Although I've only managed to tackle a small chunk of the book so far (Page 301 out of 663 to be exact), Ellen Hopkins has honestly earned my seal of approval once more. Hopefully, she won't spring any surprise endings upon me, I'd hate for that to happen. Reading Crank, and Glass was heartbreaking, and I'm pleased to see two more brilliantly described faces coming into focus. Previously youthful, Hunter Seth Haskins is all grown up into a dashing young man. Summer Lily Kenwood and Autumn Rose Shepherd, are also pulled into the picture, Kristina Georgia Snow is their only link to each other, for she is all their biological mother, yet she fails to fulfill the role of "mom" in her downward spiral with the monster (meth) Hunter still lives with his "parents", Autumn lives with her Aunt Cora and her grandfather, and Summer lives in a broken foster home.
It chills me to the bone to think that Ellen Hopkins has interweaved wispy threads of truth into Kristina's story, to think who was behind this. This series hasn't slapped me across the face with the words "Just say no" over and over, it has burned true stories into my brain. It’s like the story is from the point of view of the meth itself and not from the user. The Crank series is loosely based on the life of Ellen’s daughter. This alone really sets this story out from the others because Ellen had actually witnessed and experienced what meth does to a person and their loved ones. Knowing that Ellen was not an outsider looking in when she wrote this book really ties everything together. Although Ellen had probably never tried meth herself, it had touched her life in a way. Ellen is simply a humble guide to readers as they look into Kristina’s life. Her purpose is to provide raw information about meth and the people it claims, and then let the reader decide what to do when meth rears its ugly head.
Fallout has not exactly been the happiest book I’ve ever read, but I’ve managed to pluck out a favorite from the group of genuine characters. Hunter Seth Haskins has been the one character throughout the whole series who’s life had been created in the demented environment in Kristina’s life. Now, in Fallout, someone has hit the unmute button and Hunter is 19 years old. He has morals, he has respect. Never touched drugs, but has grown familiar with alcohol. Hunter seems cool as a cucumber on the outside but on the inside he’s got his own opinions, and they aren’t exactly sugarcoated. He is the only one of all three of Kristina’s children who’s been given a good childhood, and been brought up with little or no error. Sure, he’s arrogant and a bit stubborn, but that’s what makes him my favorite character.
Armed with an extensive vocabulary and pure empathy, Ellen has managed to spin off countless pages of astounding poetry. She even has taken situations that may sound a bit unappealing, and warped them in the best way possible. When I picked this book up in the library and read the back I immediately knew I was going to read it. “So you want to know all about her. Who she really is. (Was?) Why she swerved off the high road. Hard left to nowhere, recklessly indifferent to me, Hunter Seth Haskins, her firstborn son. I’ve been choking that down for nineteen years. Why did she go on her mindless way, leaving me spinning in a whirlwind of her dust?” This told me that this book was what happened after the dust settled, what was left. Who was left. Why. Ellen isn’t asking you to read the book when she wrote that, she is inviting you to read it. She’s a guide, not a mentor. She wants you to ask questions and to provide all possible answers.
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