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A review by kellyhager
Collateral by Ellen Hopkins
5.0
As with all of Ellen Hopkins' books, Collateral is a novel in verse. It's about Ashley, a young student at San Diego University. Her life is going along about like she expected until she meets Cole, who's in the Marines. They immediately hit it off (and have seriously intense sex) and manage to stay together through four deployments. Now Cole wants to get married and Ashley loves him but she also has met this other guy, someone with a similar background and could give her a life outside of the military-centered one she's currently living.
And as with all of Hopkins' books, this one is amazing. It's intense and heartbreaking and amazing. I have friends who are with people in the military (some retired, some still on active duty) and I always wonder exactly how they do it. How they handle being constantly left behind and having to run an entire household by themselves and then surrender the reins and not be the only person in charge once the soldier returns home. I'm pretty sure that it's not something I could do. But, as Ashley points out, you don't really get a say in who you fall in love with.
One of my favorite themes in literature is the idea of the road not taken. In this case, it comes down to the choice between life with Cole and life with Jonah. And, of course, there's also the idea of how war can change you---because how can it NOT?
So yes, another great book from Ellen Hopkins. I'm incredibly sad that there won't be another one until summer, but that one is a sequel to Burned so it'll be worth the wait.
And as with all of Hopkins' books, this one is amazing. It's intense and heartbreaking and amazing. I have friends who are with people in the military (some retired, some still on active duty) and I always wonder exactly how they do it. How they handle being constantly left behind and having to run an entire household by themselves and then surrender the reins and not be the only person in charge once the soldier returns home. I'm pretty sure that it's not something I could do. But, as Ashley points out, you don't really get a say in who you fall in love with.
One of my favorite themes in literature is the idea of the road not taken. In this case, it comes down to the choice between life with Cole and life with Jonah. And, of course, there's also the idea of how war can change you---because how can it NOT?
So yes, another great book from Ellen Hopkins. I'm incredibly sad that there won't be another one until summer, but that one is a sequel to Burned so it'll be worth the wait.