Title: Triangles
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Published: October 18th 2011
Synopsis from
Goodreads
In this first adult novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the unforgettable Crank trilogy, three female friends face midlife crises in a no holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.
Ellen Hopkins has made her mark as the wildly popular author of several novels for young adults—every one of them a New York Times bestseller, and every one a hard-hitting exploration of tough-to-tackle topics. Now, in Triangles, Hopkins brings her storytelling mastery and fearlessness to take on the challenges of adult dramas.
In this emotionally powerful novel, three women face the age-old midlife question: If I’m halfway to death, is this all I’ve got to show for it? Holly, filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Andrea, a single mom and avowed celibate, watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband? Then there’s Marissa. She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts. As one woman’s marriage unravels, another one’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s is reconfigured into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all three of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness before it is through.
Wow! This book was awesome, confusing, shocking, sad, happy, and totally woman.
Sounds like a mood-swing, right?
Triangles is a book about three middle-aged women who all link up in one way or another. Kind of like a love triangle but without Switzerland, and the wooing, and you know... sparkles. I'm guessing that's why it's called TRIANGLES. My husband looked at the cover and thought it was referring to boobs.
I found it really confusing as we went through each woman's pov. Each one done in 1st person. That really screwed me up. After about 100 pages or so, I came up with the idea of writing each name down on a post-it and moving the correct name to the front of each section when the pov changed. This helped out a lot. If you are having trouble keeping up I highly recommend doing that.
~~CHARACTERS~~
Holly
Husband: Jace
Kids: Mikayla
Trace
Brianna
Best Friend: Andrea
Main thought about her: Wants to spice things up but really doesn't want her husband involved. In my opinion, kind of a slut. Ok.... totally a slut.
Andrea
Husband: Divorced
Kids: Harley
Sister: Marissa
Main thought about her: Kind of wishy washy in the beginning but really finds her voice near the end. I believe she would be a loyal friend even if she does make some mistakes.
Marissa
Husband: Christian
Kids: Shane
Shelby
Sister: Andrea
Main thought about her: A trapped woman in a living hell as she watches her life go down the toilet and there isn't anything she can do about it.
~~PLOT~~
Holly
Holly is in a funk. She decides that she'd like to try her hand at writing. She'd like to write an erotic novel. After joining a writing group she discovers that infidelity is a spice of life she has yet to sample. But one has to wonder, is the new partner(s) or maybe the rush she gets from keeping it her own little secret.
Andrea
Andrea is the voice of reason in the book. She kind of reminded me of Jackie off "Roseanne". In the beginning she seems to do whatever anyone asks of her but by the end she is making choices that benefit her.
Marissa
Marissa's daughter is dying at only four years old and there's nothing that can be done to stop it. Her husband sleeps in a separate bedroom and her gay son isn't helping matters. Feeling trapped in a loveless marriage what is a woman to do when there isn't anything that can be done?
~~HOW THE CHARACTERS LINK UP~~
In the first 100 to 200 pages it is hard to see how on earth the characters link up, but once you get past the introductions then watch out because you are going to feel like you are reading a soap opera. THE GOOD KIND! I couldn't wait to hear what so and so thought about that and what so and so was going to do about that. It will all make sense but you do have to give it time. If you have a little patience then you'll understand what I mean.
~~VERSE~~
I'm guessing that all Ellen Hopkins books are done in verse. There are a couple of poetic parts and each POV ends in a poem which is very neatly done because the moral of it stands out. But I guess I just don't get how you consider such simple writing VERSE. Is it because of the way the words are designed? Does Ellen Hopkins arrange them or does she have someone do that for her? I guess what I'm saying is, if this book was just written in straight lines it still would have made just as much sense.
~~WHO SHOULD READ THIS?~~
The ladies in the story are all either close to 40 or over. I don't think that anyone under 30 would enjoy this book. It's defiantly a book for Moms with teenagers.
~~OVERALL~~
I don't think that I would buy this book, but I would recommend it. It's well written, the story is very interesting, and as long as you do the post-it method of have a killer memory then I'm pretty sure you will enjoy it.
