Tilt

by Ellen Hopkins

Love—good and bad—forces three teens’ worlds to tilt in a riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins.

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

Genres: Young Adult, Poetry, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Banned Books

608 pages, ebook

First published September 11, 2012

About the author

Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, Identical, Tricks, Fallout, Perfect, Triangles, Tilt, and Collateral. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me", and she can be visited at ellenhopkins.com.

Like most of you here, books are my life. Reading is a passion, but writing is the biggest part of me. Balance is my greatest challenge, as I love my family, friends, animals and home, but also love traveling to meet my readers. Hope I meet many of you soon!

Reviews

[Lisbeth Avery {Domus Libri} · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am quite addicted to free prose novels, especially those by Ellen Hopkins. The only one, out of her published free prose novels, I haven't read is TRIANGLES which is an adult novel. I realized a long long time ago that they were all the same.

The plot, the characters - Hopkins keeps reusing them. There's always this one gay stereotype, a teenage pregnancy stereotype, a young innocent girl stereotype, and a druggie stereotype. At least three of them are always in her books.

Yet, I still read them.

And reread them.

And love them. At least, if I don't think about them too much.

But when I do, I start to realize that they aren't as good as I thought. The reason I have never written a review for any of her books is simple. I'm scared to. I'm extremely scared that if I think about these books, I'll start to hate them, which would ruin my whole reading memories of these books.

But, I'm going to brave my fears and attempt to review this book.

To understand why I love these books, you probably will have to read the book. The prose, at least personally, is addictive. I adore free prose and am thoroughly addicted to it. There is an almost 90% chance that I will give a free prose novel a four star rating. It can have horrible characters and a clichéd plot but I love the writing too much.

Examples?

IMPULSE, IDENTICAL, TRICKS, GLASS, FALLOUT and I could go on. I really could. It's pathetic honestly.

Talking about horrible characters...

Characters
Like almost every Ellen Hopkins books, there are more than one POV. Tilt has three (with a different POV at the end of each chapter). Mikayla is the teen pregnancy stereotype, Shane is the gay one, and Harley is the thirteen year old.

Mikayla isn't a bad character but her whole personality is a stereotype. Girl is in LURV with boy. Gets pregnant. Boyfriend dumps her. She decided to keep baby. The end. I really didn't like her POVs at all and tended to skim them.

Shane was actually my favorite character. His relationship with Alex was just so adorable. I couldn't help but love him. He's probably the least stereo-fyed of all the characters. Though the ending to his story was disappointing, the rest was great.

Harley's POV was just urgh. Disgusting. I really felt disgusted just reading it. Harley is coerced into providing, um, services to a 17 year old boy. She does everything imaginable except for actually having sex with him.

The stupidity of Harley is obvious, as "her boyfriend" really does nothing except try and get her to have sex. He sends porno videos of Harley to people, as a joke. He does this numerous times.

I'm sure that you were supposed to feel sorry for Harley but honestly, and I'm going to sound like a bitch, I did not feel any sadness for her.

Sure, it's a bad situation but she got herself into it. Everyone was telling her "BITCH, BACK OFF" (even the person she said she really truly loved) but she kept going because she truly felt loved his body him.



Plot and Writing
Plot
The plot was basically the same as it always is. Three plots that eventually meet up and the endings of each character change another one's. I'll have to discuss each plot they differ drastically (they don't really).

Mikayla:
Her plot was so standard. I'm pretty sure her POV was only there as a plot device for Shane's plot. That's what it seems at least. Her baby is important to the ending of Shane's plot as they give Mikayla's son to Shane's mother and that pushes him off the deep end.

Ending Comment: Plain and useless

Shane:
As I said, I really liked his POV. It was mostly romance based, which I usually wouldn't like but this was just so fluffy and adorable (for the most part). Since it's a Hopkins' book, things went downhill and the story ended sadly.

Ending Comment: Adorable, but not the best work. Not sure what it was trying to tell, "Don’t get a cat"?

Harley:
Blergh. No.

Ending Comment: See above.

