Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins

8 reviews

bibliomich's review

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I remember devouring Ellen Hopkins' Crank series over a decade ago and absolutely falling in love with narratives in verse. So when I saw that Ellen Hopkins had published a new middle grade text in verse, I knew that I wanted to read it.

Closer to Nowhere was a quick, page-turning read. I felt that the overall concept was interesting, and I cared about the characters (particularly Cal). I did, however, feel that the ending was both a little anticlimactic, as well as a bit emotionally exploitative. Without adding spoilers, it felt like Ellen Hopkins included a fairly tense event at the end of the book specifically for the purpose of bringing the family together. I didn't love that...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Gun violence and Toxic relationship

el_wheel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Cancer

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

she_reads_though's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, and Death of parent

khaleesimod93's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The writing took a bit to get used to, especially since the narrators were two 12 year old kids. Following their thought process wasn't easy. They were both so different. Not just with one being a boy and the other a girl, but two very different POVs, two different ways of thinking, and two different life experiences. Cal has not had it easy. His mother died, his dad in jail, and he doesn't think like everyone else. I'm not sure if the author meant to write it the way she did, but she wrote someone on the autism spectrum so darn well. The outbursts, the way his mind works, not fitting in, and hates his routine disrupted. I loved his pov. It reminds me a lot of my oldest son. How he views the world and Cal's POV helped me understand my own kid a little better. Hannah's mind was so different from Cal. I could tell how much she resented and hated him for some things he couldn't control. And she didn't understand why he acted that way. As the book goes on, you start to see how she learns about Cal's past and starts to understand. I really love how the author tackled so many issues from the POV of two children. Amazing story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

maidmarianlib's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Interesting with two points of view, develops the characters well, highly emotional.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this. The one thing I do wish is we got to see more of Cal and Hannah together and how they mended their relationship. I liked all the tough topics talked about like abuse, addiction, gun violence, and PTSD. I do think this is a great middle grade about hard topics.   

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

library_kb's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a fantastic novel in verse--one that definitely should be added to all school libraries and classroom libraries. It tells the story of Hannah and Cal. They are cousins, but Cal's mom has died of cancer and his father is estranged and so Cal moves in with Hannah and her family, which is a hard transition for the whole family for a variety of reasons, including Cal's PSTD. Both Hannah and Cal's get their own perspectives in the book, which are marked by different fonts (and voices) and so you feel for both characters and the difficulties they are going through. This is a book that will give students more understanding about others behavior and how there is always more going on under the surface that we don't see. It is a book that can encourage empathy in it's reader. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent