FINDING AUDREY READ-ALONG discussion

And we've finished the book! HUZZAH. What are your overall thoughts on this book? SHARE YOUR FEELS. :) Don't forget to join us for the Live Show on October 4th at 7 PM EST on Polandbananasbooks channel.

This is my first Ellen Hopkins book and I was truly touched and liked it but the ending felt rushed and incomplete

I just finished this book this morning. I think the subject matter was very important; I liked how the author showed that even in a place where most people are accepting of LGBTQIA peoples, bullying still exists to a devastating extent. That small percentage of people who are intolerant and bully other kids can be really overwhelming.

I liked that aspect but other parts of the book fell short for me. I wasn't in love with the poetry writing style (this is my first Hopkins read.) Plus the ending didn't really provide any conclusion to the story for me. Kind of felt unsatisfied after finishing it.

Typical Ellen Hopkins ending, leaving you hanging. Now its time to play to waiting game and hope for a sequel. I loved it, and I have so many things to say but im so speechless and just aaahhhh

I totally agree that the ending felt rushed. I still really enjoyed the book though and would LOVE a sequel following Matthew's development from here. With the title being Rumble I had hoped more time would be spent on the actual "rumble" so here's hoping there's a second book in the works!

As much as I hate it, I have to agree. The ending felt so rushed. I really like this book, as I do with Ellen Hopkins' work, but it felt unfinished to me. I'm not even sure where the title came from since it mentioned that Matt heard a "rumble" only once. I don't know. Overall, I liked the story but it fell a little short. 4 out of 5 for me.

See my review! Absolutely loved this!

This was my first Ellen Hopkins book, and I read it a while ago (I got an ARC of this book!). Anyway, I really enjoyed it :) I'm looking forward to reading more of her work. The ending was a little rushed and surprising to see how everything unfolded, but I really liked the topic and the message.

Finished this book yesterday, and it was also my first Ellen Hopkins book.
I've really enjoyed this book overall, I liked the topics discussed and I can't wait for the live show next month!

Same as everyone else. I liked it for my first Hopkins's book, but the ending man... I don't know. Not what I was expecting.

I really enjoyed this book! I love the wrting style, it was fun! Unlike most, I liked the way it ended on a happier note from the rest of the books tone. Yes, there could be a more complete conclusion, but being incomplete felt more realistic than having his life suddenly focused. Who knows where life's next rumblings will take this guy!

I did like that it ended on a more positive note. I guess my issue wasn't so much with how it actually ended as it was with the amount of time Hopkins spent on hearing "the voice" and what that meant. It seemed like that would be the central issue of the book but she spent such a small amount of time on it. If the title didn't refer to the "rumble" I'm sure I would feel differently. Still gave it 4 stars!

I don't really know if I think the ending was rushed. More like I wished there was more about the religious rumbling. Matt's spiritual journey was supposed to be a huge part of the book and I don't think it was.

However, as always with Ellen Hopkins, I really enjoyed the book. Good writing. Good characters. Really glad Matt ended up with Alexa instead of Hayden. I also appreciated all the serious, controversial topics Ellen covered in this book, as I do every time I read one of her books. Particularly, I thought the small plot point about PERKS was interesting since many of Ellen's own books are sometimes banned.

Not really the type of stuff I normally read but I ended up really enjoying it.

I just wrote a full review on this. So if you like to read it:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

But overall, my thoughts are the same as everyone else's. Don't think the title was quite right, and the ending felt a bit rushed.

But I really enjoyed reading it.

I too felt like the ending was rushed, and wish she had went deeper into his religious rumbling and talked more about his spiritual journey. Overall, I really did like the book.

I can't wait for the live show!

I enjoyed this book. At times, I just wanted to smack Matthew upside the and yell "What are you doing??!!!"

I hated Hayden in this book. I did not feel bad for her when she admitted to Matt that she's the one who first told Luke's secret. It just made me hate her even more. Alexa is perfect for Matt.

I hated the self righteous religious characters. They always said hurtful things to Matthew. Could Matt have handled the words better? Definitely. But should he have? Probably. Did he? No. I understood where he was coming from. He has a crap load of feelings that need working on.

At the end, I was afraid that Jessie was going to die. I can't believe Gus ended up playing the part that he did in this whole thing.

I felt the ending was rushed. There didn't seem to be closure really. Matthew finally forgave himself, which was huge character development. Gus played the biggest part in Matthew's outcome which is kind of weird, considering how minor of a character he was.

This was the first book I read by Ellen Hopkins and I really enjoyed it. The writing style was so different and beautifully done.