Writing
The writing was the same Hopkins as usual, though I found a distinct lack of double meanings and another ways to read it in the prose, which I found utterly disappointing. I love those. The writing was fine other wise. I know some don't like verse but I adore it so I have no complains there.

Likes and Dislikes
Like:
- Writing
-Writing
- Shane
- Alex

Dislike:
- Every character except for Shane and Alex
- Plots for every character except for Shane and Alex

In Conclusion
I still love these books even though it's obvious I shouldn't. I don't recommend this book unless you're like me and are addicted to the series/writing.


Find this review and more at my blog:

[☠Kayla☠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! I absolutely loved it! It has some heavy and touchy topics that I feel the author portrayed very well and I was amazed with how attracted I got to the characters considering this entire book was written in verse. They had so much detail and structure to them.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to completely enjoy Ellen Hopkins, the reader must read the books in the format they are written. The words are profound and written in verse. At the same time, the format provides layers to the stories. It's more of an art form than simply a novel or a book of poetry. For instance, one of the peripheral characters is writing from his point of view and expresses many different thoughts and feelings, when read completely. It makes complete sense and the voice stays in character. At the same time, the verses are written in a format where certain words are set apart and succinctly summarize in five words.

Triangles was an adult book, written about three women; friends and/or sisters. Their lives all intersect in many ways and on different levels. What they all have in common is their geography and the fact they are all mothers. Tilt is also written in verse and alternate points of view via three main characters, one teenage child per woman from Triangles. This book covers the same time period as the adult book, perhaps even further if I remember correctly, but from the teenage children's perspective. Interestingly, it does not retell the same story. There are life events that both books tell like death, marriage, divorce, and a certain level of infidelity, but the books intersect only so far. The children never completely grasp what the parents are experiencing and the parents did not comprehend what the children were really doing or feeling.

The main characters include Harley, Shane, and Mikayla. All three are struggling to find their place in the world. Intermingled in the three stories are peripheral points of view through verse via boyfriend, sister, cousin or best friend. Each character and voice is vastly different and I found myself liking Alex, a peripheral character, the best because of his depth.

I can not rant and rave enough about Hopkins and her writing style. I love it and I love the way she expresses an individual's thoughts, feelings, and subconscious ideas. I would suggest this book as a book club book and moderated by a teacher or counselor. It is rich with feeling and layered with the reality of consequences regarding teenage sex, quick judgment, and drug and alcohol use. Well worth the time. But be prepared for difficult subjects.

Sex - Extreme
Drug Use - Moderate to extreme
Language - Extreme

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Crank by Ellen Hopkins (and loving it!), I was worried that Tilt, or any of her other books for that matter, wouldn't live up to my expectations. I absolutely loved Crank, so I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, to find out that I actually liked Tilt even more than Crank. I'm a sucker for multiple narrators, so I loved reading from so many people's perspectives. I think Tilt was very well-written, and Ellen Hopkins continues to blow my mind with her beautiful, raw writing. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know why I like Ellen Hopkins's books? Because she writes about real teenagers, who drink and do drugs and have sex and hate their parents and love their parents and bully people or are bullied by people and are COMPLETELY NORMAL AND REAL. Not chaste beings who have inhabited the planet for 15 - 17 years without sullying themselves and wno are ever so surprised at the difficulties that come along their paths.

So in this book (which is written in poetry just like her others), there are three main characters: Mikayla, who gets pregnant and has to decide what to do about it; Shane, who has a sister coming to the end of a terminal illness and discovers that his new boyfriend has HIV and has to learn to live with death; and Harley, who is only thirteen and wants so desperately for a boy to fall in love with that she is taken advantage of.

The stories were real, the characters were well developed, the language was concise and beautiful...the heartstrings got a good tug more than once.

There were a couple of times I thought it got a tiny bit preachy, so that the characters' characters were stretched a little too thin and it sounded like the author talking, but it wasn't too bad the two or three times that it happened. It wasn't at all like Ellen Hopkins got up on a platform and started soapboxing her way into my brain with her message. Just, it was a little too obvious the conclusions that teens reading this book would reach, and what they would take away, and I thought it didn't leave much room for actual thought. Maybe the reason I'm so forgiving is because I agree with her: these are important messages for teens to hear. I sound like I'm waffling here, but it's because I'm not sure how to say it. I guess I'll jump up on my platform and do a little soapboxing of my own.

