Wednesday 16 April 2014

Book Review: Glass by Ellen Hopkins


Glass by Ellen Hopkins 

http://www.ellenhopkins.com

Goodreads description: Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal. Whatever you call it, it's all the same: a monster. And once it's got hold of you, this monster will never let you go. 

Kristina thinks she can control it. Now with a baby to care for, she's determined to be the one deciding when and how much, the one calling the shots. But the monster is too strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grips. She needs the monster to keep going, to face the pressures of day-to-day life. She needs it to feel alive.

Once again the monster takes over Kristina's life and she will do anything for it, including giving up the one person who gives her the unconditional love she craves -- her baby.

The sequel to Crank, this is the continuing story of Kristina and her descent back to hell. Told in verse, it's a harrowing and disturbing look at addiction and the damage it inflicts. 


681 pages; 4.29 average rating on Goodreads. Published 2007. Genre: YA, Drama.

This book gave me chills from beginning to end. A fast-paced read with some heavy content that was beautifully written in verse, making it a quick read. I read Crank, the first book of this series last fall, and really enjoyed it. From the very first page I already liked Glass infinitely better. In this book we saw Kristina go from recovering addict attempting to get things together and care for her new baby, to becoming completely intertwined once again with "the monster", crystal meth, and doing no matter what it takes to get it.

I found myself really connecting with Kristina, caring about her as though she were a real person, and rooting for her to find her way again throughout the entire book. There were times at which my heart was breaking for her (when she spent Christmas alone, realized Trey didn't love her as she loved him, realized her baby no longer sees her as mom, etc.), but there were other times I felt she deserved the sad state that she had brought upon herself.

The reason this book was so easy to connect to is also the reason it is so terrifying - this book is so very realistic, and portrays the mind of an addict and their though processes to a tee. In actuality, this book is loosely based on the author's daughter, and her experience with meth. I enjoyed that the book showed how Kristina related to many other characters (her mom, siblings, step dad, baby, etc.) and how her meth addiction had an enormous effect on all of these. 

I feel that addiction and it's impact on the user and those in the user's life can be a very hard topic to accurately portray in a novel - to get inside the minds of the user and their loved ones, to know how they feel about the situation. That being said, Ellen Hopkins does a beautiful job through free verse and concrete poetry of letting the reader inside the minds of Kristina and her loved ones,

This book, though heart wrenching to read at times, is beautifully written and teaches a wonderful lesson of how quickly and drastically things can change with just one bad decision, and how what starts out as "experimenting" or "just this once" can quickly become an addiction. I think this is an important book for all young people to read as they go through the period of their lives in which they are regularly exposed to difficult situations, so they can see in-depth the consequences of making the wrong decisions.

I gave this book 5/5 stars, and sincerely recommend it to anyone and everyone. I look forward to reading more books by Ellen Hopkins and if anyone has any suggestions as to which books I should check out, they would be greatly appreciated! 

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to share your opinions on this book <3

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You are very welcome! Can't wait to get to Coles and pick up Fallout this week :)

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