The topics in this book are very controversial ones in this day and age, and it is nice to read something that doesn't sugar coat it. The bullying at schools is getting worse and worse, especially with social media as a way to be able to accomplish it. It is a big problem with our new generation and it is one of those topics that needs awareness brought to it. Yes, people do commit suicide because of it and its heartbreaking that it could be so bad for some children. In this book you really get to see the aftermath of a situation like that. I loved being able to be in Matt's head, to see how he dealt with it and what his thoughts were about it. He is angry and guilty, and you connect with that so much throughout the entire book.

She also touched on the subjects of homosexuality, religion, and government. All of which have so much going on in our society right now, and a lot of the times go hand in hand unfortunately. I could talk all day about all these topics but I won't lol

This is one of those books that really makes you want to yell at some of the characters and embrace others. This is one of those books that makes me glad I have the free will to choose what I do and don't believe in.

That was what I loved about this book. Now, for what I didn't so much is definitely that ending. You really are waiting for this book to climax because of this "Rumble" your expecting to hear. When really it plays such a small part in this book and doesn't even come into play until the very end. I really don't think this book needed that climax everyone was waiting for, because it was definetely about some big issues and I think that was enough to make it amazing. Unfortunately, the entire book I was waiting for something to happen to Matt. Seriously, every time he got into his truck I thought he was gonna crash or something! So, for me it would have been a better read without expecting something big to happen, because the whole book I was just left waiting. As much as I would have loved to give this book 5 stars, I gave it 4 because of that.

I have so much to say about this book but I will leave it at that since thats already a lot. This is definitely one of those books that can make people discuss, and I do so much love those kind lol :)

Also my first time reading anything by Ellen Hopkins. I agree with the majority of others, that the ending wrapped up quite quickly. It's not that I thought it wasn't a good conclusion to the story, because it actually did feel fulfilling to me. But the issue I had was that I felt this book was mis-titled and the summary was misleading. The summary on my book jacket reads: "when a horrific event plunges Matt into a dark, silent place, he hears a rumble - a rumble that wakes him up, calling everything he's ever disbelieved into question." That so called Rumble and horrific event don't even happen until the last 15 pages. I wrongly thought that the story would have dealt much more heavily with Matt's interpretation of that rumble and him processing the accident. For that event to be the meat of the story, the thing driving the marketing of the book, not enough time was spent on it.

I would have preferred to see more growth from Matt. Especially since the book started off with his anti-God essay being such a BIG DEAL. It would have been very appropriate to see him change or grow in his views. If ever there was an appropriate story to tackle an issue like that, this was it. The foundation was set up for it perfectly. Instead, I feel like this book really only had an agenda to portray certain religious groups in a bad way. The only religious characters we see in this book are Christians and they are the villains responsible for book banning, bullying, homophobia, and pushing a teen to suicide. Of course this is a real issue and does happen, but it's by no means an accurate portrayal of all Christians. I think the story would have had more of an impact on me if Matt had met some characters at the end that led him to a more positive understanding of faith instead of him just hashing things out by himself so quickly and without much change.

Questions for discussion:
-Did you expect the story to be different than it was based on the title and summary? Were you satisfied by the ending or did you feel like it was too abrupt?
-Did you feel the story tackled the tough issue of faith well?
-Have you ever been the victim of bullying, and if so, would you share? Do you have any advice to people going through a similar struggle?

Trina wrote: "The only religious characters we see in this book are Christians and they are the villains responsible for book banning, bullying, homophobia, and pushing a teen to suicide."

That's not entirely true. Sure, all the most prominent believers leaned more that way, but there were others. There was Matt's mom and her parents/sister. There was Quinn. Alexa even portrayed faith positively a few times. I think Ellen was trying to show the things that push people away from and toward religion as well as the negative effects of extreme religious inclinations.

Brooke R. wrote: "Trina wrote: "The only religious characters we see in this book are Christians and they are the villains responsible for book banning, bullying, homophobia, and pushing a teen to suicide."

That's ..."

I apologize that I should have clarified "religious characters" better. What I meant was characters claiming that they belonged to a specific religious group. Yes, Quinn and Alexa were people of faith and very positive portrayals and I really liked them both, but I got the impression that they didn't really identify as Christian. True, his mom might have had a positive experience, but he described her in a negative way and to me, seemed to be calling her church going "fake." The reason I thought a positive "Christian" influence was necessary was because the novel started out with Matt's essay denouncing a Christian God and I thought it would have been a good counterbalance.