So here goes:

I guess I'll say that it seems obvious that Ms. Hopkins wants teenagers to be against abortion, even when it's difficult, and while I'm against abortion, I'm not sure if it's right to make it the "wrong" choice when it is a PERSONAL choice. I think lots of girls are pressured into abortions they don't want. Lots of other girls are pressured to go ahead and have babies they don't want. I feel like it's wrong to force one or the other. I believe education should be the answer. "Here are your choices. This is one path. This is the other path. Perhaps there's even a third or fourth path. Now you get to choose whichever one is right for you, and you have to live with it for the rest of your life, so please learn as much as you can about each one so that you can make the best and most informed decision."

Most books aren't written that way, though. They want to give you a side. And I liked the way Ellen Hopkins presented this side, and I loved her characters and the way they changed and grew through the stories, and the ways they were connected to each other and to other people. It was an excellent book, and I plan to recommend it to lots of teens and to all the adults I know who like to read YA and maybe to adults who don't realize yet how great YA novels are. And to all you good people on goodreads who need a new book to read. Read this one!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hopkins is one of the better authors of verse novels, in my opinion. I think she understands the strengths and the weaknesses of the medium better than most authors who try it. A good verse novel can totally immerse you in the thoughts of a character, giving you ever temptation, self-justification, and little white lie. Hopkins is usually quite good at this, especially when she's dealing with provocative subjects. Tilt is no exception here.

But she's starting to move towards all multiple viewpoints, all the time. Here, we have three major viewpoints: Mikayla, Shane and Harley. Mikayla is deeply, passionately, happily in love with her boyfriend. And then she gets pregnant. Mikayla's story is almost cliche at this point, but it's told unusually well. Nothing to complain about here. Shane's story is the best of the three, and I would have been happiest to have stuck with him entirely. Shane is gay, and falling in love with his boyfriend, Alex, who has HIV. Shane's biggest issue isn't his sexuality, or his boyfriend's HIV, but his four-year-old sister, who's dying, and his family, so wrapped up in his sister and their own issues that he's pushed to the side. If Hopkins had stuck with just Mikayla and Shane, I probably would have really liked this book.

But we have Harley to deal with, too. I'll be honest, I never liked her. She struck me as shallow, self-absorbed, and oblivious from very early in the book. I get that she's young (13-14) but I just couldn't take her. It also left a bad taste in my mouth that Hopkins wrote her into a relationship with a sexually predatory and manipulative older boy who later rapes her while she's nearly unconscious without really addressing it at any point. While the way the relationship was depicted was fairly realistic, the endpoint felt shallow and rushed.

It doesn't bother me that the endings for all three stories are slightly open-ended. This may mean that Hopkins is considering doing a sequel, but it's effective enough just by leaving the characters where they are.

Tilt is the YA companion to Triangles. Same story, but Tilt is about the teens, while Triangle is about the adults. You probably don't need to read both. I haven't read Triangles, and I never felt lost or like I was missing too much of the story. It wouldn't hurt to read both, though.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I

can't get excited about
the kind of "poetry"
Ellen Hopins writes. I

didn't

like a single character
and not one of them
had a unique poetic voice;

like

maybe just one could have
tried to rhyme instead of just
having some overdramatic,
arrogant word pattern like

this

and I'm so glad I
don't know Ellen personally so that
I don't have to politely pretend to like her

book

when I really think it's
the literary equivalent of a painting
that is supposedly modern art but
is more like something any poser
might have made.

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing about Ellen Hopkins’s books is you either love them or you hate them. Sure, they’re pretty much all the same, but I’m a huge fan! In Tilt we follow several different characters, and Hopkins seamlessly reveals how they are all connected. We of course get her favorite somber (and potentially triggering) topics, including drug abuse, rape, and abortion. We see our characters grieve and fall in love. I did not realize this novel is a companion to Triangles, so I’ll have to read that one soon.

