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! ( )

November 1, 2022

Maya is a teenager living with her uncaring mother who is super into Scientology. Her mother’s increasing involvement in the church caused her dad to drink which lead to their divorce and his early death. Maya’s mother is extremely controlling and she had to sneak out of the house to attend her dad’s funeral. Her mother says they are moving to LA to be more involved in the church and Maya refuses. She meets any older boy (27) who is in the army and gets pregnant and ends up marrying him. She is 17 when she gives birth.

Ariel is a teenager who has spent her childhood roaming the US with her dad, never staying anywhere long enough to put down roots. The only time they had a consistent place to live was when her dad, Mark, was dating someone and they stayed with her. When Ariel is 16 they settle in Sonora, CA and it’s the longest they’ve ever stayed anywhere which allows Ariel to develop friends. Her best friends are Maya and Siryah. She is closest to Maya who is a lesbian and Ariel thinks she might be too. Ariel’s father, Mark, has a girlfriend named Zelda. Mark drinks a lot and is mean and can become violent. He tells Ariel her mother is a dyke whore who left them for her girlfriend.

Ariel is confused about her sexual identity. Zelda introduces Ariel to her nephew Gabe who Ariel is also attracted to. She eventually sleeps with both Gabe and Maya which confuses her even more because she doesn’t like one more than the other. Ariel and Gabe rescue one of her Ariel’s classmates who has a wealthy, well known father and the newspaper does an article on the two of them. After one of Ariel’s basketball games a woman she’s never seen before comes up to her and says she is her mother. The woman is Maya. She tells Ariel her real name is Casey and that her father’s real name is Jason Baxter and that he kidnapped her when she was three. Her dad is also AWOL with the army and faces going to jail. He insists they pack up and leave but Ariel refuses. She gets in her car to drive to Maya’s and her dad follows her and runs her off the road. Gabe finds her, turns out he has started a relationship with Hillary (they girl they rescued) which is okay with Ariel because she realizes she loves Maya. Ariel is hesitant to meet her mother but she does and is open to having a relationship with her.

I loved it. I honestly did. I won the book in a goodreads giveaway, but listened to it on audio from the library. I"ll be giving the book away to a teen in my teen group at work. It is a great storyline that will keep you reading through the night. ( )

This story is absolutely heartbreaking and shows how easily it is to have someone manipulate your identity. Ellen Hopkins, thank goodness she uses her amazing writing for good, always highlighting issues that teens and adults alike should be aware of. I have known of cases where parents kidnap their children but never knew the difficulties of getting that child or children back. I also did not realize it happens as much as it does. Such a good read and proves that Hopkins is the queen of verse! ( )

If you are familiar with Ellen Hopkin’s books you know that most of her books are in verse form. This book has two voices, Maya and Ariel. Their stories alternate with Ariel’s story being entirely in verse form and Maya’s entirely in prose. Hopkins has often relied on dysfunctional families as the root cause of her protagonists’ problems and this story is no different. She also uses realistic language and situations that, unfortunately, may all too familiar to young people today. All the things that fans love about Hopkin’s books are present. This book is better than some of her more recent books in that the teenage problems/angst is kept to a minimum. They don’t overwhelm the story telling so that the resolution is a satisfying one; unlike Hopkin’s book Identical which makes you feel like you are watching a horrific train wreck.
This story is based on Hopkin’s real-life experience. Her ex-husband picked up their three-year-old daughter form daycare one day and kidnapped her. Hopkins didn’t see her daughter for three years. Maya and Ariel are victims of the same experience and is very comforting seeing their stories merge as the book progresses. Out of all the Hopkins books, this is one of my favorites. ( )