Fallout

4.5 Stars. Just like the first 2 books in this series I love this book. I love Hopkins writing style and how she just draws you in and makes you connect with the characters (even if you've never experienced any of things they go through) and makes you want to cheer them on. My only frustration with this book is the transitions. There are times when I was reading about one character and then something major happens and then it suddenly switches to another character but all I want to do is read more about the first character and see what's going to happen with them next. Other than moments with the transitioning being frustrating, I love this book and will read anything Ellen Hopkins writes.

I am always a fan of how she writes, and how she weaves stories, as the last of the Crank series, I had to read and catch up.

I did not mind the POV switches, the fonts were a bit more annoying than the switches, and some times they'd blur, especially when romance was what all three were looping around, and none of the kids seemed to have had a good romance going on at all.

The biggest flaw of this series is stated by the writer herself. She stated she could have written ten books about Kristina's fall, and yet she only wrote two, and one about the kids. That is where this series ends on a let down, there is so much between book two and book three left in the air and a mess that it comes in as a time skip and the kids talking more about show more their mom than their mom talks -or appears- the whole book. It pulls back, it rips you from the deepest depths some lines hold you upon, as soon as Kristina is spoken about, she's been barely there.

Worse is if you read these books as they came out and years have put gaps in your memory of Kristina, she's a background character in this book, when she was the focus. It makes her kids feel very cruel towards her for reasons beyond she was never their mother in the parent sense.

The ending is flubbed some, it's not an ending(spoiler for anyone who's never read a Hopkins book), it's an allusion to a conclusion. But this one feels like forgiveness where it should not be. It reads angry, but forgiving. There's no reason for them to forgive the monster that has ruined their lives, and there's the problem. This series needed two more, maybe three more books. One more before this, and maybe one more after. Without that, it comes off as almost empty. A farewell, not a goodbye, no see you later, just a loud booming "there's the door, see your way out". show less

I saw a blurb that I can't currently locate via google that Hopkins may be the most popular living poet. From the CRANK trilogy, my sense is that she's a very good poet and a great storyteller, combining the two skills into devastating verse narratives. FALLOUT is my favorite of the trilogy: just as CRANK is much more than a cautionary CMA/NA tale, FALLOUT is much more than an Al-Anon narrative. With three interwoven first-person accounts, Hopkins does much more than reveal the personal fallout of being born to a meth-addict, she crafts a powerful story of three fascinating characters and their parallel efforts to find meaning, love, and connection in a broken jigsaw world. I loved this book: it transported me out of a day of flu and show more made me forget my aches and pains. show less

I don't know how to put into words what I feel about these books. They are so powerful that I know I just can't do this review the justice it deserves. I stay so emotionally wrecked while reading these books that it takes me a couple days to recover. Fallout was no exception. It had me laughing, crying, and shaking with anger in the span of only a few pages.

In CRANK and GLASS we go through teenage Kristina's dance with "the monster", meth. We see her spiral deeper and deeper into addiction. When reading these two books from Kristina's point of view you just can't help but feel sorry for her, feel like it's not all her fault. But, while reading Fallout, which is from the point of view of her 3 teenagers, we see the fallout of Kristina's show more addiction of a completely different point of view. I found myself hating that same girl that I once felt sorry for. How dare she keep doing the things she's doing when she has these wonderful children that she should be living her life for?

We learn that her amazing mother has been through so much for her and that she could have gotten help, if she would have just reached out and accepted when it was offered to her time and time again. I don't know how anyone could read these books and even consider trying drugs afterward. Once you see how one person's addiction can spiral out of control and affect so many peoples lives.

These books should be required reading in every high school across the country in my opinion! Don't ban it, celebrate it! I suggest all of my readers who haven't read this series yet run out and buy it right now!!! What are you waiting for? show less

This is the rare trilogy where each book is better than the one before. In this, the story is narrated by Kristina’s three oldest children. Hunter is now in college, in a great relationship that he keeps risking. Autumn (who Kristina was pregnant with at the end of Glass) is living with her grandfather and aunt and Summer goes from foster home to foster home, with occasional stints living with her dad and his latest girlfriend. The three aren’t close (Autumn doesn’t even know she has siblings) but all are affected by Kristina and drugs to varying degrees.

While the first two books show the impact that drugs have on the people who use them, Fallout shows the collateral damage. While all three of the kids have people who love them, show more they’re also unsure of themselves and their place in the world. And while yes, I will agree that that’s a big part of being a teenager anyway, it’s also because they grew up (to varying degrees) not knowing much about their parents in general and mother in particular. (Hunter knows the most because he was raised by his maternal grandparents.)

While we don’t see much of Kristina in this book, she’s still all over the narratives, because of the damage she’s wrought in the lives of the people who love her, even as they can’t trust her.

One device I really enjoyed was the fact that there were little newspaper clippings interspersed throughout the book, so we got to see what happened to some of the minor characters in earlier books.

These books are highly recommended. What I don’t recommend is reading them in a row like I did. show less

Fallout is the third book in the Crank series. For those of you who have dutifully read Crank and Glass, you may be sad to learn that Kristina is not the central character in this last book. Instead, this poignant third book revolves around Kristina's three oldest children: Hunter, Summer, and Autumn.

Though Kristina's story is no longer the focus of this story, she is everywhere. She is present in the shattered lives that she created in her drug-induced haze. She's present in the addictive personalities and in the poor choices her children make while searching for someone to care for them. She's there when they are trying to make it through the day-to-day struggles that are sometimes too much to bare.

I love that Ellen Hopkins took show more Kristina and put her in the background. As every family member, friend, or lover of an addict knows, the person with a drug habit is not the only one to suffer the consequences of a drug affair. Certainly, Kristina's children have done well to overcome the huge obstacles placed in their way by their never-there mother, but this book also shows just how deeply these children are scarred because of their parents' choices.

I can think of no better book to offer to a student or adult child who is dealing with a family member or loved one who is lost to drugs. I know that I have several students who are already clamoring to read this book. I don't blame them. The narrative verse in this book is outstanding. It is sure to pull in even the most reluctant of readers. I have already ordered an extra copy for my classroom. I have a feeling that I'm going to need it. show less

In the third book loosely based on her daughter, Kristina’s, addiction to methamphetamine, Hoskins elucidates the thoughts and feelings of three of Kristina’s teenage children. In alternating chapters, Hunter, Summer and Autumn let us into their lives and tell us how “the Monster” has affected them. A couple of them even struggle with addiction themselves. Hopkins’ signature free-verse style is again evident here, but this becomes confusing, particularly when switching between narrators. It was a more effective style when the narrator was high all the time, really reflective of the disjointed thinking that happens when one is using, but with the three (mostly sober) teens, it makes them come off as more flighty and sparse than show more they really are. I suppose one can’t just change one’s entire writing style now, though. It was interesting to see how Kristina’s kids grew up and to find out more about what Kristina herself is up to, and I think readers would welcome more in this series. However, as these real-life kids grow up, they might not welcome their grandmother’s (though fictionalized) forays into their souls. show less