“Loving someone that much—so much that he means more to you than anything—changes things. You lose friends, because you’d rather be with him than with them.”

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw the cover tonight, I damn near exploded. GOD ELLEN I LOVE YOU AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS ONE!!! I'm sure it will be just as good as the rest of your books.

UPDATE:
I am now finished with the book, and I have to say it was one of her better books. At first, I was unsure of whether I would like it, but it picked up quite steadily and became a very powerful book. I enjoyed it a lot! Way to go, Ellen - another fantastic book.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did love Ellen Hopkins' earlier works, like Crank, Glass, and Impulse, but there are a few I didn't particularly like, and this was one of them (alongside Fallout, Burned, and Identical). The thing about these prose books is that the characters, realistic-ness, and the situations drive them. Scenery, detail, those things take a back burner as far as these stories are concerned. Sadly, this story falls short on both plot and character development, which drags the whole thing downhill right from the beginning.

Now, I did not read Triangles, but here is what we can gleen from the characters in THIS book without revealing the whole plot:

Mikayla: A seventeen year old girl who, like all of Ellen's female characters, knows that she is SO in love with a boy, and they are going to live happily ever after. Until she gets pregnant. Now, while I do have to give props for tackling the very real issue of teenage pregnancy and adoption vs. abortion vs. keeping the child, there were a few issues that just didn't sit. Dylan, the father, was not sympathetic. We didn't get anything from his POV that didn't paint him as a jerk, nor did we see anything from Mikayla's POV that didn't portray him as a moron. This is all mixed with the blandness of Mikayla's character telling the story, so of course, whenever I saw these chapters coming, I wanted to gag.

Harley: Probably the least sympathetic and hardest character in the book to connect to. Harley is a 13-14 year old girl obsessed with boys. And who could blame her? Her mother is completely irresponsible. She doesn't know her father and his new wife all too well, or she'd know Harley's soon-to-be stepmother is no one you'd want to leave a child with. Harley herself is as immature as they come. She purposefully dresses skimpy and puts herself out to attract guys, which is disgusting, and ... she's an idiot. What happens to her is the other character's fault, and it's a horrible thing, but at the same time ... Harley could have prevented what happened. If she'd just calmed down for three seconds and really looked at this person, she would have been fine. But of course not. Because all 14 year old girls are stupid and boy crazy.

Shane: Stereotypical gay guy from all Ellen's books. Sweet and sympathetic, while raving about how gays are still not accepted anywhere. And by the way he writes, I mean anywhere, because every gay he meets is not accepted by anyone. What, are we living in the 1800's again? Why didn't I get the memo? His schtick is that he ends up going out with someone with HIV. And that would be a really original and interesting plot if the HIV served more a purpose. It's worried about for maybe 1/4th of the book, and then, not much. Alex, the HIV kid, is just your typical nice guy boyfriend, with the added tragedy past of molestation, simply for shock value's sake.

All in all, the characters are either boring, stereotypical, or stupid. The issues Ellen tries to tackle come across wrong half the time, or aren't addressed as thoroughly as they could have been, and by the end of the book I was glad to put it down. She could make due with doing more research next time, and rather than adding so much shock value, maybe Ms. Hopkins could focus on the problems she actually puts forth and explore them based on real interviews she has with people who have experienced it, not on how she thinks people think or might handle it.

