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mayhemboundbookshelf 's review for:

Crank by Ellen Hopkins
4.25
dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Anyone who reads my reviews of banned books knows by this point that they all start pretty much the same way... banning books is stupid... if you are a proponent of book banning, well then I think you are ALSO stupid. And I am not apologizing for that. 
This book was so damn hard for me to read... I found myself in incredible amounts of emotional pain. I am the child of a now deceased addict. My father OD'd and died about 18 months ago and I spent my entire life wishing beyond measure that things were different. Reading this book, knowing my own father, was essentially one of the male characters who did such awful things, and knowing that I have  children who someday may be faced with the pressures that led Christina/Bree to the decisions that she made gives me immense pause. All that to say - did I enjoy reading this book, not even for one single second. I in fact, hated reading it... but it's important, and I do believe that access to books like this will save lives. I think it can be just as much a tool for parents, to open discussions on some really tough topics, as it can be a tool for kids to identify what their future could tragically look like should they head down the wrong path. Banning this book does an absolute disservice to the lives it could change.