Teen angst with a poetic twist

“Wish you could turn off the questions, turn off the voices, turn off all sound. Yearn to close out the ugliness, close out the filthiness, close out all light. Long to cast away yesterday, cast away memory, cast away all jeopardy. Pray you could somehow stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest,” wrote Ellen Hopkins, author of The New York Times bestseller, “Impulse.”

By Stephanie Wytovich

Staff Writer

“Wish you could turn off the questions, turn off the voices, turn off all sound. Yearn to close out the ugliness, close out the filthiness, close out all light. Long to cast away yesterday, cast away memory, cast away all jeopardy. Pray you could somehow stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest,” wrote Ellen Hopkins, author of The New York Times bestseller, “Impulse.”

At first glance, this might just seem like another one of those teen angst, gothic spins on the tortured lives of adolescents, and to most of you, that’s probably what it will be if you read it. When I was younger, I’ll admit to being an avid reader to them and I was sucked in to Patricia Mccormick’s “Cut,” and Chris Wooding’s “Kerosene” just like most of you probably were. But when I stumbled upon “Impulse” a few years ago, I couldn’t resist picking it up, and to my surprise, it was proved a worthwhile read.

To give you some background information, Hopkins starts the novel with an epigraph that states, “Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act-suicide.” When the book starts, we are separately introduced to the lives of Vanessa, a devoted cutter with a sensitive secret, Tony, who can only find his solitude through pills, and Conner, who finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun: three people with three very different stories to tell. Written in a form of free verse poetry, Hopkins lures her readers in with a poetic version of change and faith. Unlike other teen angst rants, this story expels hope, and truth, rather than simply focusing on the bad. In some forms, one might even consider it therapeutic.

For those of you looking for a good read, not necessarily a happy, romance novel covered in rose petals, I would recommend this novel, because it will lure you in simply from the poem written on the back of it. With it’s unique style of delivery, its passionate story, and the immediate, emotional connection you’ll feel between the characters, it is definitely a page turner, and will keep you in suspense from page one as it reminds you that life is a fragile thing, and it can end at any given moment.

photo1