Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Title: Impulse
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Published: January 2007
Source: The Library
Synopsis from Goodreads:
Three teens who have attempted suicide meet in a psychiatric hospital, battle their demons, and begin to heal.
The handsome son of wealthy parents, Connor has everything anyone could want-except his family's love and affection. Jailed for years after killing his mother's child-molesting boyfriend, Tony is confused about his sexuality. Manic-depressive Vanessa cuts herself. All three stories intertwine in a brutally honest story about pain and resilience.

I love novels in free verse. The way that eventually it's like you're not even reading poetry anymore but everything is so beautiful without trying to be is just amazing. This is only the second novel by Ellen Hopkins that I've read, and I loved it just as much as I loved Burned. Her books are a lot of things, but they're definitely not light summer reads. You have to be ready to get emotionally attached and hang on for a bumpy ride.

What I loved about this book is that it's a book about suicide, but not a typical book about suicide. It's not a book of what lead up to a character killing themself, it's a book about what happened to three teens after they attempted to kill themselves. Of course it goes into why they did it, but the entire backstory unfolds slowly while new relationships and personal revelations are happening in the facility that they were sent to "get better."

The three main characters, Tony, Conner, and Vanessa, had such different voices that a lot of times I didn't even have to look to know who I was reading. They all have such heartbreaking backstories in such different ways. I felt for them all. I loved the way that the relationship between the three constantly evolved, and ended up completely different than I was expecting.

There isn't so much a plot to this book as there is a story. And that story is told beautifully. Basically, if you've never read Ellen Hopkins you need to, and soon. This book was great, and I can't wait to read more by her.

Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 49/50 A+
Cover/Title Comments: Both are perfect! I love them!