggle with their own various addictions in varying stages. There are news stories interspersed throughout the book, which I guess are supposed to ground the reader and give extra information, but they just confused me. I got very swept up in trying to figure out who was each kid's father, and how/when they were with the mother, and how the kids' guardians related to the mother and fathers. The mother apparently went by different names in different times of her life, and the fathers' names were all typical, unremarkable boys' names, and the news stories just added even more names to the pile.

If you ignore all of the name/genealogy/paternity/guardianship issues, the book is really fascinating. It's an interesting approach to addiction - seeing how one affects many. Even so, there's no real resolution to the book - no one changes, no one learns anything. As much as I'll accept that as an ending for a short story, it's harder to swallow after investing so much in a novel - especially a novel tackling something as big as a meth addiction, when the stakes are so high. It is apparently the end of a trilogy which began with the mother as a teenager, so going back to read those might clarify a lot of character questions.

brightside_83's review against another edition

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4.0

4 stars🌟 What a journey this series was. An emotional, and psychological roller coaster ride of a book. This last installment shows how addictions don’t only hurt the user, but trickle down into other generations. It doesn’t only effect the user but all the people around them and this book totally proves how other people’s lives can totally have an impact on your own regardless of them being present in your life. Generational curses truly have a way of passing down if not broken.

mehsi's review against another edition

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5.0

This time no Kristina, no this time we get 3 of her kids (out of 5) telling their stories.

I was quite delighted that we didn't have any Kristina any more. Don't get me wrong, her story was heartbreaking, but I was getting tired of her making all the stupid mistakes over and over again, and apparently not always caring about people. However, I have to say, that while reading this I felt oddly protective of her. I get that her kids are hurt, that they are unhappy with how Kristina treats/treated them, and more like that, but really they were just being overkill. Plus it was interested that while they were all like Boohoo Kristina, and we will never do her mistakes, but they all did or you could see they were clearly all having her genes (or those of their dads).

SpoilerHunter cheats, at times uses stuff, and lots of times he is an insensitive prick. Summer is in love with two guys, though she eventually picks one guy, the one who is using meth... yup. Thankfully she at least has the brains to say no to him. Autumn gets pregnant after the first time sex because she apparently didn't think to use protection.... Then there are the mental problems she apparently has.


Hunter was my least favourite character, he was A TERRIBLE person. I disliked him so so much. For instance when he cheated on his girlfriend (and then frankly didn't understand why she was so pissed at him), or when he was bitching about Kristina, instead of listening to her and giving her a chance (as she does try to make good with people, but some parts of her brain are just fried). Then there is one instance, at the end, that made me flip so many fucking tables. He tells Kristina he met Brendan (aka mister Rapist), and then he has the fucking guts to say this to her in regards to her rape: "Don't suppose you'll take some responsibility for what happened that night?" What the actual fuck dude. That is victim blaming, you don't fucking do that. Fuck you. And I will throw in some more fucks for good matter. It doesn't matter if she instigated it (which she didn't) , she fucking said no. NO. And that means NO. Again, no. Bah. And throughout the story he makes some really sexist remarks that made me want to kick him in his fucking balls so so hard. He just doesn't understand why Nikki gets mad at him, and just thinks she is acting like a silly woman. What the hell dude. Also I found it highly creepy he would just enter her home, even if she wasn't home or if she didn't know he was coming inside.

Summer was a pretty nice girl, but I was pissed at her not being able to close things off with Matt better. I did like that she at least was brave enough to say no to meth, as Kyle, her new boyfriend uses it. Though there is one instance she says yes, but thankfully Kyle, who at first seemed to be a pretty big dickwad turns out to be a very sweet guy.

Then there is Autumn, the only one from Kristina's kids who has no contact with Kristina. We later find out why, and I was so sad for her. That poor girl.

There were a few parts in the story that had me going NOPE, with Cora's wedding, and what happened at the foster home.

It was all interesting to see how everyone connected, who their fathers were, and if Kristina still had contact with them. If she tried to meet up with them. I also loved seeing how Kristina was doing, if she was drugfree (so far it seems she is, though her smoking habit has gone up way too far). I loved how the story and the characters all came together in the end. A real Christmas miracle.

Each character has their own font, which made it easier to discern between them, though they were pretty discernible on their own already.

We also have several newspaper clippings and I am delighted they are added, as they gave insight to characters from the previous books.

There were times I didn't like the book much, but in the end I just have to give this book 4.5 stars as it was masterfully written and I just adore how everything got together.
I am definitely happy that I had a chance to read this trilogy, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

breezie_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad

4.0

This is a powerful book. It ends the series perfectly by following Kristina's oldest three children and how their lives have been affected by their mother's addiction. It's a great ending to Kristina's story, and the use of newspaper articles to help tell the story was a great way to get further background on the characters from the previous two books.

emmamichelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0