Saturday, December 29, 2012

COLLATERAL

Author:  Ellen Hopkins
Genre:  Fiction, Standalone
Published:  2012
Personal Rating:  3.5/5 (good)
Format:  Book
Yearly Count:  106


From the ARC Cover:

Written in Hopkins's stunning poetic verse style, Collateral centers on Ashly, an MFA student at San Diego State University.  She grew up reading books and singing back=up in her best friend's band.  She never dreamed she would become a military wife.  One night she meets a handsome Marine named Cole.  He doesn't match the stereotype of the aggressive military man she'd always presumed was true.  He's passionate and romantic.  He even writes poetry.  Their relationship evolves into a s*xually charged love affair that goes on for five years and survives four deployments.  Cole wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a professor with similar pursuits and values, she begins to see what life might be like outside show of war.

Collateral captures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of the friends, family, and lovers they leave behind.  While those at home may be far from the relentless, sand-choked skies of the Middle East and the crosshairs of a sniper rifle, they too will sacrifice their lives and happiness for their country at war, and all will eventually ask themselves if the collateral damage it causes is worth the fight.

Even though I was engaged throughout this book, I really didn't find it to be super good.  I was certainly surprised at all the s*x, and for me, it almost became gratuitous.  :(  Hopkins touched on a very sensitive subject and portrayed a very realistic scenario, but it took too long to get there.  Also, I didn't care for the "Present" and "Rewind" presentation.

My thoughts seem all negative, but I was engrossed from beginning to end, so the story obviously snared me somehow.  :)






My thanks go to Atria Books Galley Alley for sending me this ARC.
          

6 comments:

  1. I liked this one more than you did!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bermudaonion ~ I'll come check out your review again.

      Delete
  2. Hmmm, your review caught my attention when I read that the main character is a student at SDSU. Are there a lot of references to San Diego and the surrounding areas? I grew up in the area and SDSU is one of the more popular colleges. Just curious. Otherwise, I think I'll skip it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Les ~ Unfortunately, no, there are not a lot of references to SD.

      Delete
  3. I have a copy of this one too! Surprised?? I think not!! :D I have read and loved all of her YA books but her foray into Adult books was not met successfully with me last year. I wonder what I will think of this one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Staci ~ I thought it was good, so you will probably think it's great. :) Seriously, I was engaged the whole time, but ultimately I didn't think it was all that special. (Probably annoyed by the things I didn't like.)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. :)

I hope you have a great day and ...
Happy Reading!