A review by queenkath32
Crank by Ellen Hopkins

dark emotional 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

I haven't read this since I was maybe about 13 or 14, but I was thinking about it the other day and decided to re-read it. Why was 13 year old me so obsessed with these?? I used to absolutely DEVOUR all of Hopkins' books that were out at the time through my middle and high school years. The writing hasn't held up (for my tastes) over time. Things I thought were super deep as a 13 year old no longer resonate with me as a 26 year old, aside from the ability to recognize quotes that I used to like. This isn't a bad or poorly written book by any means, but it has plenty of clichés and over-used tropes in it, and honestly the plot was so repetitive that it probably could have been a lot shorter (even with how sparse the writing on some pages is). Despite some of my issues with the book, I felt almost nostalgic reading this. It reminded me of being in middle school and how several friends I had at the time and I would carry these absolute bricks of a book around and read them during free time in class. It was interesting to see what I still remembered about the book and what I had forgotten.
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