Review: Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Crank, #1
Paperback, 537 pages
Published October 1st 2004 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
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In Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.

 

 

My Review:

I really, really enjoyed this book. This was a very quick read. I finished this book in one day and I never felt like I was forcing myself to finish it. I never really wanted to take a break from it. The verse style of writing quickly pulls you in and keeps you pulled in the entire time. She is able to induce some serious emotion with this way writing and she can do it in just a few words. It was interesting to see how many different messages where in one verse if you read it a different way, or only read the words that were off to the side. The writing was also sometimes sporadic just like the way a person on Meth might think.

This book is very dark and fast paced. It takes you through the story of Kristina (loosely based on Ellen Hopkins own daughter) and her fight with “The Monster” (crank or meth if you would rather call it that). Knowing that this story is based on someone makes even more of an impact on the reader. These are the types of books that I really enjoy reading. They pull me in and show a side of life that people rarely talk about.

Life was good
before I
met
        the monster.

 

After,
life
         was great,

At
least
              for a little while.

 

Kristina is a good girl and has always been that way. Until one day when her very absent father decides that he wants to see her. She doesn’t know what to expect when she goes to visit him. Turns out he lives in a not so nice part of town and does not so nice stuff. Her father is a horrible person and should not even deserve the title of “father”.

While visiting her father, Kristina is introduced to a boy named Adam, this is when Bree is born, and her life pretty much goes downhill from there. Nobody forced Kristina to do the things she knew she shouldn’t and because of this I found that it was almost too easy to get her to do things. That was my only problem with the book. Kristina was pretty much jump right into whatever was going on without a thought or internal battle. I expected a little bit of hesitation from her but there was literally nothing. Her jumping into situations also put her in a couple that did not end well for her.

I can say I was a little disappointed by the ending. When I say “the ending” I literally mean the very last page. I was expecting better for Kristina but since there are two more books I knew it wasn’t going to end well for her. I can’t wait to read more of Ellen Hopkins books.

Do I Recommend this Book/Series?

YES!!

Will I Read the Next Book?

I will definitely be reading the rest of this series. I see them all the time at Half Priced Books so I will definitely be grabbing the next when as soon as I find it.

My Rating: