Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

66 reviews

macreads_97's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Rape

natsthecats's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Alcohol

everettab06's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual assault

half_bloodreader's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

Written in 1st person, both in present tense and past tense. 

Novel in verse 

The author plays with form so that some poems can be read with dual meaning.

Crank is another name for methamphetamine, and that is what this story is all about. There are also other addictions like tobacco & other drugs, there's underage drinking too, as well as other risky behaviours. 

So, it's a story about the downfalls of addiction from the pov of a girl who had everything to succeed in life, until she danced with the "monster". And oh did she fall easy into the drug's routine. 

Now, I believe this is what they call "scared straight". The purpose of this hard-hitting book is to keep other teens away from addiction, and if it accomplishes that, all the better. I believe this is an important story, especially since it's based on the author's life. 

And that is the reason why this book is hard to rate. The author has her experiences as the mother of an addict, and who am I to rate that? Then again, she didn't write from the mother's pov, but the daughter's, and how accurate is her pov on the one going through addiction? Regardless, I appreciate that she showed how the world pales from dug use, which is why it's so hard to quit. Studies show drugs work like this: stimulating the area for pleasure to a high level. Your brain gets used to a level that won't match normal life stimuli, so if you stop everything will feel boring, grey, unappetising, dejection. 

There's some things I found issue with, and this book is so early 2000s, it shows. The casual homophobia, the gendered colours, the lack of contraceptives, the edginess, food describing skin tone (did you know Mediterranean has a colour flavour? Here I thought Mediterraneans came in all shades, as a Western European). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide attempt and Alcohol

karbour99's review

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

theliverlips's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Rape

kimmykelly's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

kaylaaaaaarm's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

abception's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

arys_library's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My favorite book of all time. Don’t let the fact that it is not written like most other books scare you. I am horrible at reading poetry or in this case more like free verse, but this was so beautifully written. I felt like I was right there in the book, watching these characters fight for control.  It’s truly beautiful. If you need a good cry, or to feel fully immersed into a book, this is for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use