Impulse (Impulse #1)

Reader reviewed by skye

Its an outstanding book. I found it hard to stop reading it and when it was over you wish there was more! Its impossible not to love this book. Ellen Hopkins has done it again i  love all of her books she is an outstanding writer (:

Reader reviewed by Jessica

In another one of Ellen Hopkins famous novels written in verse, "IMPULSE" details the events through the eyes of three teenagers who had brought together in a hospital after they have all tried to commit suicide, for various reasons. Vanessa, Tony, and Connor all have reasons for wanting themselves dead, but it is through each other that they begin to see what life is about, that they can live through the horrid events and tough pressure that lead them to take this leap and try to end their lives for good.

The startling message that Ellen Hopkins books always carry is present in this one as well, claiming that not everybody can be saved, but everybody can get help. These three teenagers all tell the story through their own eyes, switching off view points, but not all of them see the same things. In the end, it depends on the person's drive to get better, not the help they get.

Reader reviewed by Dede

Impulse is about 3 troubled teenagers who come together after they each try to commit suicide.  They meet in the "loony bin" and form a bond with eachother.  Conner, who tried to commit suicide by shooting himself because he has performance parents.  They insist he get good grades, do good in sports, and are pretty emotionally cold.  They don't show alot of love of warmth and Conner can't remember his mom ever touching or kissing him with love.  They seem more interested in what he can do, and not who he is. 
Vanessa, who lives with her grandmother because her mom is bipolar, she talks to her angel.  She cuts herself to feel relief and decides one day to end her life with a cut.  Her little brother comes in and sees her and her grandmother rushes her off.  Her father is pretty absent, as he is in the army and she feels his absence strongly. 
Tony, who thinks he's gay, and has been through alot.  His mother is an addict and has a line of boyfriends.  Tony has only had one friend, and that friend died from aids.  He tries to commit suicide by taking a bottle of valium. 
They all meet at the treatment center and sense in eachother a bond.  They become close friends and throughout the story you feel like you know where it's going, but it has surprise twists.  The ending feels a little rushed and you don't get the full impact of the sense of what the author is trying to portray, but you do understand why things happen in the book and it is a good book for teens.