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tahirarani 's review for:
Crank
by Ellen Hopkins
I skipped out on Crank when I was an adolescent, and only revisited it after my sister, a high school teacher, brought it home. Like most books about the pangs of youth with the heightened element of drugs, the character in this book and her life seems painful, frantic and empty.
For readers this 500+ page book goes by in a a flash, with the verses of each new day blending more and more into something like a stream of consciousness. While the story does not offer any particularly new insights to that which we might find in Go Ask Alice it is fairly consuming, and you certainly feel invested in the life and downward spiral of the protagonist, perhaps because you are the only person within the context of the book who understands just how bad her addiction (due in part to low-self esteem and middle-child syndrome)really is.
As for Hopkins, her writing lands on par with other basically good young adult novelists. It is by no means exceptional, but it certainly manages to grasp a lot of the "trippy", ethereal and mostly awful aspects of drug addiction without stepping into heavy-handed cliches. All in all, it is clear that Hopkins did her research on Crystal Meth, and allowed herself some poetic license in developing her characters.
Overall, I would say that if you are at all intrigued by Crank, it is most likely worth the read.
For readers this 500+ page book goes by in a a flash, with the verses of each new day blending more and more into something like a stream of consciousness. While the story does not offer any particularly new insights to that which we might find in Go Ask Alice it is fairly consuming, and you certainly feel invested in the life and downward spiral of the protagonist, perhaps because you are the only person within the context of the book who understands just how bad her addiction (due in part to low-self esteem and middle-child syndrome)really is.
As for Hopkins, her writing lands on par with other basically good young adult novelists. It is by no means exceptional, but it certainly manages to grasp a lot of the "trippy", ethereal and mostly awful aspects of drug addiction without stepping into heavy-handed cliches. All in all, it is clear that Hopkins did her research on Crystal Meth, and allowed herself some poetic license in developing her characters.
Overall, I would say that if you are at all intrigued by Crank, it is most likely worth the read.