Review: Burned - Ellen Hopkins

Review: Burned- Book #1 Burned Series - Ellen Hopkins -  March 2006

This particular book, I read about 13-15 years ago which would have been sometime between 2006-2009. During this time, I had just discovered Ellen Hopkin's books and had fallen in love with them as she talked and touched on what was normally seen as taboo topics for teenage fiction. Growing up in quite a sheltered life as my parents were Pentecostal Christians and my dad was quite strict, this was my way of discovering the outside world and learning about these sorts of topics. In the past six months, I decided to start clearing some of my older books which included recently one by Ellen Hopkins called Flirtin with the Monster. After reading this it spurred me back into wanting to read her other books again and I have Smoke which is Book #2 in this series on my kindle. So, I hopped onto the Libby library app and came across Burned which is Book #1. Re-reading it now in my 30's compared to my late teens/early 20's it was different and hit me more emotionally (no tears, but on a deeper level). In Burned, we meet Pattyn, who we see that one simple decision to color out of the lines ended up creating a domino effect for her life and spiraled it out of control with a consequence that 6 months ago she would never have ever dreamed of. Burned also shows readers, just how quickly a decision can change the course of our lives to something unimaginable.  Our main character Pattyn has grown up in a strict Mormon family that has abuse hidden behind closed doors. When she starts to show interest in boys, she is told she is going down Satan's track and eventually sent to her aunt’s farm. In those three months, her heart and eyes will be opened to the truth and she will also meet her potential forever love with Ethan.  The summer goes too fast and Pattyn has to return to her reality, but since she's not the same person - she finds it hard to reintegrate into this life. What happens when she discovers she got more than she bargained for this summer and one thing leads to a decision that will almost kill her and then OMG that ending had me in two minds as I felt he got his karma but now she is unprotected and on a downward spiral. I am now looking forward to reading Book #2 - Smoke. The other thing that sets apart Ellen Hopkins's books from other YA novels is that her books are written completely in poetry verse/ poems - so the books look thick at 425 pages, but if you are like me - it will take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours to read and definitely worth the read.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3gcF1rb