So, while she’s not going to be winning any literary awards, I think her writing is extremely successful for her purpose and intent. So I have to applaud her for taking poetry to a group that doesn’t get much exposure to poetry and for doing it in an appealing way. But I don’t think Hopkins is going for critical praise as much as she is going for an appeal to the audience, which is a young adult. It’s gimmicky and cliche at times and not something I think you’d hear a lot of literary praise for. On the other hand, it’s not great poetry. Stories in verse are unique and she does them well. On the one hand, she’s doing something that not many other authors or poets are doing – YA or otherwise. I have a hard time analyzing Hopkins’ writing. I’m anxious to get it and see what happens next for the teens. Serendipitously, I discovered that Hopkins’ latest YA book, Perfect, is a sequel to this one. Each one has secrets to hide and they form a bond as they deal with some extremely difficult issues. This story focuses on three teenagers who have all been hospitalized for suicide attempts. Impulse, like all of Ellen Hopkins’ books, is a story in verse.
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