Burned

Ellen Hopkins is by far one of the greatest author's I have ever come across. The way she writes her books are intriguing and her stories are addicting. I could read her books over and over again.
Forever love <3

This book is sad, romantic, and suspenseful it will keep you turning pages get your tissues out because it will make you cry i recommend this book to all of you who want a tragic love story here is the link Burned

An absolutely fascinating read. The formatting was unique in my experience and added much to my enjoyment.

Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad, author of Fine Black Lines: Reflections on Facing Cancer, Fear and Loneliness; The Last Violet: Mourning My Mother, Moving Beyond Regret; and This Path We Share: Reflecting on 60 Years of Marriage

i ordered this book and its sequel, they just arrived this morning, i placed the order saturday. i didnt expect them to come so soon, seeing as the last time i ordered ellen hopkins books from walmart.com they took a week or so to get to my house. they were in pristine condition

“Burned” is a very intense read. What makes it so emotional is it’s close ties to reality. This book could be about someone I know. It could be about the religious zealot we have all seen at school, work or standing on a corner with a sign proclaiming the “end”. The portrayal of domestic abuse is chillingly accurate. I grew up in an abusive home and I know first hand how close to reality this story really is. The feelings that Pattyn expresses are so real that it’s easy to forget she isn’t real and this is just a story.

“Burned” is shocking. If I had to sum the entire book into one word that would be it. It’s authenticity is shocking. It’s accuracy is shocking. It’s subject matter is shocking. But, this story needs to be told and I am extremely glad that Hopkins has told it so masterfully.

Pattyn is a character that has stuck with me for a long time. See, this is a book I bought years ago. It’s been sitting on my shelf a long time. I’ve re-read it countless times. Pattyn is a character I know well. Her story is one I go back to again and again.

This story is a dark one. It’s dark because reality can be dark. It’s not as simple as running away. It’s not as simple as standing up for yourself. In some households, that could get you killed. Or….someone you love killed. For those whose lives have not been tainted by abuse (religious or other) it’s hard to understand the darkness that surrounds you. The lack of faith and trust you have in humanity. The isolation you feel while surrounded by your peers. The choices you have to make…. The way people turn on you with breakneck speed.

Thank you Ellen Hopkins for bringing the story of so many to the forefront. Thank you for telling it in its painful reality. Thank you for not sparing the bad.

To see my full review, check out my blog AlliesOpinions on Wordpress!

It's really difficult for me to talk about Burned, because it was simultaneously a truly amazing and disturbing read. It's a coming of age story, that touches upon a lot of serious themes such as abusive family, questioning your religion and your identity, and it's a very powerful read.

I haven't really read any contemporary novels written in verse, so the form of this book was also new to me but I thought it worked surprisingly well. The formatting was great and very important too, as differing structure of each chapter nicely highlighted the more important or powerful parts.

Like I said, I don't really know what more to say about it or who I should recommend it to. I'm sure it's not a book for everyone. I myself didn't know that I'm going to like it so much, but it lef a huge impression on me and I still keep thinking about it, even though I finished it hours ago. It was my first book by Ellen Hopkins and I would definitely read some of her other works.

This is my very first experience with an audiobook. Yes, very first. I was engrossed in this story from the moment I put the first disc into my car's cd player. I finally had to bring it inside my house and finish the last three discs on my computer because I couldn't get enough of this story. I am a firm believer of audiobooks now. I used to think that audiobooks were silly things, things for lazy people that can't be bothered to pick up a book. I was wrong. I see the appeal of audiobooks now. I can listen to a fantastic story in my car on my way to work, while I am in the kitchen cooking dinner, or while I am taking a shower. All those spare minutes add up and an audiobook is the perfect way to fill them. I can't think of a better book to be adapted as an audiobook that this. Ellen Hopkins writes in verse, so hearing the story from the perspective of the main character was just amazing. I am definitely going to try some more of Ellen's books in audiobook format. The story itself is fantastic. Just a great story to fall into. Contemporary books aren't usually my thing, but I was so into this book. The story is surrounded by sadness and the way that it is written really brings out all of the raw emotion. The story is mainly about a teenage Mormon girl coming to terms with herself, her religion, her family, and her sexuality. This story is very gripping and you won't want to put this down once you've started reading it. This is a read for mature readers, and I wouldn't definitely recommend it.

I was both satisfied and dissatisfied with the novel “Burned” by Ellen Hopkins. Although this novel was painfully cliché and something only a hopeless romantic or young teenage girl would enjoy, this book did have some good aspects.

Throughout this book there is a constant presence of foreshadowing. On the first page, for example, are eight uses of foreshadowing such as, “...do you ever dangle your toes over the precipice, dare the cliff to crumble, defy the frozen deity to suffer the sun, thaw feather and bone, take wing to fly you home? I, Pattyn Scarlet Von Stratten, do.” Although this foreshadowing does make the reader want to continue reading the book, it gets old. The over-usage of this writing technique eventually gets annoying and no longer triggers curiosity.

The cliché aspect of this novel made it the same (in my mind) as many other books. I have read thousands of books but so many of them I cannot recall due to their similar qualities which blend them together in my mind. One thing that did set this book apart, however, was the horrifying end. I respect the absence of a “happily ever after” ending and appreciate this real-life aspect of the book. Sadly, I cannot say the same for the rest of the book. The plot is a typical boy-meets-girl, forbidden love story. Not only did the two fall desperately in love, but everything happens over the course of a short two months.

