Welcome to Litsy!

“There‘s this thing inside every one of you. The collective human call towards violence. All it takes is one singular moment to encourage it into play. And the lamb transforms into the lion.”

“Renee wanted to say Muslim wasn‘t a word for terrorist any more than educated was for smart.”

“Despite every claim otherwise, he's a coward. And a coward with a gun is treacherous.”

“The future expected you. Now it mourns for you.”

“Guns don‘t kill people. People kill people.”

“People kill people. Guns just make it easier.”

Wow for such an important topic this book fell super flat. I felt like it would be about normal people, but every character took everything to the extreme. Good girl? No she is a SAINT. Guy who gets jealous easily? No he gets extremely mad all the time. There is 6 characters so I could go on. But none of the characters were relatable and I feel like the author just tip toed around subjects instead of actually talking about them. 1/5 stars

People Kill People- while the title is intriguing, that‘s about the only part of the book that is. You meet several different characters who are all tied together in some way or another, and each one is faced with a different problem, where violence tries to tempt them. I would put in a TW: guns, white supremacy, and minimal abuse descriptions.
⭐️ star- would not recommend this to anyone.

This was one of my least favorites by Hopkins. The book bounced between different characters and there was only some verse sprinkled in as the voice of violence throughout. The ending kind of disappointed me as well, as it was not the direction I hoped the story was going.

I usually like Hopkins work and how she tackles tough topics and shines a light on the ugly and painful because they exist and need to be seen but this one just didn‘t work for me. I don‘t know if it‘s the way she tackled it, the characters themselves, or what but I just did not like it 🤷‍♀️

There are multiple trigger warnings for book. Sexual assault of a minor, gun violence, violence against women, white supremacists (racial slurs). It is not Ellen Hopkins typical style throughout the whole book I feel how it was done was much needed to put context to this book. There will be characters you relate to, those you hate but in the end it gives multiple perspectives on heavy topics I feel it was covered well.

I agree with this 🤔🤔🤔 #tmskellington #wintergames @clwojick @StayCurious

Always have a book on my register, especially on slow days like today! Just started People Kill People. I thought it would be more in verse like her other books (and therefor easier to sneak a read) but this one is a combo of verse and actual paragraphs #tmskellington #wintergames

@clwojick @StayCurious

An interesting, timely story about gun violence. Decided to finish reading this instead of paying attention to workshop (whoops). The story of one gun and the impact it has on so many different lives. #vhsreads #booksinverse

1. Most recent 5⭐ tagged
2. Both, crunchy, but really both!
3. Sunrise
4. I'd put it toward a hot tub.
5. Grade 5
#friYAYintro @howjessreads

This will be an easy one to recommend to my students. I love how the story is told from the perspective of six teenagers with unique life situations. Then, interspersed with poetry that could easily stand alone and it is highly thought-provoking. I will use some of the poetry as writing prompts. This is my first read by Ellen Hopkins and it did not disappoint.

"Ethnicity was never a concern for you. Kids were kids were kids. Nice, mean, athletic, sedentary, smart, not so. Those traits were independent of skin shade. Yes, there was always the gang faction, but criminals and druggies come in Caucasian, too."

"...therein lies the peril--lack of self control."

Find joy in the heat of the afternoon.

Truth

I accomplished My Week 1 goals in 6 days. I have already started on book 2 of 6 and am on track to meet my personal fitness goals for the month. I finished The Marrow Thieves and started listening to The House Girl on my walk yesterday and started reading the tagged book this morning.
#BFC #bookfitnesschallenge #week1 #checkin
@wanderinglynn @mcipher @krayoncolorz @BeckyB @Lucy_Anywhere @okthislooksbad @twohectobooks @Books.Bottles.and.Babies

A mix of poetry and prose about gun violence. Profiles six characters and how they ended up making the choices they did that led to a shooting. Not bad, but the styles sometimes clashed and while the characters were well done, they weren‘t particularly sympathetic. Appreciated her attempt to look at gun violence through poetry. The intro and afterwards were interesting too.

I love having a reading journal to look back through what I‘ve read and quotes I‘ve loved. Anyone else keep a reading journal? Anything special you make sure to note down? (Always looking for ways to make my journal better)

Differs from her usual style by including prose. Dislike the narrator, felt like a cardboard cut out with a pretentious attitude. Felt like there were too many characters to really get connected to any of them, and the ending was predictable. But the political statement was good.

I honestly love this book. It was sooo interesting and especially now with what happened to MSD and all the other shootings. It gives perspective on all sides and their views on gun violence and just guns in generally. I also like the fact that I didn‘t love the characters, that‘s kind of how people are they have a side that not a lot of people like but it does make them who they are. It had a great realistic factor that I really love.

Book of 2019
I have a hard time with this book because it was a fascinating read but I hated all the characters. I‘m not sure if this was intentional or if the characters were all just crappy people but either way I find it hard to care about a book when I don‘t like who I‘m reading about. I do think this is a great topic to write about as it‘s ever present in our world right now. So for me this was a fast mediocre read.

