I absolutely love Ellen Hopkins. She has become my favorite author. She has such a fascinating way of writing. Like the majority of her books, I definitely give it a 5 star review. I was hardly able to out the book down! ( )

Poetry

Ive been waiting to reread this book ever since I found out there's a sequel coming in November, and I have to say I loved this book even more the second time around. ( )

Tricks is another prose poetry novel sure to be a hit with Ellen Hopkins fans. Rather than telling one story, it follows five teens on their individual odysseys in a downward spiral into prostitution where they all wind up in Las Vegas and their stories converge in a way. They all come from different places and circumstances: Ginger’s mother is a prostitute but they live with her grandmother; Seth lives on a farm; Whitney comes from a privileged background. Each individual’s downfall occurs for different reasons from poor choices to family problesm: Seth is thrown out because he is gay; Eden is thrown out because she falls in love with someone who is not born again; Cody falls deeply in debt from gambling. Each story unfolds inexorably until they all hit their own rock bottom. The stories are dark, bleak, often violent, and graphic. Given the subject matter, sex and drug use abound. ( )

Ive been waiting to reread this book ever since I found out there's a sequel coming in November, and I have to say I loved this book even more the second time around. ( )