I must give Ellen some credit, however, for her creative layout of the pages. The words scattered across paper in different ways, forming shapes and expressing emotion, are beautiful. Some places this style is hard to read, but the change of layout per chapter makes the book more interesting and portrays things the author can't put into words. Journal entries are also included in italics to provide more background of what is happening in the novel. For example, “March. 23. Brother Prior is an idiot. And I'm supposed to swallow his garbage like it doesn't even taste bad.” The main character speaks differently to her journal than to the reader and this provides more straightforward information to promote understanding.

I found it hard to connect to this story because the main character, although 17, acted as though she was 12. I understand she was sheltered but it surprised me how stupid this girl was when it came to boys. Many high school girls will jump at the chance of any older “cool” guy but I simply do not understand this concept. While reading this book, I was fighting through my last semester of high school. School was not designed to be easy but somehow, in this book, there is no homework, no stress. The end of a school year comes about but not one mention of finals takes place. This book does not seem extremely realistic because outside of Pattyn's family, church, boyfriend, and aunt, she does not mention hardly anything. This book, however, did open my eyes to see that people are often abused but have no one with the guts to help them. The message was good, but I believe this book could have been much better.

MikaylaG

Synopsis: This story follows Pattyn a girl raised in a strict religious yet abusive household! After her dad finds her in a compromising position with a boy she is shunned to the desert to live with her aunt to find "redemption" what she finds instead is "love and acceptance"

“Love is only found in books”
― Ellen Hopkins, Burned

What I Loved:
I loved the storyline itself: A young girl growing up and dealing with the everyday, and not so everyday struggles of teenage life! I can relate to Pattyn so much, she is going through life with question about God, boys, sex and acceptance among other things! The intensity of the plot had me sitting on the edge of my seat every time I read it especially during the ending/resolution. A common theme if you skim through the reviews on goodreads is that this books is incredibly hard to review because it has left so many people, including myself, speechless!

With this series you WILL have tears. . . lots and lots of tears and Laughter!!

“Do you ever dangle your toes over the precipice, dare the cliff to crumble.
― Ellen Hopkins, Burned
What I did not like:

There really wasn't anything I didn't like BUT. . . I will warn some readers that this series is filled with triggers!! The main character and secondary characters mostly deal with physical abuse, sexual abuse, pregnancy loss and others and that for me made it hard to read in some places! I cried a lot because I have been through some of these things and on a couple of scenes it put me back in that place and that may be incredible dangerous for some people! I do not necessarily think this was a bad thing about the book, if anything Hopkins really nailed it when it came to how victims of sexual abuse feel and how hard it is is to recover from pregnancy loss and this is coming from someone who has experienced both of those thing myself! For me in the end despite the triggers both of these books were worth the read!

"Not fair that we never looked each other in the eye! Not fair that he never drew breath, never nursed. Never cried or laughed or crawled or caught the measles."
-Ellen Hopkins, Smoke talking about losing the her baby

This review is on my blog: http://bookchick2013.blogspot.ca/2014/01/review-burned-burned-1-by-ellen-hopkins.html

This book is heart wrenching... with every turn of a page your feelings will take you on a roller coaster of love, sadness, happiness, death and more. I just can't explain the intense feelings that come out in this book.

This book left me heartbroken. It is very rare to find a book that can bring out such emotions, and this one did. It started on a sad note and ended on a sad note, but I think that made the writing that much stronger. This is the first Ellen Hopkins book I've read, and I must say I am a little disappointed. I've heard great things about her books and expected a little more out of this book, although it was written in a fantastic way.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the feeling it gave me. When I read about Pattyn in her house, it seemed really awkward as if I was in the 1970s or something. It felt very western but once she was in school or with her Aunt, then it was as if she was in a normal time.

The ending of this book was fantastic. I was close to tears for the pain I felt for Pattyn and her sisters as well as her mother.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy emotional and strong books.

Rating: 6.7/10
Parental Rating: 15+

Hopkins is a deeply frustrating writer. She can write with real heart about young people and their world(s). But the writing itself at times is unbelievably sloppy. So sloppy a high schooler could fix many of the glaring grammatical problems. (Near the end of the book:Earrings aren't pierced. Ears are). This writer desperately needs an editor (all writers do). That aside the book starts strong then gets really really slow. The writer isn't skillful enough not to make things really claustrophobic on the ranch for a month. As well, a little cliche goes a long way. This writer loves cliches and they're all here. In the modern era there's really no excuse for that. It's just super lazy and not respectful of the reader. The author also seems really confused about the messages she wants to send out to young people. Don't let readers forget about the nuclear tests done in Nevada in the '50's (this comes out of nowhere in the book and then we don't hear about it again) but - SPOILER- leave the young girl we're rooting for in the most hopeless, most nihilistic situation at the end. That's something worse than bad writing.

This book deals a lot with issues in abuse, power , and identity. Hopkins's main character has many layers of emotions she reveals throughout the story. Patty Von Stratten is the oldest child of seven girls. She's forced to grow up as a Mormon girl even though she doesn't understand it.

Still in her teens, she wants to have fun so she starts drinking, smoking, and dating boys not her faith, behind her family's back. When her father finds out, he sends her to Nevada with her aunt J for the summer. There she meets the love of her life, Ethan. Everything is going well until her sister sends a letter that her drunken father's abuse is getting intense. She must come home and protect her family.

Shortly after she returns home, she finds out she is pregnant with Ethan. When this information becomes public knowledge, she has to make a dramatic choice. What will she do? Suicide? Revenge?