Review of Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide. 

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. 

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills. 

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself. 

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

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After starting Identical and putting it down within the first 50 pages (child abuse and rape is NOT my cup of tea) I was a  little wary of reading this one, but I loved Burned, which was sitting on my shelf, waiting for a new Ellen Hopkins book to join it. So I picked this one up and started reading. As you do with books. Anyone tells you otherwise, they're lying.

This one wasn't as crap as Identical but wasn't as good as Burned either. I was just bored to be honest. The book hooked me from the beginning and I loved finding out about Tony, Conner and Vanessa's lives but towards the middle I just stopped caring so much and wasn't surprised by the ending at all, as Ellen seemed to connect with this character less than the others.

Ellen Hopkins absolutely hates these characters. I felt sorry for J.K. Rowling's characters, at least she gave them a quick death, Ellen is letting them suffer slowly and won't even let them die. Neglect, Child Abuse, Rape, Self Harm, Drugs, it got sillier the more I read on, which is were  found myself not giving a damn - because it because less believable to be honest.

And then there's Vanessa. Vanessa appears to be the hottest girl on the face of the planet and can even turn a gay guy straight. Both Tony (the gay guy in question) and Connor have the hots for her the moment they see her and it's just a question of who gets her, of course. There's some pretty crappy sappy (hey that rhymed) romance, deep talk crap later on and I think I skimmed over before my brain turned to mush and I started eating the book.

Overall, Burned isn't getting a partner yet. I plan to read the sequel, Perfect as that's told by Connor's twin sister Cara and I'm really hoping that it's not as stupid. I'll keep trying Ellen's books, I'm sure one day Burned with have a similar book sitting next to it, proudly on the shelf.

3/5

P.S. Someone has a tattoo of a quote from this book. Look!