The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins

Synopsis:

How do you live your life if your past is based on a lie? A new novel in both verse and prose from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ellen Hopkins.

For as long as she can remember, it’s been just Ariel and Dad. Ariel’s mom disappeared when she was a baby. Dad says home is wherever the two of them are, but Ariel is now seventeen and after years of new apartments, new schools, and new faces, all she wants is to put down some roots. Complicating things are Monica and Gabe, both of whom have stirred a different kind of desire.

Maya’s a teenager who’s run from an abusive mother right into the arms of an older man she thinks she can trust. But now she’s isolated with a baby on the way, and life’s getting more complicated than Maya ever could have imagined.

Ariel and Maya’s lives collide unexpectedly when Ariel’s mother shows up out of the blue with wild accusations: Ariel wasn’t abandoned. Her father kidnapped her fourteen years ago.

What is Ariel supposed to believe? Is it possible Dad’s woven her entire history into a tapestry of lies? How can she choose between the mother she’s been taught to mistrust and the father who has taken care of her all these years?

In bestselling author Ellen Hopkins’s deft hands, Ariel’s emotionally charged journey to find out the truth of who she really is balances beautifully with Maya’s story of loss and redemption. This is a memorable portrait of two young women trying to make sense of their lives and coming face to face with themselves—for both the last and the very first time.

It has been a long time since I have finished a novel. I have started quite a few, but I have been in such a slump that I haven’t been able to finish one since last year. I figured if anyone could get me out of it, it would be Ellen Hopkins. Sure enough, here we are.

The story pulled me in right away with its strong characters. Ariel has an interesting inner-monologue as she tries to figure out life. With the strange circumstances she has had to live through, only when she is 17 can she really take time to try to figure out who she is. Or, who she thinks she is.  That is, until someone totally unexpected comes into her life and changes everything around.

The plot is deep as it takes the time to examine, abuse, alcoholism, the military, and LGBT themes. It really was a tough book to read at times, but you end up caring so much about the characters that you have to see what happens. That is one thing that Ellen Hopkins is masterful at. You always end up feeling strongly for her characters one way or the other. This book was no different.

You begin to root for certain relationships, and your opinions about some characters change along the way. There are a lot of twists and turns to this one.

If you are into Ellen Hopkins’s work, or if you are looking for good, new fiction, I highly recommend this one.

5/5 stars

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