Customer Reviews

Glass

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ellen Hopkins has once again taken readers into the world of meth and the chaos it creates. GLASS is the sequel to her first novel about Kristina called Crank.

Just several months after giving birth to her son, Hunter, Kristina is drawn back to "the monster." She thinks a little snort could help her lose some weight and get her through the late-night feedings and day-to-day drudgery of constant baby needs. Surprised at how easy it is to score and how much the product has improved, it doesn't take long for Kristina to remember how great the stuff makes her feel.

For awhile the teen mom is able to take care of Hunter, hold down a low paying job, and keep herself cranked just enough to pretend her life isn't all that bad. Despite what Kristina may think, her mother and stepfather, Scott, are not really fooled into thinking all is well. They give her just enough space to eventually crash and burn. After falling asleep and putting the baby in danger, Kristina's mother throws her out of the house. She says she'll take care of Hunter, and Kristina should take care of herself.

Like most addicts, Kristina fools herself into believing she can have it all. She manages to keep her job and find a place to live with the cousin of her latest love interest. Once again her life is filled with drugs, sex, and whatever she has to do to survive. At times there is hope of reconnecting with family, but each time Kristina can't cope with their expectations and ends up with less and less of their love and support.

For readers who followed Kristina's painful journey in Crank, this next book will illustrate the power of meth to completely change and destroy a life and the lives of anyone connected with the addict. Hopkins speaks from personal experience, which creates a powerful, heart-wrenching, and all too real quality to her verse. As they say, it's a life you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Once again, crank in back in poor Kristina's life.

*SPOLIER ALERT* After having Hunter, her baby boy, she gets a job at a 7-11 with a creep boss and strange co-workers. To lose her after-baby weight, she goes back to crank, meth, the monster. Her mother realizes she is back on that track, and kicks her out of the house and takes Hunter. Depressed and alone, she goes to get some meth from her old friend Robyn. While there, she meets a guy she takes much interest in, Trey. She gets a living space with Trey's cousin Brad, a single father who's wife left him. She takes care of the kids and gets meth perks. While waiting for Trey to come visit every once in a while, she has sex with Brad a few times. Once Trey catches her, but he says its okay because he's been having sex w/ others too. He claims it's just sex, not love. They promise to no longer sleep around. However, Brad's ex comes back and Kristina must move out. She moves in an apartments w/ Trey, and tries to take Hunter from her mother. When she realizes she's an unfit parent, her mother takes full custody of the baby and Kristina is left with Trey. Trey and Kristina get engaged, and decide to go on the road. While driving, a cop pulls them over and catches them w/ meth. The story ends w/ Kristina and Trey in jail. *SPOILER END*

The book obviously leaves room for a third, which I dearly hope comes.

*parental review*
bad language - 5- f-words, a, d, s and others. But not too often.
sexual content - 5 - kristina has sex with trey & brad. trey is sleeping around with other people.
violence - 2 - trey yells and gets very angry sometimes, there are some parts of cutting
adult content - 6 - sex, cheating, drugs, prison, getting arrested, getting kicked out of the house

It is clear that Ms. Hopkins has found an audience who loves and admires her story telling. With no slight to them, this just isn't all that good a book. It isn't up to par with "Burned" or "Impulse" and on its own, "Glass" is a pain. I slogged through it because it will be so popular with students at the high school where I teach that I needed to be familiar with it. I'm not certain it is anything more than a 680 page "Crank" re-tread. It takes us along with Kristina as she descends into hell, a journey that yields no revelations, no insights, just banal depravity. I do hope that fans of Hopkins will seek out other books that offer richer feasts.

Kristina is back after the birth of her son, Hunter. And it does not take long her for to want to dance with the monster again. This time, she is introduced to a much more powerful form of the drug, called glass, which is smoked. In no time, she is hooked again. And now, she is in love, with a man named Trey. It frightens Kristina to think she may love him more than she loves her child, and it frightens her even more to think she loves the glass most of all.

Yet another powerful chapter in Kristina's saga. I have to say, the empathy that I felt for her in the first book really quickly wore off. My empathy quickly transferred to her child. In this second installment, Kristina seems to be a completely different person, even more overtaken by the monster. And Bree is not mentioned so much. She is clearly still there, but Kristina is no longer Kristina or Bree, is is just....a junkie.

