This book is about 16 year old Ariel Pearson, Who is dragged across the country by her father. She has never been in one place long enough to have friends or a life, until she lands in Sonora. Ariel is struggling to find out who is she (what teenage girl isn't?!), she is struggling with her sexuality and realizing that she doesn't want to be her dads play thing anymore.
This book really is amazing, just like Ellen Hopkins other books. I picked this up at Walmart one day. (because even when grocery shopping I have to stop and check out the book section.) Hayley and I read the front cover and we both bought it instantly. First of all I bought it because it sounded really suspenseful and interesting. Second of all I purchased it because it had my name in it, which most things in life so rarely do. You would like having a Disney princess with your name you would find it everywhere. Well you don't. I love having things that share my oddly original name. Also I love the fact that Ellen wrote her as a ginger, which also is a quality I share.
Throughout the book Ariel is Mentally and physically abused by her father but she is always making excuses for him. As someone that has personally seen what it's like to live with an abuser I immediately understood her actions and feelings. Ellen does such an amazing job of making these characters feel real, and their feelings palpable. This is a real life coming of age story. Poor Ariel was just starting to figure out who she was only to have it all taken away, and you can truly feel the anguish and misery she was going through.
The one thing that bothered me was the fact that all of her friends really didn't seem like it was a big deal. I feel like if this were to happen to me my friends would be freaking out. They were just so chill about how her dad was unhinged, and how this stranger was here trying to get close to her. I Ariel was my friend I would have been terrified for her and trying to do everything I could to make sure she was safe and her friends were just like Eh things happen. I definitely was a little disappointed in the way monica handled it, it was all just a little weird.
I loved this book and I rated this on goodreads 5 out of 5 which it definitely deserved. This met all my requirements for a good book. It made me feel, It drew me in from the first couple of pages, and it had beautiful writing style/the grammar was pretty damn perfect. I literally recommend every single of Ellen’s books to everyone. Her writing style is poetry which different and refreshing, and it's amazingly easy to read which is really cool. I read this 600 some page book in a matter of three days which is slow for me but really fast for some. As intense and emotional as this book is it's a really light read and answers all of my questions. I wouldn’t let anyone younger than 15 read this though. There is some sexual content (though it's not descriptive really) and there is talk of alcohol and pot.
Any way! Thank you so much for reading my review of The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins. We are going to be reading and reviewing more of Ellens books in a podcast episode but I loved this book so much I needed to share my thoughts with you. What's your favorite Ellen Hopkins book I want to know. Also if you have read this one let me know what you think.
Until next time happy reading!!
Ariel <3
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