Customer Reviews

Tricks (Hardcover)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In her five previous novels, which focus on such timely and disturbing social phenomena as sexual abuse, attempted suicide and methamphetamine use, Ellen Hopkins cuts through propaganda and politics to get to the emotional heart of the often controversial subjects she explores. In TRICKS, her most ambitious novel to date, Hopkins uses her free verse style to great effect as she explores the different routes taken by five teens to the same desperate solution: prostitution.

Hopkins utilizes slightly different styles for each of her five subjects, a distinction that will probably go unnoticed by many readers, especially once they become absorbed in each person's story. She also provides transitions between narrators by repeating key words, further expressing the connections among these young people even before the plot does so. Although these stylistic niceties are subtle, the differences among Hopkins's subjects are not, and readers will likely have no trouble distinguishing the teens' narrative voices because their stories are so singular.

Eden is the daughter of a fundamentalist preacher in Idaho, whose parents send her to a religious rehabilitation camp, where she falls in love with a non-believer and trades sexual favors with a prison guard to try to secure her freedom. Seth is an Indiana farm boy who comes out to his father in the wake of his first gay love affair, only to be thrown out of the house and into the arms of a wealthy but demanding and manipulative older lover. Whitney is a typical wealthy teen from Santa Cruz; when her first serious relationship fails, her insecurities and desire for affection connect her with a charismatic older man who promises her love but may not have her best interests at heart. For Ginger, prostitution runs in the family; she doesn't respect her prostitute mother, and she knows she has to escape (even if it means abandoning her younger siblings) when her mom starts pimping Ginger herself out to clients in search of someone younger. Cody lives in Las Vegas, so it's not surprising that he turns to gambling when a health emergency and family death lead to financial strains; when online poker and sports betting force him deeper into debt, however, Cody becomes desperate enough to perform acts he never would have imagined before.

Hopkins's writing is striking and shocking partly because of the juxtaposition of lyricism and lewdness in each person's story. Each teen starts his or her short section with a poem summing up thematic or narrative concerns: "You stand in front of me, / Pretending to be solid, / but you're nothing / more than smoke and mirrors." These thoughtful, lyrical passages stand in stark contrast to the scenes of graphic sex, drug use and desperation that eventually characterize each subject's narratives. Readers will be alternately titillated and horrified by the encounters Hopkins describes in brief but explicit detail, and will frequently find themselves both repelled by the wretched situations she recounts and unable to turn away from the seeming inevitability of the outcomes. For some of the kids, the outcomes are bleak indeed; for others, hope shines --- or at least glints --- through the closing pages.

TRICKS is a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the wildly varying, but all-too-common, paths that lead to the dead-end desperation of teen prostitution.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

I just finished the book, and I have to admit that I desperately flipped through the last few blank pages hoping to find more. I warn you all now, the latter half of this review may end up with spoilers. If it does, I'll let you know with asterisks and pretty little caps.

First of all, I'm not an experienced Hopkins reader. I read another one of her books from my library (I'm pretty sure it was Impulse? Staring Tony, and two others in a suicide rehab clinic)
So going in to Tricks I sort of knew what to expect. Gritty, honest writing, emotion, and heartbreak.

Lots of people complain about two things in this book. One, universal with Hopkins it seems, it the writing style. I will admit I was also victim to the old mistake of opening it up, assuming it was poetry, and putting it down. Please, if You pick this book up, give it a chance! It's written in verse, but outside the "A Poem By ___" openers it's all straight prose divided in crafty line breaks that drive subtle points home.
Another thing is that people complain it's just too graphic. I'm sorry, but you're reading about love, heartbreak, and eventual prostitution. People say it's too detailed, and it disturbs them. Imagine how the ones who LIVE this kind of thing feel. When you're being raped there is no neat way to avoid the gritty truth and details. There's no way to forget the smell of sex or scrape away enough skin in the shower to ever feel clean. Hopkins takes that feeling of desperation, fear, and the thoughts of "who will want me now" and instills this into her book.

So if you don't want to feel like someone's gripping your heart with cold fingers, don't read this. If you're light stomached or can't take the truth of what's really happening in this world, this book isn't for you. But I urge anyone else. EVERYONE else to give it a chance. This book unveils the topics people skirt around. Too many people refuse to talk about this. About sex, teenagers, choices. Perhaps that's the cause of half the situations that lead down roads ending in heroine and prostitution? Read this. Parents and teenagers alike. Read it together, even. It's powerful. Honest. It will strike you at your core, pry you open, and place every heart-wrenching line into your deepest corners.
Even the opening poems in this story had me in tears at some points.

