Review: Burned by Ellen Hopkins

When the religious beliefs Pattyn has accepted since childhood begin to suffocate her, her fight to find her own identity causes a rift between herself and her family, and touches on deep wounds of the past. Sent to live in the desert with her aunt for the summer, Pattyn finds something different than the punishment she expected. An aunt with a deep capacity to love, scarred by her own past, but who wants to give Pattyn the courage to love again. To find her own 'forever love.'

Told in the same haunting poetry as other Ellen Hopkins stories, Burned will move you. Make you ache. Make you remember the bliss of a first love.

I really like Ellen Hopkins. But I gotta tell you... I had a hard time with the end. A lot happened really fast, and I felt left with no real idea how things would go. It could just be me, since I tend to have a harder time with stories that leave me wondering. I don't want to give away what happens, so I won't say more than that. But I did have a difficult time with the last 20 pages or so.

If you've never read Ellen Hopkins, start with Crank, but be warned-- it deals with meth addiction, so some of the content is pretty heavy. Great story, though. It really communicated the struggles of addiction. I haven't had a chance yet to read its sequel, Glass, but it's on my list!