Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins has created a raw, real, and heart-wrenching masterpiece in her book Impulse. It grapples with many teenage troubles and questions, some of which may truly hit home for some teens. Although the book does consist of teenage troubles, it makes its adult readers begin to ask questions or reflect on their own lives, turmoils, and happiness. Hopkins has no trouble bringing extremely serious lifelong issues, illnesses, and problems into a book and pressing them down to earth and making it real on a tremendously relatable level. Delicately structured, it provides for the perfect emotional read.

Impulse begins with three separate young adults, each with a morbid past: Connor, Tony, and Vanessa, who are all troubled and determined to take their own lives. One by gunshot, one by overdose, and the other with a razor blade. All three make a desperate attempt to kill themselves and miraculously fail. These three people then end up in the same psychiatric ward together, where they are told they must go on a long journey to recovery, physically and mentally. Their three lives slowly but surely intertwine with each turn of a page.

Vanessa is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and takes part in self-harm. As described by her, “demons…keep on howling, like Mama, when she was in a bad way,” and her attempted suicide involves her slitting her wrists. Connor is a rich overachiever, who believes that “trust is just another five letter word, one that comes before not,” shot himself in the heart. Tony is a homeless boy who chose to overdose as a result of lifelong unspeakable abuse. The archetype for these three people is sad, without composure, and then near the end, they experience a valid eye-opening time, and then their seemingly terrible life gets put behind them and they continue on with extensive happiness. These characters are different. In so many ways, this shows extreme realism. For example, at first they do not seek help to soothe their personal demons, they are admitted by others. The development of two of the characters, Vanessa and Tony, is relatable. They do not become “better,” per say, but they do learn many lessons to carry throughout life and are given many valuable reasons to continue on living. Their mental illnesses remain, and the same woes are admittedly still experienced, but the two patients resolve some of their unrest and are no longer a danger to themselves. Ellen Hopkins not only just describes what happens to the characters, but goes in depth about their reactions.

In the hospital, they undergo point systems and psychiatry. They must behave and follow rules or else they may not level up and be able to go home. They are required to mingle with one another in group. At first, as said in the book, they have “nothing in common except age, proximity, and a wish to die.” Over the length of pages, they find common interests (and disinterests) share heartfelt stories, and eventually decide to walk hand-in-hand in their journey to recovery.

This novel has an abundant amount of strengths in structure, voice, and feeling. The words used eloquently provide a painfully stomach-sinking sense of being inside the character’s own head. It’s a highly relatable journey for many people who suffer from these issues, and Hopkins does not sugarcoat any of it. Impulse is beautifully put together and wonderfully engrossing.

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