Crank by Ellen Hopkins

“Life was good
before I
met
the monster.
After,
life
was great
At least
for a little while” 

5/5 stars

Kristina is the poster child for model kids; she has good grades, solid friends, and has a great relationship with her mom and step dad. Everything is going smoothly until she visits her biological father, across the country, the summer before she turns 16. There, her life changes. Kristina falls in love, she sees her dad for who he really is, she experiences someone she knows attempt suicide, and she meets the monster. The monster is crank and it quickly takes control of her life. Kristina becomes someone new when she’s high, someone more confident and daring: Bree. Unfortunately, Bree doesn’t go away when Kristina returns to her mother’s home and begins school. How can she balance her perfect life and the monster?

This book grabbed me from the first page. This is the first Ellen Hopkins book I’ve read and it did not let down. A lot of my friends read and loved Impulse in high school, so I already had high hopes. The way that Hopkins uses verse to keep the pages turning and the reader engaged is brilliant. I couldn’t put Crank down!

Kristina’s story is one that readers of all ages can learn from. When Kristina returns home from her dad’s, her addiction has only just begun. She goes for weeks without crank until she finds herself craving it again. After that, Kristina constantly puts herself in risky situations with no care for the consequences, as long as they result in crank. Readers get to see how quickly Kristina’s life falls apart as she starts using crank more frequently and hanging around people (mostly men) who hurt and use her.

Crank not only shows what drug addiction does to an individual, but also how it affects family and friends. Readers really get to see how Kristina’s addiction hurts her parents and siblings. Her mother and stepfather see the warning signs as Kristina spends more time alone and acts extremely agitated by blowing up at seemingly minor problems and they immediately start to worry. There are a few instances when they talk to Kristina separately to check on her and the reader really understands how much they’re hurting. Even when Kristina won’t tell them what is going on, knowing that they’re daughter is hiding something big from them tears them apart.

The thing that really makes Crank something special is that is based off of Hopkins’ daughter and her struggles with addiction. There is a bonus chapter at the end of the book that explains how much of the book is true to her daughter’s story and what is made up. She does a phenomenal wrap up by highlighting the dangers of addiction and how it changed her and her daughter’s lives. Hopkins’ is very open about her daughter’s constant battles; it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

I loved this book. The writing style was A+, the story and takeaways were A+, and the conversation with Hopkins at the end was A+. I hope this book educates teens and adults on how real and life-threatening addiction can be for people, including teens. In my opinion, everyone should read this book at some point in their lives. I want to thank Ellen Hopkins for sharing her story and her pain and using it as a way for people to learn. I can’t imagine anyone giving this book anything less than 5/5 stars.