Review Detail

The protagonist and narrator is Kristina Georgia Snow, a straight A high school student, who travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico for three weeks during the summer before her junior year to visit her estranged father, who she has not seen in eight years.

It is here in her father’s apartment complex that she meets Adam, known to his friends as Buddy. She calls herself Bree and they begin an intense passionate relationship, despite Adam having a girlfriend. Although Adam is sweet, sensitive and caring he is the one that introduces her to ‘Californian green’ and later crank (methamphetamine).

This is pre Walter White cooking up crystal meth in Albuquerque.

The first time Kristina tries crank she runs away and is attacked by a group of men, but luckily she is saved by Adam. After Adam’s girlfriend Lince learns of their relationship she jumps off a balcony in a suicide attempt.

After Kristina, now Bree, returns to Reno, Nevada she attracts the attention of some less than desirable boys that can supply her crank addiction. The later part of the novel depicts Kristina / Bree’s spiral out of control as the addiction takes over her life.

Although there are 537 pages the novel is written in a form of free verse poetry, which means there are only a few lines on each page, making it a quick read. It reads like Kristina’s diary.

The novel is loosely based around Hopkins’ daughter’s addiction to crystal meth. Crank is followed by two novels Glass and Fallout, which continue Kristina’s story with addiction.