Friday, September 18, 2009

Burned

Burned
written by Ellen Hopkins

http://pics.librarything.com/picsizes/e9/4a/e94a75cd53c135d5936437755674141414c3441.jpg

I made the mistake of reading two incredibly scary books one right after the other, so this was additionally chilling as I had just finished Endgame. But really, I have no idea how Ellen Hopkins does it. As usual, the writing is phenomenal and unique, as is the revolutionary plot, featuring a rebellious Mormon. Hopkins' writing style is just something else, and her tone is realistic, speaking to teens everywhere even though the words are spoken by a Mormon teenage girl. Ellen Hopkins gets into all these dark places, and it really makes one wonder how much effort and pain it takes for her to find them. I found some of the issues extremely predictable (pregnancy, guns), and definitely knew there was a huge climax at some point, but without a clue how it would all fit together. There were some statements of awkward foreshadowing, particularly foreboding statements regarding the future at the ends of chapters. I end my notes with this statement, and feel it is an accurate way to end this review as well: "OH SWEET AMBIGUITY!!!"

Rating: 5/5

1 comment:

  1. I haven't read anything by Hopkins but everyone says such great things. Great review.
    P.S. I have an award for you.

    ReplyDelete

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