Impulse by Ellen Hopkins: A review.
I went into this book with high expectations, not because I had seen great reviews or because a friend strongly recommended it but because I happened to stumble upon an excerpt from the second book in the series. This excerpt:
If that did nothing for you, no offence, but I look at you askance. When I read that, it seemed to have the promise of a beautifully-scripted tragic romance and of intriguing strong-willed albeit weak-spirited characters - considering they were all psychologically challenged. I figured all these things would come together to make for a good, if not great, book. I mean, rich white teenagers, a smattering of mental health problems, a ridiculously expensive mental health facility named 'Aspen Springs', and a fair share of mommy and daddy issues? Sign me up.
It is common knowledge that books rarely make sense after just one chapter. So, I was not worried when the first chapter left me lost and confused. To Ellen's credit, she started off great, even before I got to the end of the first chapter. The book began with a poem of sorts on three people whose lives were forever changed because their paths crossed.
It set the tone the story needed. It was one of the reasons I was not worried as I read through the first few pages, wherein the point of view changed at least six times. It was also why alarm bells did not go off when I found out it was up to me to figure out whose point of view it was at each turning point, even though all I knew of these characters was that one person had mentioned four of their names in his/her/their point of view and another had mentioned three others. It was up to me to figure out which of these seven or so characters were the main characters. It was intriguing, and, if you don’t mind the complexity much, it wasn’t bad. It felt - to me at least - like an ingenious, perhaps risky, plunge into what a mental disorder might read like if it were written, and I wasn’t going to be the one to berate such an attempt. It took a couple of chapters, but I got the hang of it. Eventually, I was able to tell whose view it was as soon as it changed. Hopefully, you will be able to do so earlier, now that you know it is up to you.
The story follows three troubled teenagers: a girl who swings between highs and lows, self-harming in the lows, a boy who is scarred by childhood trauma and uses drugs to get through life and, finally, a boy who seems to have it all yet tried to take his own life. It showed their journey with their mental disorders, with two of them coming out better at the end of it. Well, that is supposing the end did not break them.
There was sufficient representation of various mental disorders, which was quite nice. I also got to see a girl - because there must always be a girl - go from a guy who is bright, shiny and not necessarily good for her to one who is quiet, reassuring and more likely good for her. It was a nice change from the "bad boy gets the girl" troupe.
My primary issue with the book was that dialogue wasn't always in quotations, so it was difficult to discern what was a thought and what was actually part of the dialogue.
Also, because the points of view were not labelled, I mixed up important details in the beginning and did not fully understand key points in the timeline till much later in the book.
Regardless of these drawbacks, I quite enjoyed the book. It was a short but good read. The character development was nicely done. I got to see rich, white brats think they were beating the system and outsmarting everyone as they always seem to think. Then, I got to see them realise their actions had implications and eventually want to be better.
If, like me, you were quite charmed by the little excerpt at the top, then I can tell you this is not a bad book. A slightly confusing one but not a bad one. You can give it a read. Or if you just happen to be in the market for a teen fiction on mental disorders, then Impulse by Ellen Hopkins is a good choice.
Eweje, Sunmisola.
500L medical Student.