Trina wrote: "The reason I thought a positive "Christian" influence was necessary was because the novel started out with Matt's essay denouncing a Christian God and I thought it would have been a good counterbalance."

I definitely agree that such a balance would have added more to the story. I feel it would have made Matt question his beliefs sooner, therefore putting more focus on the book's main theme.

However, at the same time, every bit of information we receive is from Matt. His mom may have been a positive Christian influence, but he chose to view her negatively since he looked down on her other actions and didn't agree with her beliefs. I feel that it was also in Matt's character to make derogatory cracks about religion and view it contemptuously. A positive influence may not have been possible at this angry time in his life during which the story mostly takes places.

Brooke R. wrote: "Trina wrote: "The reason I thought a positive "Christian" influence was necessary was because the novel started out with Matt's essay denouncing a Christian God and I thought it would have been a g..."

Absolutely. The info was from Matt, and of course he was going to skew what he saw from the people around him. At the beginning of the book he was in a dark place. This is exactly what I was saying. His mom might have been a good example to him as a Christian, but he would have never seen it, so I don't think she was able to be a positive influence to him based on the mindset he was in. But after the 'rumble' I think he was in a place where he was questioning his own previous disbelief and that's the part where I felt one more conversation with Quin, or Alexa, his mom, or even Hayden might have served to drive home his spiritual growth.

This is all just my personal view of what happened, of course. The beauty of books is that they belong to the readers (as John Green says) so we all probably got something different from this book! I wish the story hadn't been marketed as having such spiritual growth, because while I enjoyed the story as it is, I did pick it up wanting something that would really affect me emotionally and I felt like it just lacked one more conversation to really have done that for me. Thanks for the discussion!

okay I loved the issues that Ellen covered in this book and as I have said before, I think Matthew's telling of Luke's story was so beautiful. The ending did feel rushed to me, but that is a like most Ellen Hopkin's books. Gus always gave me the herb jeebies but I was expecting him to talk in with bombs strapped to him, and when I turned the page and it was blank I thought I was going to die. I just wanted to keep reading, hope there is a sequel but seeing as Matt's found peace and forgiveness in his life I doubt that will be the case. 5 stars from me.

Trina wrote: "Absolutely. The info was from Matt, and of course he was going to skew what he saw from the people around him. At the beginning of the book he was..."

Ooooh. I totally see what you're saying now. That would have been mind blowing. It also would have gone along better with the marketing, which I agree was misleading. However, Ellen was toeing a line between talking about religious growth and saying that specifically means becoming a Christian. Perhaps that is why she decided not to expand the subject more?

It has been wonderful talking about this book with you!

Brooke R. wrote: "Ellen was toeing a line between talking about religious growth and saying that specifically means becoming a Christian. Perhaps that is why she decided not to expand the subject more?"

Yep! Definitely a tricky subject. It will be an interesting liveshow!

I really enjoyed this book! I was shocked about Gus blowing up the gun range and injuring Matt. I am glad that Matt and Alexa are together and hope Matt heals completely.

Trina wrote: "Yep! Definitely a tricky subject. It will be an interesting liveshow!"

I know! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to attend since it's the same time as my homecoming. :/ I will be watching it afterward though!

Just finished...

I would have given this book 4 stars because I really do like Ellen Hopkins but I didn't care for the way it ended. I think one of the hardest parts to writing a novel for an author is bringing the story to full circle and wrapping a nice bow around the finished package. I'm sure many of us can agree that we've read quite a few books where the ending left us asking, "That's it?" It won't surprise if Hopkins has a sequel in the works though.

I do agree that the description of the novel doesn't represent the true plot. The "horrific accident" doesn't occur until the last few pages of the book. Correct me if I'm wrong but the "rumble" is the accident at the end?

Without quoting those who have posted before me, I do feel as though the Christians representation was a bit skewed to one side. I realize that we are seeing things in Matt's POV. But, even through dialogue, a more positive influencing Christian could have been portrayed. The Christians were portrayed as either zealots, bitter, gossipy, alcoholics, detached parents, etc... (I think you get the idea). I would be curious to find out what Hopkins' stance on religion is.

Honestly, I'm not one to defend religion but felt the Christians were handed the short end of the stick on this one. Surely, there could have been at least one religious person in his life who actually went to church on a regular basis and had their shit together so to speak.

I don't maybe I read it too fast and missed something. lol

Michelle wrote: "Correct me if I'm wrong but the "rumble" is the accident at the end?"

Close. The rumble comes a few pages after the accident. It's Luke's voice. Check the poem "And I Ascend."

Brooke R. wrote: "Close. The rumble comes a few pages after the accident. It's Luke's voice. Check the poem "And I Ascend."