I have really come to love Hopkins' style of writing in verse form. It provides a much deeper intensity than a simple narrative would, and I love the fact that I need to read each page 2-3 times to find all the hidden messages. Honestly, I hardly realize the poetic structure when I am reading, I get so lost in the story.

It saddens me that this story is so real, so close to the stories suffered by so many, including Hopkins and her family. The book is intense, and dark, and, in my opinion, extremely important. I am certain I will not go back and re-read Fallout, the book that first introduced me to Kristina. And I think this time, I will see things I did not see the last time. I am quite certain I will be a reader of Hopkins' work for a very long time

In Crank, Kristina was introduced to the monster. In Crank I still felt some sympathy for her. Her life was spiraling out of control. She was young and made some mistakes, but she definitely wasn't past the point of no return. In Glass, my sympathy was gone. Kristina knew exactly what she was getting herself into. She knew exactly what kind of pain she would cause everyone, including her child. She knew what the monster was doing to her body, yet she did it again and again..and again. Her self destructive and self centered behavior take center stage in this book.

I was going to say that I still enjoyed this book immensely, even with Kristina's stupidity, but enjoy is the wrong word to use for this book. It's hard to enjoy a book about drug addiction. Although, I can't think of another word to use. It's like a train crash. You know that something awful is eventually going to happen, but what can you do to stop it? I can't wait to read Fallout, and get to the end of Kristina's story. I honestly hope that it is a happy ending, but I'm not sure if it can be.

Once again I must say that, Ellen Hopkins writing is incredible. I've never read a verse novel quite like this. It's beautiful, and powerful, and terrifying all at the same time. This book is an anti-drug. It should be required reading for teens. I beg you, teen or adult, to read Crank. You won't be disappointed.

This book was inspirational and emotional. If you read the first book, Crank.. then this sequal is deffenitly a must! it takes you on a journey, that you feel like you are in yourself. Deffenitly one of the best books I have read in a long time.

This book is as addicting as glass is described to be. I got this book on a Friday, after a long time waiting, and finished it the next Monday. I am not a reader, I just don't enjoy reading that much but this book, as well as Crank, is one of those books you just can't put down. An excellent sequel to Crank. I can only hope that there are more books to come.
I think Ellen Hopkins is an amazing writer! She has wow-ed me once again!

Kristina thinks she has a control over crack. Now with a baby to care for, she's determined to be the one in control. But the monster is too strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grips. She needs the monster to keep going, to face the pressures of every day life. Once the monster has control over Kristina, she'll do anything for it, including giving up the one person who gives her unconditional love. Her baby.

GLASS is the sequel to CRANK. This story continues the tale of Kristina and how the drug ends up controlling her life.

Gritty and raw, this tale shows the effects crack has on an individual and their love ones. Ellen Hopkins does a great job of taking us on this painful trip that was loosely based on her own daughter's experiences with the monster.

This is a haunting tale that will stay with the reader.

I'd highly recommend this book to those who know loved ones in the grip of the monster. Even though Kristina loses her way, the reader can't hope that maybe she'll be able to climb out of the abyss--back to her family and to her son, Hunter.

Finally... we'll get to grow with Katrina/Bree some more... in the Sequal of Crank...

Glass should be packed with more news of how she is going by with the baby, trying to stay off meth, and all the rest of the things crashing in around her life.

i've been hoping and praying that i would get to find out.

...

i wish i could grab the book up now and start reading it. now that i know there is a sequal and more to the life of the person, i have to bite my nails while i wait!

...

ellen hopkins is a brilliant and stunning writer - with her "poetic novels" that keep you glued to the next page - and by the end of the book ( which takes me about 2 hours to read now because i've read them so many times ) you look at the white page, and realize you are finished - but saddened because you need to know more...

and now we are getting our chance!

I didnt know Crank was a trilogy until a friend let me borrow Glass and Fallout. I love Crank the best but Glass is really thought out and it was nice to have "Bree"'s story go on. Just wish there had been a happy ending.