This is what authors do: we ask why. Why are people prone to violence? Why do people seek revenge? Why do people hate or fear or despair? Why do people kill people? If we can understand the whys, perhaps we can begin to solve the problem.

Got an e-gift card from my mom to B&N and this is my haul!

Titles:
People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
Quiet by Susan Cain
The Wife Between Us by Hendricks and Pekkanen
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Circe by Madeline Miller
And books 2 and 3 of The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin

#barnesandnoble #b&n #bookhaul #fantasy #historicalfiction #realisticfiction #fiction #yafiction #mystery #nonfiction

I will never read another Ellen Hopkins as a result. In my defense, this was an ARC and needed to review it. #worstreads

I really enjoyed this book! It is written in the second person and told from the point of view of the 6 main characters. That made it very easy to get in to the characters' heads. My "omg what if ______ is the shooter to do a play on ______" prediction (half way through) ended up being right which was exciting. Shooter and reason were right but victim was wrong. 2/3 ain't bad though! I definitely recommend this book ? #ellenhopkins #YAfiction

I read this morning while I got my winter tires put on and when my name was called to let me know my car was ready, another person in the waiting area commended me on my concentration! I told him I was so close to the end I just had to keep reading. Very excited to finish this tonight and see just what inspired the inside of the book jacket

Meh. I like this author, but I didn't really like this as much as some of her other books. None of the characters were likeable.

The connections the main players have to each other are all starting to come together nicely. But who pulled the trigger? I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out #ellenhopkins #yanovel

This was such an amazing book that kept me up way too late reading. The stories of these 6 teens will stay with me for quite sometime. Such an interesting look into violence, especially gun violence among teens. A must read!

(I won a copy of this book from Goodreads.
#giveaway)

This book by Ellen Hopkins switches between her signature verse style and prose. Her prose reads a lot like her very, so the dialogue comes off kind of stilted at times, but that does little to affect the book.

Full review at https://mydearwatsonbooks.wordpress.com/2018/11/13/people-kill-people/.

(pic from #Goodreads)

In this novel, Ellen Hopkins approaches the subject of gun control, nationalism, and violence from multiple perspectives, and while I know that this is fiction, I could hardly stomach reading the very real sentiments expressed by some of the characters. This book is a grim reflect of America, with no hints at possible solutions. In light of all the tragedy that has occurred in the past several weeks, I found this difficult to read.

Decided to try and end my reading slump by starting the newest Ellen Hopkins. Hopefully one of my favorite authors can break this slump.

I really didn‘t like this book at all. The topic was difficult, and the characters were all unlikeable. I don‘t like her writing, even though it was well written. Perhaps in a different time or place I may be able to like it more. But in October 2018, where 11 Jews were murdered in a synagogue, I just can‘t.

I have to read this for a review, but I don‘t know if my heart is in it this week. I‘m going to try to give it a go. #noantisemitism

Given all that has occurred with hate this week, I‘m putting this aside for a while. It was to be one of my finishes for #24B4Monday but I just can‘t. Off to find another book. #crazyUSA #nohate #guncontrol

This will be my read for today. I‘m already 50% finished, but the whole white supremacy thing isn‘t making it for me. I may have to shelve it until some of this trump nonsense is over. #24b4Monday

Next up. A new author for me.

I had a really tough time with this book. I was excited about it after I saw Ellen Hopkins speak at the Texas Teen Book Festival, but I found myself constantly putting this book down because I needed a break from it. Because there were 6 main characters, I didn't feel like I got to know any of them well enough to be able to empathize with them. Not a big fan of the ending, either. #readingjournal

What a quirky, topical, not-entirely-satisfying read. Imagine Jodi Picoult and Rupi Kaur teamed up to rewrite The Book Thief so it‘s about modern day gun violence in the US. I saw the ending coming, which was disappointing. I bet it‘d be an interesting book club pick, if your book club is open to YA.

Evening reading view #catsofLitsy

I‘m a sucker for a topical book and love books narrated in the second person. But. My youngest shares a name with the white supremacist character and I‘m finding that pulls me out of the story a lot. We shall see...

Septembers book haul. Thought I'd post this before October's arrives 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️📚🔖

I love Ellen Hopkins! Her books are gritty and deal with real issues. Another great read!

I won a copy of this book from #Goodreads in exchange for an honest review! I received it today. It‘s an #ARC, but the book was published on September 4.

At a time when gun violence is at its highest, this book could not be more appropriate. One thing I love about Ellen Hopkins, is that she is not afraid to tackle those hard to swallow subjects and how they affect everyone. This is by far my favorite book by her. She began the book with a “wow” moment and ended the book with a “wow” moment. When I was finished all I could do was sit and think, “Wow.”
“Guns don‘t kill people. People kill people.”

No words.

#coverlove #YAedition

September 4

This book is reminding me of all the ways hate and fear are entangled. I always appreciate how Hopkins writes about difficult experiences, but I feel like her books should come with a puppy to cuddle.

Reading and caffeinating this morning. Wish I could crawl back into bed!