[kory. · Rating 1 out of 5]

it only took 21 pages for me to hate this book.

ellen hopkins really doesn’t know that abuse, rape/assault, queerphobia, hate crimes, ableism, broken families, unhealthy relationships, and mental illness aren’t plots and personalities, huh? 600+ pages and i don’t think i could tell you a single thing about any of the characters outside the things listed above.

content/trigger warnings; drugs, sex, alcohol, homophobia - internalized and otherwise, homophobic slurs, ableism, ableist slurs/language (including the r slur), past and present rape, past attempted child sexual assault, fatphobia, slut shaming, religion, past domestic and child abuse, suicidal ideation, depression, suicide attempt, bullying, unhealthy body image, unhealthy ideas about relationships,

the number one thing i hated about this book is the ableism. it’s truly fucking disgusting.

the ableist narratives about disability (which lead to abuse and death of disabled people in real life) in this book are: disabled life is lacking and isn’t worth living, disabled people aren’t whole, disabled people are burdens to their families, disabled people will only achieve “perfection” or “freedom” in death, wishing death on disabled people, trying new treatments for illnesses isn’t worth it and will only strip disabled people of their dignity, disabled people exist to inspire/motivate abled people, disabled character dies trope, and disabled people must be miserable and missing out on life because of their disability.

other instances of ableism: slurs, using mental illnesses as common adjectives, and “suicide is selfish” narrative

other dislikes:

• a character wishes his abusive father gets raped in prison
• “abortion is murder/the wrong and easy decision/always regretted” narrative
• “pussy” as an insult to men
• romantic/sexual relationships are referred to as something everyone needs, and apparently every woman wants that rush of pleasure from a man smiling at her........sounds fake, but okay
• the “i’ve always known” response to coming out. let it die.
• “when i think of little kids starving in africa, or old people freezing to death, my life seems pretty good.” stop this narrative!!!! other people’s struggles do not exist to make you feel better about your life!!!!! and one having it worse than you doesn’t mean your situation isn’t bad or you can’t be upset about it!!!!!
• “men don’t cry, not even gay men” ..........what?
• a lot of unhealthy ideas about relationships and women in regard to men that go unchallenged
• it just ends? there is no resolving of anything? the entire book, nothing happens, but at the end when shit starts to happen, it ends? what the fuck was the point?
• author’s note: “sex is an important part of life, but please consider delaying it until you are in a committed relationship.” ?????? sex is not an important part of life for everyone, and you don’t have to even think about waiting for a committed relationship to have it, the fuck is this bullshit? then she follows with a warning to be smart, because unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases can change your life..........as if a committed relationship is protection from those.

the only good thing about this book is that despite its length, it didn’t take up too much of my time with its bullshit.

[Kenley Bunch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know. This book kind of dissipointed me. I still liked it a lot but it didn't measure up to what I was expecting. I found all the different ties that Harley, Shane and Mikayla had to each other began to build up and become confusing, I really couldn't keep up with them after a while. I felt like I really understood the characters well and everything because so much time was spent catching you up with their life and everything, but the ending felt rushed and was so open ended.


******************SPOILER ALERT*************************

Questions:

Building off of my last sentence... WTF. I mean what will become of Mikayla and her baby? Or Dylan being a total douche and not caring about her? Or even the girl Dylan started dating that said she wanted revenge for him being an asshole? Or Shane almost dieing and Alex moving away to college? Why wasn't the fact that Harley was basically raped not really mentioned too much, or touched on? And what really bothered me about that is that Ellen put something at the end of the book about HIV and teen pregnancy stats, but not rape? What the hell?

This is probably, no it IS, my least favorite Ellen Hopkins book, and this makes me very sad. Because I love Ellen Hopkins and I was SO excited about this book, because to be truthful I haven't read anything by her in a while. I think I'm going to go read Crank or Tricks over again to get the bad taste that this book left in my mouth to go away.

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so different to anything I've ever read before and I really enjoyed it. The only thing that bothered me was that it felt like there were so many characters that I was always thinking, wait who's this again? But the messages of HIV, sex, drugs, pregnancy, sexuality and family issues were dealt with so well and it was really refreshing to read something that dealt with these in such an open and honest way. Brilliant. I can't wait to read more of her work.

[akacya ❦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style this book was written in was pretty. This was told in verse through multiple POVs and followed three teens’ lives, with others close to the teens having their own occasional poem. However, due to how many POVs this was told in, I had a hard time getting all the relationships straight for the first part of the book. Maybe if I had read Triangles, for which Tilt is a companion, I would’ve had a slightly easier time, but oh well. I also felt like way too many clichés were used, to the point of this book being way too predictable.