Thank you. IMO, that makes it worse, nothing like your synopsis being the final few pages of the book. SMH.

Am I being overly critical of a bad synopsis? I feel the synopsis misrepresented the book. When I read the jacket, I am under the impression that I am going to read a book where the Matt is plunged into "a dark, silent place" throughout a good portion of the story. It's the last few pages and, really, that incident isn't something we see him struggle with and question everything he believes, not in the way the synopsis makes us believe he will question what his own beliefs are.

I think there could have been a good storyline with him struggling with what happened to him physically and hearing his brother. Hopkins could have condensed the first 3/4 of the storyline to make room for what the jacket says the book is actually about.

I think I may change my rating to 2 stars now. And, I realize I'm practically having a book discussion with myself. lol

Michelle wrote: "Brooke R. wrote: "Close. The rumble comes a few pages after the accident. It's Luke's voice. Check the poem "And I Ascend."

Thank you. IMO, that makes it worse, nothing like your synopsis being th..."

Michelle, you definitely aren't being overly critical. I felt the same way!

I loved this book! I hope to get into more Ellen Hopkins!! I think it was a super fast read and I loved it!

Trina wrote: " MIchelle, you definitely aren't being overly critical. I felt the same way!"

Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only one:)

I love Ellen Hopkins and her books, saying that I really loved this book, i loved all the aspects and how it was an emotional roller coaster, I did feel like the end was rushed, but I liked it that way, I feel as if she didn't need to go into great detail about what happened or the RUMBLE, I felt really satisfied with the way it ended. I definately recommend it.

Despite the little rush ending... I like the book overall! I'm emotionally drained too.

My Blogspot Review

Goodreads Review Link

I just finished this book last night and I am absolutely in love with it. This was my first Ellen Hopkins book and I am so glad this one is the one I chose to break into first.

A lot of people are talking about the marketing and the title and how they don't really connect. I honestly believe the actual rumble is his temper, his emotional turmoil after his brother's suicide that push the story forward. That is what the story is all about, how what happened in his past cause everything to seem to come undone.

I love the view point she took on faith and what that really means. I feel I don't need a religion to have faith and that's one of the points that resonated with me in the book, that there were religious people with faith and those that seemed outside of religion with faith.

The accurateness of her view on some people Christianity made me want to cheer. Obviously, it's never ok to make a generalization about anyone, but this particular stand point on religious people and the way they sometimes handle the things they don't agree with speaks of truth to me. I loved that she didn't shy away from those tough topics that people are usually quiet about, like suicide, hypocrisy, divorce, cheating, etc.

I sincerely hope for a sequel, because I want to see more of Matt, how he moved forward after his accident, how he and Alexa grow as a couple, the family relationships and how they hopefully improve after the two tragedies that occurred within them. Can't wait to delve into another of her books! 5 out of 5 rating ❤️

Freadom wrote: "I just finished this book last night and I am absolutely in love with it. This was my first Ellen Hopkins book and I am so glad this one is the one I chose to break into first.

A lot of people are..."

Your view point on the rumble is really interesting and a unique/accurate way to look at things. And I like what you took from her religious standing in this book, ie faith outside of religion. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Brooke R., I don't know how to reply but thank you! At the beginning I was as lost as everyone wondering where the rumble was, but after I finished I sat down to think about it and that was one of my thoughts. Thanks for your kindness!

I also think that the "rumble" is about how Matt dealt with Luke's suicide and everything happening afterwards because his life became shitty as he finally realised his parents were done with each other, losing friends, losing faith and being lost and finding the truth from Hayden the girls he loved and not the explosion and Luke bit.

The explosion at the end felt weak in my opinion. I had hoped for real character growth, including his opinion of God (not that he has to believe or anything just accept that people do and aren't always as "extreme" as the characters in this book). Having an explosion cause someone to grow in a book feels too easy. Maybe that's why most of us agree it's rushed? I would have preferred it more if the explosion had happened, he experienced the Luke thing and then had to heal again and during that healing his character would grow. Not an easy "3 months later..." And "I've forgiven myself"...

That's what bothers me the most. But all in all it was a great story and received four stars from me.

This was my first Ellen Hopkins book and like many others are saying, I am SO glad I kicked off her work with this one. This book spoke to me. I was easily able to relate to it. I found myself, and some past situations I was in, similar to those of the main protagonist. I read the entire book in the bookstore sitting on the ground near the shelves, coming back a few times to make progress and finally finish it. The ending left me in tears.

