Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Impulse

There were a lot of moments I really loved in this book, but they always got ruined by the extremely sexed-up characters. Potentially serious discussions about suicidal ideation and the characters’ trauma gets overshadowed by the unnecessary and overly sexual relationships between the three main characters. Characters didn’t seem to care about each other beyond romantic attraction and there wasn’t much personality in them aside from their mental illness. Characters seemed to be attracted to each other solely because of their mental illness, appearance, and just plain presence.

Additionally, the characters just didn’t feel that different to me. They spoke the same and unless I was really paying attention to who’s talking or the character was explaining something about their past, I often had no idea which one was talking.

Lastly, I had some qualms about the way the facility and the therapists were portrayed. Was the facility juvie or a mental center? The therapists felt like they were brainwashing the patients rather than trying to help them and it wasn’t portrayed too negatively. While I feel Ellen Hopkins writes about the emotions of the more extreme difficulties of life effectively, I don’t think she handles the healing part so well. It just felt unrealistic and aimless, both for the characters that had happy endings and somehow also those that didn’t.

I felt that this book had the potential to be really great, but these parts just kind of ruined it for me.

Content Warnings

on_your_raedar's review against another edition

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The way it was written is everything. The short chapters, the style, the bouncing from character to character. All of it was intentional and really added to the story.

I remember reading this author in middle/ high school. Not sure I was supposed to be but I remember loving this author's books. I enjoyed this book in the sense that it was not a difficult read but I feel like it didn't land the way it did in the past.

The content is challenging, check trigger warnings, there are a lot of triggering topics in this book. I haven't experienced the things the main characters have so I'm not super sure how well these topics were handled but no immediate red flags came out to me. Just be mindful as you pick up this book.

Content Warnings

let_therebebooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Life is all about change. If it were static, think about how boring it would be. You can’t be afraid of it, and you can’t worry that you’ll mess things up. You deserve good things.”

Wow this book was intense. I had to put it down a few times because of the content that it’s focused on. This book follows three characters who are in a psychiatric hospital after they all attempted suicide. As the book goes on, we see their treatment and learn more about their past traumas, and there is every possible horrible thing that could happen, happening to these characters.

This book is told in verse so it makes it pretty quick to get through. I always found the verse format to be more powerful, especially if we are discussing topics like this.

It’s a good but dark book. I will absolutely be picking up the sequel but I caution everyone to look into the many trigger warnings for this book before diving in.

Content Warnings