People Kill People

Loved this so much. So powerful, so relevant, so absolutely fucking real and heartbreaking, especially towards the end.

At first, I thought the writing was very weird, and I did not like the parts that were written in second person AT ALL! But I did eventually grow to like it, then love it, and understand that it was COMPLETELY necessary in order to make the story as powerful and impactful as it was.

I somehow, in some twisted way, really cared for all the characters, despite all of them having different beliefs that, to me, were just plain wrong.

Loved the poetry parts. They were so interesting. The fact that they were from the perspective of violence was amazing! Loved the tiny bits of violence’s poetry in the character chapters, kinda show more trying to influence the characters; it was very interesting.

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Guns just make it easier. Even a child can do it.” show less

First of all, that cover.

Second, so much of this book gave me chills. Talking about humans and their capacity for violence, for instance:

"Like a god
I am nothing
without you...
but I am relentless
I know you can hear me
and sooner or later
you'll heed my call"

And taking that one step further:

"See, I've got this theory
Given the right circumstances
any person could kill someone
Even you."

This is not a happy book. I wouldn't even say any of the characters are particularly likable. The reader is taken inside each character's mind, privy to their darkest thoughts, and oof...those thoughts are dark indeed. But that's the point. Hopkins has given us people at their lowest, people who given the right circumstances could be capable of anything, even show more pulling a trigger and ending a life. If you read this and don't come away with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, well...I don't know how to feel about that. There have been a number of books written in recent years about gun violence, and while I did find the verse in this particular one a little clunky at times, one thing it did really, really well...well enough that at times it was difficult to continue reading...is make you feel.

"See, the absolute truth

is
people
kill
people.

A
gun
just
makes
it
easier.

Even a child can do it."

Think about that. And tell me it doesn't give you chills. show less

People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins is a novel written in verse about gun violence in America. The story starts out with a Zane, an older white man with a distrust of nonwhite people, and his wife Renee. Zane purchases a gun, believing he will soon have to defend himself and his home from those "Middle Eastern Monsters". However, he was the one to destroy his home, after accident;y shooting and killing his wife. Afterwards, he sells the gun online for cash and the guns makes it way to a small neighborhood in Arizona.

We are then introduced to the characters one by one: Rand, Cami, Waylon, Silas, Ashlyn, Daniel, Noelle, Grace and Tim. The story is told in alternate point of views by Rand, Cami, Ashlyn, Daniel and Noelle. Rand and Cami show more are a teen aged married couple with a young son name Waylon. Silas and Ashlyn are young adults in a white supremacy group. Daniel is a homeless Latino teen who's dating Grace. Noelle is Grace's best friend who suffers from epilepsy bought on by a severe car accident which also caused the death of Grace's father. Each of the characters have access to guns though their reasons for arming themselves are different. The story builds over a week and comes to a conclusion with a riot at an pro-immigration rally.

People Kill People is right on time. It really reflects what is currently going on in America. From racism to gun violence, Hopkins really hits the nail on the head. We are living in tough and scary times and readers will be able to relate to some characters. Hopkins also shows us that rage can come from any and all of us; we all have the potential to do great good or great evil. The only thing separating us from savage is just once choice. It takes one choice or one circumstance for things to fall apart.

It was difficult to read from the point of view of a white supremacist. It is truly mind boggling that they are people out there who can hate someone they have never met just because they have a different skin color and/or religion. Its crazy to know that that level of hate is real and is prevalent in the modern day. In the beginning, Daniel was seen as a sympathetic character but we later find out that he is hiding some dark demons.. The ending was surprising as I was expecting the gunman to be one character at one place but it wasn't. Sadly, the ending has become common as guns are so easily acquired. I would recommend People Kill People to everyone as maybe we can start to work on our culture's fascination with guns and violence. show less

I have read many of Hopkins's books and have really enjoyed every one that I've read. I really enjoy her writing style and like how she covers tough topics. As a gun owner, I picked up this book because I was hoping to gain a perspective on the other side's arguments and rationales. In the past, I have appreciated how Hopkins writes about controversial and difficult topics and manages to create realistic and likable characters on both ends of the spectrum. Nothing is ever black and white and very rarely is one side completely right while the other is completely wrong, and her previous works have managed to find a believable and realistic balance.

However, the characters and situations in this book were ridiculously extreme and bordering show more on propaganda. It almost seemed like a complete attack on people who own guns and support gun ownership. Nearly every character in this book either despised guns because they had been a direct victim of gun violence, or wanted a gun because they were completely mentally unstable. Every gun owner or pro gun advocate in this book was either a racist, a anger-fueled psycho out for revenge, or a murdering robber. And Cami, the ONE CHARACTER who had a legitimate argument for gun ownership as self defense, was immediately attacked by the other characters and portrayed to be a selfish, immature person for the rest of the novel.

Not only the clear issue with the portrayal of guns and gun owners, but why is EVERY SINGLE male character in this book mentally unstable? The women, for the most part, are victims of violence perpetrated by men, both physical and mental.

As someone who understands that this isn't how the world really is and this is an extreme portrayal of both guns and men, I can simply shrug, give the book a 2 star review, and move on. But this book is targeted at teens and it's crazy to think that an impressionable group is being targeted by authors who making it seem as though this is representative of a majority of gun owners and men.

It's one thing to try to make a point by writing argumentative and persuasive fiction, but it's another thing entirely to turn it into propaganda.

However, I don't entirely hate every page of this book. I appreciate the message she was sending about immigration and making it easier to achieve citizenship. Even though he was a very minor character, I really loves Silas's dad, especially the point he made about making it easier for immigrants to obtain work visas so border patrol could focus on the real criminals. And although I didn't necessarily care for Grace as a character, I did appreciate how she didn't let Daniel completely control her.

All that being said, this book was just a miss for me. I still love Ellen Hopkins and will continue to read her work. show less

I’m a fan of Ellen Hopkins’ works, and usually I hear about her books and am eager to read them right away. But somehow this one slipped under my radar! ⁣
This one stands alone from the rest of Ellen’s other works, mainly because only part of the prose is in her trademark verse style. But it didn’t take away anything from the story itself. You’re thrust into the worlds of 6 completely different characters, each of whom has their own opinion on guns and gun control. This is a difficult subject for many, and the author doesn’t shy away from exposing the true nature of some of her subjects. ⁣
While the subject matter was timely and important to read about, for some reason this book overall just didn’t connect with me like show more her previous works have. I just felt like it was lacking-in what, that I can’t say. Towards the end I also felt like some character’s stories were rushed. show less

I’ve loved Ellen Hopkins since reading Crank in middle school and I didn’t realize she was still writing so I had to read this one. This is such an important topic for the current times and I will admit I skimmed over the poetry part and was more into the story aspect, but the writing was still beautiful. I hated basically every character but I think you’re supposed to? The characters were a bit one sided for me but overall I really enjoyed it and I think my high school students will love it.

This Ellen Hopkins novel is a mix of verse and prose, with at least six or seven different characters. Narrated by Fear/Death/Chaos/Id there is a lot to unpack. It's politically relevant, and feels politically motivated. It's a rather heavy handed message book.