Dayum this.. this.. book is just plain out amazing I've only gotten to like page 103 but already I'm addicted. I've read "Crank" thats how I figured out about Ellen Hopkins. And I do say she is by far my favorite novelist. She happens to write her books in poetry and I love that cause poetry is my thing. So that is just perfect. So I hope you love "Impulse" more than I do. ( )

Ellen Hopkins tackles the prickly topic of suicide in her novel in verse.

Three teens--Vanessa, Tony, and Connor--meet in the psychiactric wing of a hospital after unsuccessful attempts to end their lives. As they work through their own problems, they start to know and appreciate one another, even developing relationships that may last beyond their short time within the hospital walls.

The verse distinguishes the characters well from one another, and the reader is sure to identify with at least one. Each teen struggles with family - overbearing, crazy, or lack thereof.

Fast-paced and engaging, this is very popular with high school students. ( )

Im reveiwing impulse by ellen hopkins. She is my favorite author and this happens to be my favorite book. this book is done in all three main charectors point of veiw so when you read this you connect with each of them. they all think that they have nothing to live for and have tryed to kill them selves all in differnt ways but none of them have succeeded so they go to a mental hospital for teens and kids. they feel every emotion differently and the way ellen writes her books each poem has a specail way that it was written and it puts extra emotion in every page. It is ultimitly a love story about two people learning how to love themselve before they can love someone else. they all have different issues and they work through them all differently .....GO READ THIS BOOK IT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!

Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com

Three troubled teens cross paths at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital, after attempting suicide. Connor, Tony, and Vanessa all have demons that try to pull them under and get them to succumb to the temptation to try it again; this time making sure they succeed.

Connor's overbearing family, only concerned about his GPA, or his making the varsity football team, or getting into an Ivy League college, offer no solace during his time of need. Feeling suicide is the only answer after a deeply emotional love affair ends, he takes a gun and points it to his chest before pulling the trigger.

Tony, after many years in a juvenile home for a crime that still haunts him, decides to ease his feelings of despair and loneliness by swallowing a handful of pills, only to vomit them up and be found by the police lying on the sidewalk unconscious.

Vanessa is a cutter. In order to ease her mind in any time of stress she slices her skin with anything sharp enough to do the job. One day, when she was drowning in her blue ocean of sadness, she cuts too deep. She feels herself slipping into the abyss until her younger brother, Bryan, walks in and finds her. When he calls for their ex-nurse Grandma, she is able to hold off death.

After arriving at Aspen Springs, Connor, Tony, and Vanessa are introduced to a life under constant surveillance, strict routines, and hours and hours or counseling. Immediately the three form a bond, feeling drawn to one another as if they might be able to save each other from death. Together they navigate the regulations of the hospital and make progress toward healing as they tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets; things they won't even tell their counselors.

Ellen Hopkins uses her wonderful free verse style to weave together the story of three troubled teens as they attempt to heal the terrible scars left by their lives. The consistency the author uses when alternating the points of view makes the story easy to follow. Hopkins gives away just enough information that the reader feels a part of the story while still saving a big bang for the end. IMPULSE is a great story that reveals the importance of family during the healing process and is a must read for anyone who knows a teen. ( )

I need to read this as a book not listen to it in audio. While the audio was good, being stuck in traffic and listening to it was not the best thing on a Monday morning at 8am. I'll give it another shot once I get my hands on the book.