Tilt

This review is of the Advanced Reader's Edition of the book.

Tilt is a companion story to Hopkins' adult novel, Triangles. As I have yet to read Triangles, all of the characters in this book were new to me. Tilt follows the story of three teenagers, Harley, Mikayla, and Shane. Harley is 13 and desperate to fall in love for the first time. Mikayla is 17 and in the midst of the most powerful love of her life. Shane is 15 and starting his first real relationship while trying to escape his family drama.

The voices of these three are not the only ones present in the book. Although the book is not divided into chapters, the character's POV is switched by interspersed pages (inverted with white text on black) of secondary characters relevant to show more the story. At first, I found this to be too jarring. It took at least 200 pages for me to understand how these characters were connected to each other, who was friends with whom and who was cousins with whom. (A character list or "family tree" at the front of the book would have been helpful to reference.) However, by the end of the novel I really appreciated hearing the voices of these other characters. For example, hearing from Shelby, Shane's severely disabled younger sister that has never been able to speak, was very powerful. Likewise, hearing from Lucas, a guy that Harley begins experimenting sexually with was the only way to give the reader an insight into what a huge creep he is.

It is an understatement to say that the lives of these three are completely changed from the beginning of the book to the end. Not only do major life events play themselves out on the pages, but the audience can detect the difference in their personal narrative as time goes on (even though the book only covers about 6 months of real time). I could see each person grow and change and oftentimes feel how they lived uncomfortably in their new realities.

As I finished this book, I felt completely empty. This is not a happy-ending fairy tale (though anyone familiar with Hopkins' works wouldn't expect it anyway). The stories of these characters, (Shane especially) were so harsh and uncomfortable that I was gasping for a little light at the end of the tunnel. Much like real life, though, I was only left with a vague promise of change on horizon. show less

I’ve only ever read Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, and I absolutely loved it. When I faced Tilt, I thought I had another great book in my hands.

What really ruined this book for me was the fact that I could not get emotionally invested in the characters’ lives.

Mikayla never really spoke to me. I couldn’t understand her romance with Dylan. I really couldn’t see their romance as anything other than a very unhealthy co-dependency. Mikayla’s every thought was about Dylan, and about how she could twist and turn and bend herself in every which way to make him happy. We only start to see real character from her when she finds out she’s pregnant, and even then she’s over the top, jealous, petty and immature. I really wished throughout show more the whole book that someone would give her a reality check, because her chapters were definitely very difficult to tolerate.

Harley got on my nerves more than anything. She's is tired of being a “good girl”, so she wants to change that. Harley does so many things that I really wish never to read again. I’m 18, and seeing a 14-year old make so many subsequent bad decisions was agonizing. I ached to be her mother and slap some sense into her. All I can really say about her overall outcome is: it was expected.

The only point of view that I really enjoyed was Shane’s. Shane’s story was the one that captivated me the most, and the one that didn’t make me want to roll my eyes most of the time. Shane and Alex’s relationship was so different and so genuine from the other relationships in this book. They had to overcome religious parents, judgmental peers, health issues, mental disorders, etc. There were so many things happening between them, and it was so nice to see how their relationship would twist and turn and accommodate to what was happening. I loved this part of the story.

Between each chapter there was a point of view of a different minor character, and at first it was good. After that, it turned really unnecessary to the plot and basically useless.

The narrators for this audiobook were wonderful. They each knew how to represent their characters and did excellent jobs at portraying the emotions. They really played at my heartstrings in some parts, and I really loved that. However, not even the brilliant narration could have salvaged the book for me.

The ending was by far the worst part of this book. Because of the ending I had to remove a star from my rating. When I had thought that I was finally going to see how everything was resolved, the book ended. It ended abruptly; every single problem was left unresolved. Every character’s story was left wide open. I really don't know what happened with any of them. I was really disappointed at this.

Overall, if it wouldn’t have been for the disappointing ending and the lack of connection to most of the characters, I would've enjoyed this book. However, I do recommend audiobooks with the same narrators, because they did a wonderful job.

