Author: Ellen Hopkins
Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Atria Books (October 18, 2011)
Book Synopsis: In this first adult novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the unforgettable Crank trilogy, three female friends face midlife crises in a no holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.
Ellen Hopkins has made her mark as the wildly popular author of several novels for young adults—every one of them a New York Times bestseller, and every one a hard-hitting exploration of tough-to-tackle topics. Now, in Triangles, Hopkins brings her storytelling mastery and fearlessness to take on the challenges of adult dramas.
In this emotionally powerful novel, three women face the age-old midlife question: If I’m halfway to death, is this all I’ve got to show for it? Holly, filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Andrea, a single mom and avowed celibate, watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband? Then there’s Marissa. She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts. As one woman’s marriage unravels, another one’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s is reconfigured into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all three of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness before it is through.
About the Author: Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, and Identical. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's MySpace and Facebook pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me", and she can be visited at ellenhopkins.com.
My Review: I’m a total Ellen Hopkins fanatic. I’ll gladly admit this on any day of the week. When I found out Ellen was writing an adult novel, I knew I needed to get my hands on it and devour it right up. There are very few authors who make me yell for joy, so I was enthusiastic to say the least when I received a copy of this book for review.
I want to make a note right now about this book. This is NOT a book for teens of any age. Yes, Ellen Hopkins is typically a writer for young adults, but this book is NOT a book for teens. I want to make that perfectly clear. It contains explicit sex scenes and uses language not suitable for young adults in my opinion. Okay, now that the warning has been posted…
I’m not going to give a lengthy in-depth review on this book because I think the synopsis basically had covered everything I wanted to point out about the plot and the characters. I’ll focus on everything else. First, this book contains some of the same elements that I love about Ellen’s young adult books. Her writing has a no-holds barred quality about it that I really love. She doesn’t care about being to blunt, and in this book, she is pretty blunt. I think she even took her bluntness to a whole other level because it is written for adults. I love that each of her books doesn’t sugar coat anything. She lays all of the dirty little secrets right out on the table for everyone to gasp at.
Like all of her other books, she deals with complicated and heartbreaking issues. Usually, she writes about all of the stuff no other person wants to write about. She is fearless! And I think she stepped that aspect of her writing up in Triangles. Her characters in this book are again, fantastic. She makes each of her characters so realist, another quality I admire about this author. Every one of her characters could be someone you know. I especially loved the voice of Holly, probably because I know someone who is very much like that character.
Final Thoughts: Yet another incredible book! Ellen Hopkins does a great job transitioning from writing young adult to definitely adult only books. I hope that there will be another one to follow! I very highly recommend picking this one up if you have the ability to vote, buy alcohol and cigarettes, or in other words, 18+
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This is the first Ellen Hopkin's book I have read and I really liked it too. I am looking forward to reading more of her books.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review. Triangles has been on my wishlist since the first review I saw about it. It sounds absolutely incredible. I really need to just go out and buy it already!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to read this book. I have read all her teen ones and was very excited to see that she has done an adult one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this yet. I've only read the Crank series. But I did get a chance to meet her at an author event. It was pretty cool.
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