Overall I think the entire book is a work of true art. It shines light on the dark corners of reality and opens -at least for me- your soul up to the pain of people. Sometimes, people who will never even know someone cares about them.

*SPOILERS AHOY*
I swear, after this, the next time I see someone tripped out on a street corner looking to score, I'll think of Whitney. When I see strippers at a club I'll be thinking of Ginger. When I see that girl being preached at by her parents, my heart will return to Eden.
To Cody, and Seth, and even the minor characters. Andrew, Alex, even Gram and all her love. My heart goes out not only to these fictional characters, but to people I've never met before. It's simple stunning that something as simple as a book has me in tears, wanting to run outside down the street and find someone. Hug someone. Let a stranger cry on my shoulder.
Ellen Hopkins, if you ever somehow read this by a freaky miracle, I want you to know you've touched a very personal part of me. I wept, and smiled, and cheered, and cursed at every page of your hard work. Message delivered. Thank you.

My one, and only meager complaint is that it felt like it ended all too soon. I'm so used to books that reach the end and keep going, wrapping everything up with a tidy bow. I actually had to go back, reading some of the last entries from characters over and over, having to drill into myself "this is it. This is the last time you'll see this person in writing". Honestly, that just broke my heart. I wanted to find these people, five, ten, fifteen years down the road and see where they were. How they were. Some endings, like Whitney's, I just was left with questions.
But really, I think that's a good thing. Life doesn't ever just happily wrap up with a ribbon. It goes on, changes, and shifts. Any happy ending is only temporary after all, and things will always move forward.

Just like you said Cody, "Life is a gamble after all".

Eden, Seth, Whitney, Ginger, and Cody are five teens, from all over the country. They may be as different as anyone could be, but they all have something in common: they want to be loved. But their pursuit of love and happiness isn't always smooth, and very quickly each teen finds themselves in a place they don't want to be, a place they never expected to be, each of them turning tricks. What starts out as five separate stories slowly intertwines to become one story about sticking to what you believe in, standing up for yourself, and ultimately growing up.

As always with Ellen Hopkins' books, Tricks is one that will make you cringe but at the same time have you so tightly under its spell that it is impossible to stop reading. Tricks is intriguing at first as Hopkins introduces readers to her five diverse, painfully honest, and flawed characters. You can't help but connect with at least one of them in one way, shape or form. You even have high hopes for them and their happy ending, even as you can see that something terrible and heartbreaking is in store for them, and see them stumble into it. Tricks is not for the faint of heart; Hopkins gives readers a realistic and hard look at each one's life, not leaving out a single thing. She demonstrates to readers that there aren't any happy, perfect endings, but there is a way out, and all you need to do is ask. Tricks is a powerful, chilling read with a cast of gripping characters that takes a look at how they deal when forced into unthinkable circumstances.

Cover Comments: This cover is actually pretty plain, but keeps in style with the covers of Ellen Hopkins' other books. So that in itself usually makes it distinguishable, but really I think it's pretty unremarkable. I'm trying to figure out what the cover is supposed to be...it looks like fire one minutes and then a red sheet the next. Oh well, it does it's job well! (Edited to add: I just saw a finished copy--very impressive! It looks much nicer than the picture!)

"Tricks" was my second Hopkins' book. I read "Impulse" a while ago and remember devouring it in a matter of hours and loving it. I wish I felt the same way about "Tricks."

Hopkins has established herself as a crusader of tough teen issues - drug use, suicide, abuse. This book was no exception. The author approached teen prostitution head-on, not sugar-coating it and without unnecessary moralizing. I applaud Hopkins for that, not many authors have guts to touch this kind of subject. As for the novel itself, it left me cold.

First, I was (to my own surprise) extremely bored by the narration, so much so that I started contemplating to drop the book altogether. I might have felt this way because of the multitude of the POVs - too many switches, too little time to get attached to any character. Very often I found myself confused who was the narrator, the stories started to blend together.