Rating: 1.5 stars show less

3Q, 4P - Meet Harley, Shane and Mikayla, These three high school students are loosely connected by the relationships of their parents. Harley takes on new, rash experiences, determined to breakout of her shell and prove herself before realizing who that actually is. Mikayla is absorbed in a bubble of love and bliss that threatens to burst under the pressure of a tough decision. Shane finally comes out and finds the perfect guy, but is stuck between parents trying to accept him, impeding death and the dark realities that can accompany sex. In this authentic coming-of-age tale, the stories of these three teens are woven together through lyrical, vivid and fresh prose as they are thrown into the ups and down of life, discovering their show more voices in the process. Hopkins employs a multitude of self-created poetry forms and styles that help to convey the emotion, tone and personality of the characters. The book “tilts” between the three main characters perspectives. These characters grapple with taboo issues such as HIV, teen pregnancy and death through awkward, yet believable inner monologues.

I had a love/hate relationship with Hopkins as a teen. My sister and I both read Burned and Crank and coined them as guilty pleasure books. At 15 and 17, we recognized Hopkins habit of relying heavily on deviant teen issues as heavy handed. Although, I admire her ability to get teens reading and experiencing verse format, the actual content of her novels can sometimes be cliche or unbelievable. I recently read the adult novel, Triangles, which Tilt is a spin off of. 3Q, 4P - Triangles follows Mikayla, Shane and Harley's mothers through the same time period and written in the same novel-in-verse style. I found this book to fall flat from trying too hard, so I was surprised by how much I liked Tilt. I think it accomplished more of what Hopkins has been trying to do, in a subtle and enticing way that has the reader connect with the language as well as the issues. show less

Shane and Alex make this book worthwhile, Mikki/Mikayla also makes it good, but Harley's whole POV crosses into abuse and hidden awful scenarios that do not get resolved, nothing here besides Shane gets resolved, while Hopkins has written great books, this one is only good because Shane and Alex are good characters. The rest are trash heaps that don't need to be or unused potential.

Hopkins has a lot of character archetypes she leans on, but this book had a ton of leaning, and while the ending was intentionally vague, it ended on the vaguest POV character who brought nothing to the book but more problems and annoyance.

3 stars, there's much better out there.

Earlier this year, I read my first Ellen Hopkins and I liked it enough to want to read more of them. It’s funny, though, how much more daring and dark this later book can be. I feel like this is a sign of publishers broadening the sort of content deemed acceptable for teens. There’s definitely no HEA in Tilt, a far cry from the sudden mostly happy ending of Impulse. Still, I’m finding it hard to place just how I feel about it. I think the increased scope of Tilt, with a much larger cast of characters really upped the melodrama factor. The audiobook was a good way to go, though, because it put different voices to each character.

Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.

Okay. I've been reading Ellen Hopkin's books for quite a while, and I do enjoy most of them. I gotta say, that I think I enjoyed Triangles more than Tilt. It's gotten to a point to where these stereotypical story lines have been done by her before, and it's getting a little tiring. My love for the prose hasn't changed though. It just seems incredibly unrealistic, at least Harley's story did.

I absolutely hated her story. I found it unrealistic in the sense that I find it hard to believe that a 17 year old boy would want to have anything to do with a 13, eventually turning 14 year old girl. Virgin or not. Not to mention she did just about everything imaginable with him. Oral sex and naked photos is a-okay, but god forbid if she goes all show more the way with him. I mean, the naked pics he took of her and sent around to everyone wasn't enough to tell her that this idiot is bad news. She gets angry at him for sending those pics, but stops once he tells her that he wanted to show her off. Are you kidding me? Yeah, I just hated her story in general.

Shane's POV was alright I guess. Again, nothing I haven't read in her books before. It started out well enough, until the end, which seemed a bit disappointing. I was hoping for some insight on what happened to all three of them.

Mikayla's POV was the predictable one. Teen pregnancy, father bails as soon as he hears, blah blah blah. I was more curious about what she's going to decide to do about the baby, since Melissa changed her mind.

Again, I thought Triangles was a lot better than this one. It's an adult book, but in all honesty, it's pretty much the same. At least their stories are a tad bit more interesting. If this is your first Ellen Hopkins book, I'm sorry. Read some of her earlier books, specifically Crank or Impulse. show less

I really wanted to like this book. The format of the book made it difficult for me to really get into the story. I know it is geared towards YA, but felt the book had too much cavalier drug use for YA readers.