Another great book by Ellen Hopkins! This book deals with some hard questions about guns and gun violence. I was hooked from the very beginning and was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was going to be killed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the narratives that were told throughout the novel. This story is incredibly relevant and was engaging as someone who does not and would never own a gun. I was interested to see how quickly and easily they can change hands and decisions are made to take someone's life. I enjoyed each of the stories and how they intertwined. Some of the ending was predictable, but some was not, and it did not disappoint.

I am unable to download on my Kindle nor my computer. I will review this once I get the book (even if it is after publication date), I will look for the book and read the book.. I will give it 3 stars because I have read many of this author's books and I have liked all of them, I will most likely raise the star rating once I have read the book.

I have now been able to read this book and once again I loved it. I could not stop reading- I have recommended to many many others and I am passing it around young adults who I believe should also be reading it.

Very good read!! I recommend!

Wow. I don't think i've ever read anything by Ellen Hopkins before so I didn't really know what I was getting into. The topic itself is a very important one given today's day and age, the subject of guns and gun rights being at the forefront of many political and social debates. But this book took turns that I was not expecting, but in a very good way. Looking at the different perspectives of individuals in possession of guns shows that its not all black and white. I really enjoyed the various writing styles used throughout the book, it gave a fresh look at each story. I did not finish the book, unfortunately, but it has been on my mind since starting and I will very much be looking into getting a copy of my own at some point. I need to know how it ends!

At a time when hate has become a common occurrence where children are being held in detention centers while their parents are deported or bombs are being sent through the mail to high profile individuals or a synagogue has become the target of gunfire during a religious ceremony, these events, whether sanctioned or not, are the result of mistrust and resentment towards those who are not considered a part of main stream society. Nationalism (versus Patriotism), a part of the Make America Great Again Community, has become an accepted way of life for too many in the United States to the point where some individuals feel justified in acting out their feelings of hatred towards those they resent - for whatever reason.

Ellen Hopkins uses this darkness as the theme for her newest YA novel People Kill People. In her introduction she decries the rise of gun violence in this country and attempts to explore the reasons why someone might pick up a gun with the intent to do harm. Her unique style of combining freestyle poetry and introspective narratives introduces the reader to a group of struggling teenagers whose lives intersect through their reactions to their individual situations. Each faces varying issues, some dire others seemingly innocuous, but all internalized and possibly life changing.

We have seventeen year old Grace; her homeless boyfriend Daniel; Daniel’s half brother Tim, a skinhead; and Tim’s good friend Silas who is stalking Grace but finds solace in Tim’s cousin, the badass Ashlyn; Grace’s sister Cami who is a teen bride married to Rand with a two year old son Waylon; and Grace’s former best friend Noelle who was seriously injured in a car accident as a result of the shooting which killed Grace’s father. Their interactions create a story which ultimately leads to a shameful calamity.

I personally found this book difficult to read. The details were so tragic, the choices at times devastating, the introspections so negative I was left with a depressed view towards life, grateful that my own trials seemed trivial by comparison. This is definitely not a PG book since the dark subject matter includes violence, sex, and numerous deplorable activities. Yet these subjects, while fictional, are based on real life events which occur too often in society, so I suppose they need to be addressed and discussed by the upcoming generation if attitudes have any hope of changing for the better.

Hopkins unique style provides smooth transitions as we “Slip into” each character’s skin and then “Fade out”, helping us understand the motivations behind each of their choices.

Four stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears on my blog, Gotta Read:

https://ellenk59.wordpress.com/2019/01/05/people-hate-people-by-ellen-hopkins/

I have read several of Ellen Hopkins books and I love her writing style. This particular book wasn't for me. It deals with a lot of today's topics including gun violence, sexual abuse, and suicide but it was eye-rolling annoying and I just could not get through 400 pages of eye rolling.

Novel in verse

I get that novels in verse can appeal to struggling readers ("Look at all these pages I read successfully!"), and I'm not discounting that. Ellen Hopkins is doing important work for that audience in regards to mental health, gun violence, drug addiction, and other hard topics. However, I am not this audience, and I didn't realize before I downloaded People Kill People from NetGalley that it was a novel-in-verse.

This Ellen Hopkins novel is a mix of verse and prose, with at least six or seven different characters. Narrated by Fear/Death/Chaos/Id there is a lot to unpack. It's politically relevant, and feels politically motivated. It's a rather heavy handed message book.

I was not a fan of this book. When we started with the narrator being that darkness that resides in all mankind, I thought this was an interesting premise and could really go somewhere, but then I quickly grew bored of the superfluous monologging that the narrator would fall into each chapter. I really like her other books, like Tricks and Crank, but I just could not enjoy this one. I don't think it was the topic either, because I read and enjoyed other books with similar sensitive material, I just did not like the way this one flowed.

Ellen Hopkins transports you into the mind of a variety of characters. Each person has a potential for violence, each person has a reason to have a gun, each person could be a mass murderer. Reading this story is a little like watching a train wreck. You know that something bad is going to happen, but you don’t know who. It could be anyone! In the end, I cried.

PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE by Ellen Hopkins is written mainly in verse and focuses on six Arizona teenagers who deal with gun violence and white supremacy. School Library Journal suggests this novel for those in grades 10 and up. In fact, Violence narrates this text, leaving the reader to guess which of the intertwined teens will kill and who will die. Hopkins explores several timely topics (brain injury, attitudes towards undocumented immigrants, depression, drug dealing, and more) which will resonate with teen and new adult readers while showing how "each [character] possesses an incentive/ to pick up a gun, pull the trigger." A powerful and thought-provoking text from an award-winning and popular novelist.