I also thought the book was just too wordy, too drawn out when it didn't need to be (too much info about Cody's gambling problems, for instance) and too quick or superficial when some events needed to be explored deeper. I felt I needed more to understand what drove Eden to so easily give herself over to Jerome for a couple of strawberries or how Ginger took on stripping.

Some events in the book felt a bit too cliche or gimmicky - Lucas' reasons for breaking up with Whitney (because she was a virgin and not great in bed - really?) or Carl's transformation to an abusive sugar daddy in a matter of... minutes.

Long story short, too often I felt I was being emotionally manipulated rather than truly touched by the characters' plight. I read another "issue book" not so long ago - "Living Dead Girl." Alice felt real to me, I never truly believed in Seth, Cody, Whitney, and Eden, only Ginger and her story had some authenticity.

The story picked up significantly in the last 100 pages or so, once everybody hit the rock bottom. Those pages were great, gritty and disturbing and painful to read. But it took way too long to get there and by that point in the story I was already tired of the book.

Will I recommend this book? Absolutely, the subject of it is important and has to be brought to light. Is this the best written book about teen prostitution? I don't think so.

This book has to be the hardest book I have ever read and after finishing it I was very undecided as to how I was supposed to rate it. I have decided to not rate it on how much I liked it because I really don't see how anybody could enjoy this book. It is very dark and disturbing. So, I have to rate it on how well Hopkins made her characters come alive, if it moved me at all, and the overall flow of the book. When I take away my initial feelings I think Hopkins did a phenomenal job with this book and the topic that she chose. Sexual abuse and drug addiction are very tough subjects and Hopkins puts each of her characters in horrible gut wrenching situations that you hope will never happen to anybody that you know. I do have a problem with this being classified as YA. I know that these are real life situations and struggles for today's youth but this book was very graphic and I think there should be a disclaimer stating this. This is the first Hopkins book I have read so I can't say if they are all like this one but in my opinion this was a bit to "adult" for most young adults. That being said it does deliver a powerful message and I think I will continue reading her other books.

I enjoyed Hopkins' Kristina series very much; I was able to connect with the character and the book was hard to put down. I was disappointed in Tricks-I could barely connect with any of the 5 narrators, except Eden, whose story I found a bit more interesting and developed than those of the others. Although I know the book is supposed to deal with drugs, sex, etc. I felt many of the characters made unbelievably stupid decisions. Even with their complicated circumstances, nothing was bad enough to drive some of them to do what they did; I felt the book was extreme and a little too graphic. It was well written, concerning the style, and some stories had an interesting premise, but I think with 5 plots going on at the same time it was hard for Hopkins to fully develop each one. Overall, I had hoped this book would have been better and slightly more realistic, as the characters are all so extreme in their actions, but it was a decent read and I'll still continue to look for more of Hopkins's books.

the book is good like all of her work but reading it on the kimdle is not recomended because the way it is written in the book adds symbolism that is lost when on the kindle. all of her books are written in verse forming designs symbolic to what is happening in the story. get the actual book and not the e-book

EXCELLENT book, but I am a little concerned about a 14 year old reading this. The material is VERY mature, and quite racy. I would recommend for 16+, at the YOUNGEST.

Tricks is now my favorite book (my previous favorite was The Hunger Games). My favorite character was Eden Streit. Her story was so sad and all I wanted to do was help her. This is by far one of the best books I've ever read. However, I must readers that is A LOT of mature content. I recommend this book for ages 14+. Hope you it! :)

This is another great book from Ms. Hopkins that left me speechless. Not only did it give me a whole new insight, but it gave something new to think about. I never thought that sex trafficking as a big deal. After reading this book, I now realize that this is not talk about enough.

As always, this book I recommend for ages 18+. If you are a mature reader, then you can read this. While this book is not meant to be pretty, Ms. Hopkins really gets into the gist of things, not hiding anything. I love that Ms. Hopkins wrote this book fully, not holding anything back. She stories that she tells from different point of views will make you cringe as well as fight for these people.

I also liked how Ms. Hopkins gave a variety of characters, so the reader sees everything. After reading this book, I just wanted to cry. My heart ached so much! All of the different stories in this book happened every day in America right under our noses. It makes me angry and sad that not everyone can get the help that they need.

If you really want know, I mean REALLY want to know what sex trafficking is like, read this book. You feel the characters hurt, anger, rage, at what is happening to them. You as the reader feel helpless and powerless to stop it. You must read this book in order to know what I am talking about.