My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Keep in mind, this is Ellen Hopkins. This is not going to be a pretty faerie tale for everyone, including the faint of heart. Even if you're mocking my warning, keep it in mind.
Tony was found by a cop, passed out in a pile of vomit on the street, wishing he could have kept the pills down.
Vanessa was found in a bathtub, her grandmother's new white porcelain stained pink and scarlet, wishing her brother hadn't been the one to see her first. Wishing her Grandma wasn't a nurse.
Conner was found on his living room floor, the gun still warm in his hand. If only he'd had the guts to go for the head, not the heart.
Then, he wouldn't be here. Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for the suicidal.
The three don't know each other, hardly even know themselves. They become friends out of need, a tangled friendship knotted up in questioned feelings and unknown identities. But isn't that what Aspen Springs is for? Untangling the knots inside?
Ellen Hopkins is already renowned for her heart-wrenching novels in verse, and this one is no less. The characters are all very real, with lengthy and incredible stories behind them. Hopkins doesn't dwell on the hidden pieces terribly much; there's no need to build even more suspense. The surprises come as they do, without the 'tantalising' (irritating) warnings that there is something being hidden. After all, would the characters be dwelling on those things? Some issues are dwelled upon, some are not.
The poetry itself isn't as shaped and aesthetically beautiful as in other novels such as Burned, but the beauty of the word choice remains. As does the perfection of the characters in all their imperfect ways.
Another gripping and intensely surprising novel from Ellen Hopkins. Highly recommended, and I can't wait to read the rest of her work.
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