[ella ☆ any pronouns · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's safe to say TILT wasn't for me. Being someone who has read most of Hopkins' previous works and has been, for the most part, satisfied with all of it, I was let down by this novel.

Before I get into the negatives, the one plus, however, that I will reward TILT with, is that Hopkins' style of writing in free verse captured the emotions and events in a more efficient way than in some of her previous works, such as Impulse and Perfect, for example.

The characters. PHEW, if I am being completely honest, I didn't like any of the 29 characters in TILT. I felt so disconnected and unemotionally invested in them all, it was hard to enjoy this, especially considering I am a person who will take well-developed characters > plot any time, any day.

Mikayla is a b*tch, to keep it short, simple, and sweet. The amount of immaturity we see in her through all the jealous comments and snarky remarks is unbelievable.

Mikayla and Dylan's relationship sucked to keep it short, simple, and sweet once again! They were so attached to the point that it was like they were addicted to the other person. Now that's NOT what I call a healthy relationship!

Harley made me extremely uncomfortable to the point that I skipped over at least half of her sections. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't mean this in a rude or offensive way, and I hope it doesn't come off like that, but I just couldn't do it.

Shane was the only tolertable POV, and I say tolerable because I had my issue with him still. While I was without a doubt the most engrossed in his story, the relationship between him and Alex almost seemed too good to be true. Maybe it's because when they are put up against the other relationships portrayed in TILT they are near damn perfect, but in reality, they are still broken and dysfunctional when you really take the time to dig in. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Hopkins would have incorporated more of the broken/dysfunctional side of their relationship to help make it more realistic while still keeping them as true as they currently are.

Other than the main characters, the side characters were all meh. I didn't find any of their POVs to be interesting, more useless, to be honest. There are SO many of them its hard to keep up with them and they're all so bland I don't understand how you could be invested into them emotionally.

If you couldn't tell, my main issue with TILT is the characters, but aside from that, I have compiled a list of some of the other ones to get across to you how much I hated this book:

-The abrupt ending that didn't solve a single conflict in the plot
-The randomly placed, unnecessary either overly or under-descriptive, in rare cases, sex scenes
-Every single social issue/relationship conflict in existence is morphed into one mess of sh*t
-Hopkins doesn't seem to know what she's writing about 95 percent of the time
-TEENAGE ANGST
-WAY too much going on ohmygod
-I had to question what the hell was going on every .4 pages
-Hopkins is known for her thought-provoking novels, but TILT was anything besides that
-Started off strong, got weaker word by word (inconsistent)
-Too try hard-esque (if you know, you know)

Anyway, I don't have the energy to spew more about my pure hatred for this novel, so I am going to shut my mouth right here before I actually lose my mind. (I've also literally slept less than 2 hrs in the past 48 plus hrs I NEED TO SLEEP instead of writing book reviews [let's be honest, this won't stop me] on sh*t I hated!)

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Triangles brilliantly displayed how adults don't necessarily have all the answers they appear to, and their children are front row witnesses to both their triumphs and failures in Tilt. The story travels alongside the events of Triangles as seen through pregnant Mikayla (Holly and Jace's daughter), gay (and newly only child) Shane (Marissa and Christian's son), and on the cusp of teenagedome Harley's(Andrea's daughter)stories and extends to the aftermath of Triangles, when their stories really blossom. As their parents begin to rebuild their lives, their children’s' lives crumble.

We get to see the unraveling of stable home lives in all three teens from their perspectives, and the supporting characters we saw little of in Triangles take center stage, such as perspectives from Shelby, Brianna, Alex, and Chad to mention a few that were intersected every now and then, much like Hopkins did with the news articles in Fallout. However, because Hopkins is such a brilliant poet, lyricist, and author, it's not necessary to read both to understand and have emotional ties to the story. Each and every reader can relate to one character or another while reading, that is the beauty of Hopkins' imagination. She tackles some of the most difficult and controversial topics out there today wonderfully and full of understanding and no judgment.