The story means a lot to me. I respect these characters and understand them so well. It has taught me so much, opened my eyes to these mature and deep subjects and has changed the way I think about them. Changed what I think and how I react as well as think towards this own situation I am in involving a Hayden and an Alexa. As well as my ways to think about religion has also changed. Though I'm pretty sure some people wouldn't go as "extreme" as one of you also said about the loyalties and priorities in religion. But I'll never know. I am an atheist and I don't know much on this subject. I only know that we all respect, or should respect each other's beliefs. I feel as if Hayden could have found a way to make it work out with him as well as God in a fair way, but she is who she is. I cannot change that.
Every once in a while, a book like this comes along to someone. Maybe not everyone may love this book as much as I, but it reached for me. And this is definitely one of the things that literature is made to do to one, and a reason for why I read. The ending where the title also finally surfaced into the text, impacted me and was a complete shock. I find this was a shallow, but deep book. There weren't that many big happenings in the plot, bu
t more like a hover of his life and previous life. Other than that, the style of writing made it so easy to sort out and simplify complicated and deep subjects that were handled. Also it made it hard to stop reading. So glad booktube got me into reading it. 5 stars for me. Can't wait for the liveshow!

I really enjoyed this! I have never read a book like this and I was surprised because I loved the story so much! I loved that it was written and verse and the way it ended truly fit in with the story. I loved Matthew's supporters of Alexa and his uncle who were always there for him when he needed them. I also loved how we got to know Matthew's brother which made us empathize with him even more.

Although I enjoyed this book for the most part in regards to the writing style, the flow, and the development of the characters and storyline, the ending is just... "what?" The climax seems to come out of nowhere, and I have a hard time believing Matt would change so suddenly into being at peace with the world afterwards. Like others mentioned, I think I would be more satisfied if there were more time spent looking into the voice Matt hears after the accident. But as it is, the ending just doesn't flow with the rest of the book for me and seems off balance, sudden, and a bit unbelievable. My feels are unsatisfied.

That ending...not really sure how I feel about the last 20 pages. It just seems a bit too unrealistic, especially since it didn't seem to flow with the rest of the story. I'm glad I read it and it was good, but man, I'm a bit disappointed. And, I wish there had been a better light on Christians. At least one person shown in a positive light would have been nice.

We'll this book was very....interesting. This is my very first Ellen Hopkins book and I've heard a lot of good things about her. So I was very exited to read this book. Now this review will not be a spoiler because it's for people that haven't read it. At the beginning of the book I was adjusting to her writing style. I do believe that although her writing style is "original" or "fun", that it greatly interferes with the feelings the character portrays. This book with its small letters, and short phrases makes you turn the page repeatedly. So it is quite exhausting. Now about the whole topic. I do not think that the author hit the topic of "finding faith" very we'll. The ending felt extremely rushed and it left you with a feeling of "That's it?" "There's nothing more?" The author definitely crammed in all the info she wanted you to know but she did it in a very rushed, confusing manner. I would have given it 2 stars if it wasn't for the character. Although the book in my opinion was not strong I actually felt very connected to Matt. But overall this book was my first Hopkins book and sadly am sure it'll be my last :/

Finished it! I loved this book and I know that some people didn't like it that much because christians were shown in a too much bad light but I'm glad it did because I finally saw that point of view. I live in Italy where the majority of people are christians and not so much people ever talk in a bad way about them, as a christian I tought that this point of view was so much intresting and way different of what I normally see.

Finally finished this. I didn't see the ending. Glad he was able to be with Alexa at the end even though he was partially blind and deaf from the explosion. Gave it 4 stars.

I feel like there was a major issue she was missing in this book (which I outline in more detail here, if you're interested.) Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this novel, although I tried keeping an open mind, Hopkins and I just haven't had a good book relationship since CRANK.

I do like that he became partially deaf and blind by the end of the book. I feel like that forced him to give up some of the control that dominated his life.

TheBookofJules wrote: "I feel like there was a major issue she was missing in this book (which I outline in more detail here, if you're interested.) Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this novel, although I tried keep..."

I read your review and I admit I didn't pick up on most of those quotes, but wow! You had some great insight! You're right, be it faith/forgiveness/control, this book really fell short on conveying a stronger message. Thanks for sharing!

Trina wrote: "TheBookofJules wrote: "I feel like there was a major issue she was missing in this book (which I outline in more detail here, if you're interested.) Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this novel..."

Thank you, Trina!

I was just disappointed because I feel like Hopkins could have done something very powerful, but everything just had this... 2D, flat effect to it, if that makes sense. Glad to see some other readers in this thread had a good reading experience of her, though!