*Review* Triangles – Ellen Hopkins

 

Triangles

Ellen Hopkins

544 pages

ISBN: 9781451626339

Read 9-23-11

Release 10-18-11

     Ellen Hopkins is the bestselling author of incredibly popular young adult novels, such as Crank and Glass, that are enjoyed both by teens and adults.  Triangles is her first adult novel, which is written in verse instead of the common prose of most novels.  This novel is definitely meant for mature readers, and in my opinion, if you are easily offended, you may not like it because of some of the issues and content that comes up during the story.  That being said, I thought it was a very wonderful book.  It is very artistic in its structure, words, and story. 
     This book follows three women, Marissa, Holly, and Andrea, through some very tough times they are having with family, love lives, and careers.  There are many emotional and personal changes that happen for these women, and the author’s words do an amazing job of transporting you along on their journey.
     The book being written in verse gives a whole different feel to the novel.  It has a different flow and emotions are emphasized in a different way.  When grammar and punctuation are not something you have to pay strict attention to and rules can be bent, other things happen with a story, and the beauty of it can be accentuated even further.  Hopkins’s verses are geniusly written and absolutely exquisite.  
     The personalities of the characters really come through in this work, and I feel as if I know them well.  Their true selves shine through in each verse, raw and real.  The writing of this work is very honest and how-it-is, all reality, making it very believable; it matches the drama of real life.  The pages of poetry are full of lovely descriptions and meaning, both obvious and hidden.
     The only bad thing I could possibly say about this book is that it has a tendency to be confusing at first when it switches from the view points of the three women.  I think that was a me thing, though, and has nothing to do with the author’s style, since I am not very used to reading books with more than two view points.  So many of the author’s words are powerful, but I think the most powerful was the last poem.  Wonderful!

Magnificent, artistic, real, honest, descriptive.         4.5 stars!

*Review* Exposed- Kimberly Marcus

Exposed

Kimberly Marcus

260 pages

ISBN:  9780375866937

Read 7-17-11

     Exposed is a very open, poetic story about two best friends, Kate, a dancer, and Liz, a photographer, who have known each other for years.  They are practically inseparable until they get into a fight at one of their monthly sleepovers and Kate starts to act oddly around Liz.  That night changed both of their lives forever, and their friendship.
     This was the first book I ever read that was written in poems.  It has a very different, artistic feel to it that has a nice flow that is unique to this type of novel and I thoroughly enjoyed this style of writing.  It took no time at all to read it; I sped through it in about 2 hours.  Obviously, it is a very fast read, which is precisely how I like my books.
     As for the story, it deals with a tough situation and your heart is yanked in two different directions just like Liz’s.  Liz is put into the middle and doesn’t know which way to lean.  It’s a very strong story with honest words and a lot of turmoil for the main characters.  As the title says, characters are exposed in ways they never thought they would be and they have to cope with what happened and how it affected them.

Raw, honest, poetic, turbulent.   4 stars