Book Review: Impulse  

By Ellen Hopkins 

4 Stars 

Impulse, written by Ellen Hopkins, is a book about heavy topics such as self-harm. The story follows the three teens, Conner, Tony, and Vanessa, while they stay in a psych ward. Everyone in the book has their own struggles and coping mechanisms. Conner is known as the golden boy with a promising future, Tony is the kid on the streets, and Vanessa is the child who was in the shadows of her mother’s mental illness. The book is filled with trigger warnings regarding self-harm and suicide. Hopkins uses heavy detail, and it is quite serious, so the book is for a mature audience who is aware of this trigger warning. That being said, they were all put in this group because they all made an attempt. Ellen Hopkins incorporates the patient dynamic as well as the doctor and patient dynamic, which provides great perspectives of the teens and the doctors. The teens had a lot to say about their experiences, and the dynamic between the three perspectives was kind of weird. I found it to be a little forced and a bit uncomfortable. I did want to know more about Vanessa rather than the other two, but they were still interesting to follow. The book has a pretty slow build, but despite that, it is still a good read. There isn’t a lot of excitement, so keep that in mind when reading it. I like how the book ends because I feel like the author wanted to catch readers off guard before closing it off. Again, there is a major trigger warning for this book, so if you choose to read it, keep that in mind.   

Reviewed by Lillian 

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