Not only was this heartbreakingly beautiful, as all of her works are, it holds deeper meaning and tackles multiple problems teens, and adults, face every day. Overall, the message I took away from this is that regardless of age, a person can have multiple facets to their personalities and life is never easy. Hopkins seems to understand every type of teen, or adult, out there.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call me a sucker for tales of misery and the unexpected terror of relating to a character in pain.
There is such a depth to the characters. The realness is punctuated with Hopkins' use of "real world" details.
Hopkins has always been able to write about tough, home hitting topics and "Tilt" is no different. There is a role for just about everyone to relate to in this book. Whether you're young or young at heart, playing with lust or discovering love, dealing with loss or watching from your window. This book will take you on a journey with the many faces of love.
I loved the addition of perspective, from characters, other than the ones in leading roles. Especially the layout and way the pages were organized.
The only part I did not enjoy was the ending. I felt it was a little unfinished. Satisfaction beginning to form for one character. My mind is still asking questions, I am hoping there will be a Tilt 2?
Another brilliance is the way the story lines are entertwined. Character links unfold as only Hopkins can write them. She has always given me this quilt of poem, verse, twists, and story, sewn together as a gift of travel for the imagination.

[Melissa See · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my God...Shane and Alex...Ellen Hopkins, I love you.

[Marguerite · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars... I really enjoyed this book. It didn't feel as dark as her other books but I really liked that. I really liked reading about the three different characters.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favourite of EH books I have read to date. I really enjoy when she writes from fewer POV's; 3 is definitely enough, but if it is more than that I don't feel as involved with the stories. These 3 perspectives felt different than the other stories I have read. I felt that they were way more family oriented, which I really like because it felt like I was following multiple family's journey, instead of just the main characters. It deals with intense issues, typical to EH writing style, but these are issues that have to be addressed, and issues that aren't as addressed in YA literature as I would like. I felt like the verse was particularly poignant and beautiful, definitely my favourite. The only complaint I have is that I felt the book ended too early, with too many questions/issues unresolved. There were some plot points which I feel like should have been resolved, especially considering the nature of them. Overall, I highly recommend Ellen Hopkin's books because she is a fantastic writer and poet.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I am a teen librarian I already know what I am getting into when I pick up any book by Ellen Hopkins. I found this book actually covered a multitude of issues which was quite an undertaking even for Hopkins but somehow she made it work. I have to say this book I really really enjoyed. The issues the characters are dealing with are all very real the only problem I had was that since the main characters are related (or friends) that how could all of this go wrong for so many interconnected people? But it works.

Issues covered are: sex, drugs, alcohol usage, rape, teen pregnancy, death of younger sibling, suicide, sexting and sending of nude pics. (as you can see it is a pretty lengthy list) Once again... but it works! If you are a fan of Ellen Hopkins then this is a book that you will enjoy. If not then give it a chance.

[Courtney Lavallee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything Ellen writes. I can relate to all of her books in a way, but this book... It moved me. It changed me in a way I can't explain. This book wasn't just her usual drugs, sex, teenage angst book. This book opened up doors I never thought she'd open. Tilt startled me by how much little things change a person forever. I felt as if I were all three main characters. I felt the way Mikayla felt; I loved the way Shane loved; and I changed the way Harley changed. Tilt is an amazing book and will forever be a book that I will say has shaped my life.

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...Ellen Hopkins has done it again. Oh my god, so good.

Shane and Alex are my two favorite characters, and honestly, Shane's a lot like me in many ways. Harley was idiotic, but she's only 14, so it makes sense she's naive. Miki was very brave, but had her flaws as well. This story is so real...and I can relate to a lot of it. It's a must read, especially for the messages it tell. Ellen, I love you.

[Cecily Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge Ellen Hopkins fan! I love everything she does and I have never read pretty much everything I can get my hands on by her. so this moment is a little bittersweet for me. I love her writing style and the heavy hitting subjects she tackles. This book was no exception! The multiple character POV and the beautiful style of writing in verse are my favorite. Great read and I hope she keeps on writing!!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tilt tackles tough teen tribulations. A well-written volume of disturbing teen and family drama. It seems there's a little bit of everything here from disability and death to sexual and social interactions.
Tilt is a bit much for my liking, but certainly showcases a multitude of teen issues. Written in lyrical form.

