Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Fallout picks up about 18 years after the end of Glass. Kristina is older and has continued her bad habits. So much so that she now has 5 children: Hunter, Autumn, Summer, Donald, and David. This book is told from the alternating point of view of her three oldest children.

Hunter was just an infant when we last saw him, but now he is a 19 year old young man. Raised by Kristina's mother and step-father, he has had a decent life and is currently a radio personality on a local radio station. He's living with his girlfriend and trying to keep his eye on the prize, but he does dabble in weed & other extra-curricular fun. His tumultuous relationship with his birth mother is actual something that gets him into trouble with his girlfriend and alters his future.

Autumn was born of Kristina's relationship with Trey and was given to his father & sister when both of Autumn's parents went to prison. Autumn is a serious teen with OCD & very little social skills. It's always just been her, her aunt, and her grandfather. She's never really branched out much, until Bryce showed up. The new guy in school takes an interest in her like no one else ever has and with her aunt moving on with her life, Autumn will take any kind of attention she can get, at any cost.

Summer was given up by Kristina to the foster system. Having bounced from home to home, she's never really gotten close to anyone. Even her boyfriend Matt is at a distance. All that changes when Matt's best friend confesses his love for her and they start dating. Despite Summer's bouncing from foster home to living with her dad and back into a foster home, they cling to one another. Kyle flirts with the monster, but is determined to keep Summer clean, but when Summer is moved into a foster home far away, this young couple decides to take matters into their own hands.

Three stories, three lives set on their course by their mother's monster addiction.

Fallout is a masterpiece, plain and simple. The format, as always, is poetry and prose, but this time (like in Tricks) it's told in the alternating viewpoints of three individuals. They all have their own tone and their own stories to tell. Each one is unique in that they all had very different experiences as a result of their mother's actions. Their lives are altered by her initial actions. They share feelings of abandonment, resentment, and anger, but each of them focuses more on one of the feelings than the other.

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer, despite their best efforts, all find themselves in a similar situation as Kristina was once in, relating to their own lives. She may not have a significant presence in their existences, but she has certainly laid the foundation for their future behavior. What I really enjoyed reading about was each child's revelation that their mother's life is not their own life. They can be themselves without comparing every action to Kristina's previous actions.

I have to say that I think this is my favorite of her books so far. Burned is a very close second, but it is a definite second. I felt like there was closure with this book and that there is hope for all those involved. A job well done. Enjoy!

Waiting on Wednesday: Fallout (Crank #3)

Waiting on Wednesday recognizes that we as bookies pine for books. This post is about what I am impatiently waiting for right now. It was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

I am so stoked for the September 14th release of the final chapter in Ellen Hopkin's Crank series. Fallout will continue where we left off in Glass and carry us through to the bitter end.

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—three of Kristina Snow's five children—live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They...more

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—three of Kristina Snow's five children—live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They share only a predisposition for addiction and a host of troubled feelings toward the mother who barely knows them, a mother who has been riding with the monster, crank, for twenty years.

Hunter is nineteen, angry, getting by in college with a job at a radio station, a girlfriend he loves in the only way he knows how, and the occasional party. He's struggling to understand why his mother left him, when he unexpectedly meets his rapist father, and things get even more complicated. Autumn lives with her single aunt and alcoholic grandfather. When her aunt gets married, and the only family she's ever known crumbles, Autumn's compulsive habits lead her to drink. And the consequences of her decisions suggest that there's more of Kristina in her than she'd like to believe. Summer doesn't know about Hunter, Autumn, or their two youngest brothers, Donald and David. To her, family is only abuse at the hands of her father's girlfriends and a slew of foster parents. Doubt and loneliness overwhelm her, and she, too, teeters on the edge of her mother's notorious legacy. As each searches for real love and true family, they find themselves pulled toward the one person who links them together—Kristina, Bree, mother, addict. But it is in each other, and in themselves, that they find the trust, the courage, the hope to break the cycle.

Told in three voices and punctuated by news articles chronicling the family's story, FALLOUT is the stunning conclusion to the trilogy begun by CRANK and GLASS, and a testament to the harsh reality that addiction is never just one person's problem.

From Goodreads

Goodness gracious great balls of fire. Simply astounding. Ellen Hopkins seems to promise us a conclusion that dares to be trifled with. I for one am truly looking forward to seeing where this story goes and what happens to the newly defined children.

Cover for Fallout released!

This is the final chapter in the Crank trilogy by one of my favorite authors, Ellen Hopkins. It's currently scheduled for release on September 14th. How exciting! I can't wait! Just thought I'd share the love. You can read more from Shelf Awareness.