Ive been waiting to reread this book ever since I found out there's a sequel coming in November, and I have to say I loved this book even more the second time around. ( )

Tricks is another prose poetry novel sure to be a hit with Ellen Hopkins fans. Rather than telling one story, it follows five teens on their individual odysseys in a downward spiral into prostitution where they all wind up in Las Vegas and their stories converge in a way. They all come from different places and circumstances: Ginger’s mother is a prostitute but they live with her grandmother; Seth lives on a farm; Whitney comes from a privileged background. Each individual’s downfall occurs for different reasons from poor choices to family problesm: Seth is thrown out because he is gay; Eden is thrown out because she falls in love with someone who is not born again; Cody falls deeply in debt from gambling. Each story unfolds inexorably until they all hit their own rock bottom. The stories are dark, bleak, often violent, and graphic. Given the subject matter, sex and drug use abound. ( )

Ive been waiting to reread this book ever since I found out there's a sequel coming in November, and I have to say I loved this book even more the second time around. ( )

I had to put this one down. I am usually pretty liberal, but this one made me feel icky. I am weeding it from my library, too. If Hopkins was going for shock value, she achieved it. I understand that this is the kind of stuff kids want to read, but when is too much too much? This is to teen angst what Saw is to horror. Ew. ( )

This book didn't disappoint. Ellen Hopkins I must say is one of my favorite authors. She makes readers experience and understand that horrible things that really do occur in our society though we try so hard to ignore this. But the more that we don't acknowledge that there is a problem the more we feed it to become even bigger. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone though it can become quite intense.
Many of Hopkins books helps me understand why some of the people I know go through their addiction and that it could be anyone around me. ( )