Favorite Passages:

Should the sun beat
summer too fiercely
through your afternoon
window, you can

slant

the blinds to temper
heat and scatter light,
sifting shadows this way
and that with a

lean

of slats. And if candor
strikes too forcefully,
step back, draw careful
breath and consider the

angle

your words must take
before you open
your mouth, let them leak
out. Because once you

tilt the truth,

it becomes a lie.
_______

love spoke
louder than fear.
_______

Choosing the "now" might
very well bring

disappointment.

But waiting for the "later"
stokes my impatience.
Decisions. Decisions.
_______

Verdi is a hole.

Most of it is a pretty nice hole,
but it is a low-lying valley. Still,
"A great view does not a decent
home make. But it will do, I guess."
________

A Conscience
Can be an annoying thing.
________

Some Secrets
Should never be admitted outside
a confessional. Should be written
on scraps of paper. Shredded. Burned,
their ashes allowed to lift upon the wind
toward heaven. Whispered apologies
to the only One capable of forgiveness.

Other secrets should be shouted long
before they ever are. Should be sung,
solos in front of the choir. Given voice
and melody. Arias, swelling to fill
the dead, empty space around deception
with the unbearable lightness of truth.
________

Why?
That's the question I keep asking myself.
Why did I have to fall in love with someone

destined to die early? Impending death
hangs thick around here already.
________

Surprises
I hate surprises.
Nothing good ever
comes from them.
________

Because another thing

I've decided through a lot of
meditation, in fact, is that life
is all about chances. You might

be safer not taking any. But
playing it totally safe means
you're only existing. Not living.

I want to live. Want to emerge
from the virtual hell of my room,
into the heaven just outside my door.
________

Messages
Are like secrets. Sometimes
you totally don't want to hear
them. Don't want to discern
the razor-edged meaning they

can

slice you with.
________

Staying Positive
has become impossible
it's hard to put into words,
but I feel fractured, and
though the two halves of me
still function together,
sooner or later I know one
side or the other will peel
away. Pretty sure half a person
can't survive, but even if
it could, it shouldn't. The split
grows wider; wedged apart
by things I have no control
over.
________

It feels like
we came a long way in a few minutes.
But not nearly as far as we have to go.
________

He talked
about how every word an author writes

causes ripples., like tossing a stone
into a pond. And you don't know where
they'll go, or who they'll touch, or when
they might come back to you. I think
everything you do is kind of like that, too.

[Katie Dickerson (DeMaio) · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Tropes/themes:
* Multiple POVs
* Poetry/prose
* Adolescence
* Identity
* Teen pregnancy
* Adoption
* Abortion
* Love (good and bad)
* Family relationships
* Divorce
* LGBTQ
* Emotional
* Thought-provoking
* Beautiful writing
* A lot of controversial topics
* Love how the stories interweaved
* It was very hard to keep the characters straight in the beginning- I had to make a relationships chart- but it didn’t take too long before I didn’t need to reference the chart at all.
* I wish I had known this was a companion to Triangles! I don’t think I missed out with this one by not reading Triangles first but I feel like I might not enjoy Triangles as much now. I would have read that first :( I’m still going to read it though
* Content warnings:
* Suicide
* Domestic abuse
* HIV/AIDS
* Substance abuse
* Sexual assault
* Rape
* Child death

[allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Ellen, another fantastic book.

[Kaylee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, I didn't find this book that entertaining or interesting. I wouldn't really recommend it. It was a fast easy read though.

[Kelsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my favorite of her books so far. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were mostly realistic teens, although it got a little preachy at times and.... it felt like maybe a tad bit of victim shaming with Harley.

I did like the addition of faith — it felt natural, not forced, and not harped on.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

I didn't hate it but I didn't love it

I think this book had a difficult time for me to comprehend the family and friend like relationship but I did like the three main characters.