The personification of Violence is the most intriguing part of this book. Although very realistic, it was incredibly hard to read certain characters because I lamented feeling the hatred as I was reading. This book is definitely powerful, but not for everyone.

First of all, that cover.

Second, so much of this book gave me chills. Talking about humans and their capacity for violence, for instance:

"Like a god
I am nothing
without you...
but I am relentless
I know you can hear me
and sooner or later
you'll heed my call"

And taking that one step further:

"See, I've got this theory
Given the right circumstances
any person could kill someone
Even you."

This is not a happy book. I wouldn't even say any of the characters are particularly likable. The reader is taken inside each character's mind, privy to their darkest thoughts, and oof...those thoughts are dark indeed. But that's the point. Hopkins has given us people at their lowest, people who given the right circumstances could be capable of anything, even pulling a trigger and ending a life. If you read this and don't come away with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, well...I don't know how to feel about that. There have been a number of books written in recent years about gun violence, and while I did find the verse in this particular one a little clunky at times, one thing it did really, really well...well enough that at times it was difficult to continue reading...is make you feel.

"See, the absolute truth

is
people
kill
people.

A
gun
just
makes
it
easier.

Even a child can do it."

Think about that. And tell me it doesn't give you chills.

Although I think this topic is incredibly important right now, I was not a fan of Ellen Hopkins' People Kill People. The premise was intriguing: a man accidentally kills his wife and then sells the gun, hoping to rid himself of the constant reminder of his guilt. We are told that someone (or multiple people) will die from a gunshot wound from this gun later on in the novel. It's got suspense, mystery, and an important topic--- all the makings of a book I'd enjoy.

I thought the characters were interesting, but I did feel that gun enthusiasm and racist ideology were almost always paired, and while that may be true in a lot of cases, I think this novel would have benefitted from some characters who were Second Amendment supporters (but not because they felt they needed protection from immigrants or people of other religions). It was definitely a novel of extreme points-of=view, and I think some alternate perspectives could have rounded it out a bit and shown more nuanced perspectives on this complex topic.

In terms of the writing point-of-view, it just didn't work for me. There were so many perspectives, each introduced with a "fade in" movie-like description and poem summary from the perspective of a violent interior voice that spoke to all the characters (and supposedly readers too). Each perspective was written in the second person, making it seem like the reader was the character, and I didn't love it.

I also don't really see this as a Young Adult novel. Yes, young adults should definitely be reading about these topics that are so relevant to all of our lives, but it just doesn't seem like a novel that will resonate with them.

I'd say that this novel made me think, but it's not one I'd recommend.

I received an Advance Review Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very disturbing to read but so necessary. Gun violence occurs on a regular basis. In the last few days while I was finishing this book a man with mental health issues legally bought a gun and shot people in a bank and a female police officer entered an apartment she mistook for hers and shot and killed the man inside. Each time this happens we ask questions like why did the person shoot? How did they get a gun? What was going on in their life to make them snap? Just as the author points out, it is not the gun that kills people. When used/stored properly, guns are safe for protection and hunting. It is people that cause the tragedies that have become a normal part of our daily lives. The focus needs to be on keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. While reading the book, I found the words written in verse that went with each chapter even more disturbing than the story itself. Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC copy of #PeopleKillPeople.

I knew this would be dark because it's Ellen Hopkins. She tackles some difficult subjects. This book is definitely dark. An ominous feeling carries from beginning to end, no matter what is taking place in the story. The characters took shape wonderfully in my mind. I didn't feel particularly close to any of them, and yet I found myself occasionally talking aloud to them. As you can tell from the cover, this book is about gun violence, but it's about so many other things because each character Hopkins lets you become is an individual with his/her own history and agenda. I won't soon forget them.

The ending was shocking and unexpected. However, it was sometimes confusing to remember how each character was connected and which character was speaking, even when it was indicated who was speaking. This book was different from anything else Hopkins has written, and it was obvious that she had to go past her comfort zone in order to write some the perspective from the characters - especially Silas, the white supremacist that constantly made me cringe because of his ugly personality and horrible beliefs.

I would not read this book again though because it seems like many of the topics were pulled out of a news story, and I am heartbroken that instances like these still occur in our modern world. I look to books to escape, and this one just made me want to escape from reality more because of all of the violence and blood shed that unfortunately has become all too common in the United States.

This is the first book I've read by Ellen Hopkins. I know her books are well loved and people are passionate about them, but I've never picked one up. I clearly have made mistakes. This book has a very distinct style about it. It's wonderfully written, poignant, and timely for our world.

This book evokes violence from characters, but in a way I haven't ever read before. The characters say things we've all heard in our lives, whether in the news, on the internet, in our email, from our friends or families, or complete strangers. It affects us all, whether we're Zane or Grace violence in our world affects us, maybe not today, but at some point.

This book will make you think, it'll make you smile, it'll make you cry. I don't think there's anything better than that. I really hope everyone has a chance to read this and take something from it.

In an extremely unique story that follows seven people all connected one way or another in a town located in Arizona, we are told each of their stories and how violence and hatred has either altered them or spurns them forward. The story starts with a bang telling us of an old couple and a gun later sold to one of those teenagers. I’ve always loved every book that Ellen Hopkins has ever written, so I’m not surprised by how interesting yet disturbing People Kill People is, but the most unique trait that it has is the narrator is violence and hatred itself. It talks directly to the characters in the book and that was THE THING that unsettled me most, well...until the end. The end completely drops one crazy bomb that I wasn’t expecting.

This book is getting a lot of acclaim and while the writing style is interesting and unique and I think I understand what the author was trying to do, I think the ultimate storyline and events can be misconstrued and I'm not sure I fully agree with them either. Just not my first go to to inspire dialogue around different beliefs.