Triangles

Ellen Hopkins is known for her young adult novels, all edgy "issue" books, written in verse.  Her YA books have been on my TBR pile for years, but I ended up reading her first novel for adults.

It follows three women with interconnected lives all going through crisis points in their romantic lives.  Holly is a bored housewife who is starting to experiment sexually outside her marriage, Andrea is a single mom who has consistently been the woman men cheat with instead of on, and Missy is mother to a dying child with a husband she barely sees anymore.

I really enjoy novels in verse and Triangles is no exception.  Although Hopkins gets pretty explicit anyway, the poetry makes all the scenes feel sexier.  There is a ton of conflict and I was sucked in even though I didn't like most of the characters.  Holly was a trainwreck that I couldn't look away from and Andrea was incredibly judgmental (and eventually a hypocrite).  Both were impossibly selfish, while Missy was the opposite-totally selfless.  This made it easier to root for Missy, but it was still frustrating because she allowed her situation to get as bad as it did.

The kids were a different story.  They were all very real and had their own set of problems.  This book almost seemed like a YA issue book through the eyes of the parents.  I realize that is not what it is, but it does seem like an interesting look at why parents in YA books are absent or react the way they do.  Apparently they have far worse drama in their own lives.

As a novel, I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure what I am supposed to take away from it.  Mostly, I am even more curious about Hopkins YA novels and look forward to reading one soon.