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Description edit see section history

Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same. Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide. Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her... read more

Summary edit see section history

Three very different characters end up at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for the suicidal. Through the chapters we get to know Vanessa, who is addicted to the bite of a blade, Tony, who had a damaging upbringing, and Conner, the boy who supposedly had it all. They each tried to commit... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Three very different characters end up at Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for the suicidal. Through the chapters we get to know Vanessa, who is addicted to the bite of a blade, Tony, who had a damaging upbringing, and Conner, the boy who supposedly had it all. They each tried to commit suicide for a different reason, and thorough the brilliantly designed chapters we get a peek inside their minds, why did they try? What was so terrible about Vanessa's life that she though she needed to physically harm herself? Each chapter is told by one of the three, and all the questions will be answered as they go through the process of recuperation. In Aspen they meet new people and forge new relationships, but will it be enough to save them from themselves?

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Vanessa: A beautiful, young girl who has emotional problems and practicies self-mutilation. She soon connects romantically with the two other main characters.
  • Tony: A 'gay' former druggie who has spent his life in and out of juvenile detention facilities.
  • Connor: A star football player, very attractive, rich, smart, and popular. He has neglectful parents, a very competitive twin sister, and was sexually involved with his teacher.
  • Dr. Starr: Works at a mental facility. Very rude, but apparently wants to help.
  • Sean: Vanessa's ex-boyfriend who is the source of her mental and emotional problems.
  • Grandma: Vanessa's grandma. A nurse who raised Vanessa and her brother.
  • Mama: Vanessa's mother. A bipolar schizophrenic who talked to an 'angel' who often caused her mother to beat herself and eventually Vanessa.
  • Phillip: Add a description of this character.
  • Stanley: Tries to kill his little brother.
  • Emily: Connor's former teacher with whom he had sex with. He loved her, but when the story got out after he shot himself, she left. He wrote a poem about her and is constantly remembering her.
  • Cara: Connor's perfect twin, to whom he is often compared to.
  • connor: football star
Show all 12 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “"Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don't, one blink and they might disappear...forever."”
  • “Pray somehow you can stop the uncertainty, somehow stop the loathing, somehow stop the pain. Act on impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.”
  • “I always preferred to creep into a giant, deep hole where no bad feelings could follow.”
    Connor
  • “Memory is a tenuous thing, like a rainbows end or a camera with a failing lens.”
    Connor
  • “The first cut wasn't the deepest. No, not at all. It was like the others, a subtle rend of anxious skin, a gentle pulse of crimson, just enough to hush the demons shrieking inside my brain.”
  • “Memory is a tenuous thing... flickering glimpses of blue and white, like ancient, decomposing 16mm film. Happiness escapes me there, where faces are vague and yesterday seems to tied up in ribbons of pain. Happiness? I look for it instead in today, where memory is still something I can touch, still rely on. I find it in the smiles on new friends, the hope blooming inside. The happiest memories have no place in the past; they are those I have yet to create.”
    Vanessa
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Forever has no meaning when you’re living in the moment. I wasn’t ready for that moment to end.”
    Highlighted by 112 Kindle customers
  • Love means holding on to someone just as hard as you can because if you don’t, one blink and they might disappear   forever.
    Highlighted by 98 Kindle customers
  • Like I’m here, but I’m not. Like someone cares. But they don’t.
    Highlighted by 87 Kindle customers
  • My happiest memories have no place in the past; they are those I have yet to create.
    Highlighted by 87 Kindle customers
  • Think how people must have loved each other when all they had was each other.
    Highlighted by 79 Kindle customers
  • it’s easy to overthink love, to dissect and question it until it is no more.
    Highlighted by 76 Kindle customers
  • Is like no other kiss, ever. It wants, but does not demand. It asks, but doesn’t take. It gives, and pleads for more. It is filled with desire, but also curiosity, and it teaches me that a kiss should come gift wrapped, not stripped naked.
    Highlighted by 56 Kindle customers
  • I cut to focus when my              brain is racing. I cut to make physical              what I feel inside. I cut to see blood              because I like it. I don’t like to cut,              but I can’t give it up.
    Highlighted by 54 Kindle customers
  • Act on your impulse, swallow the bottle, cut a little deeper, put the gun to your chest.
    Highlighted by 48 Kindle customers
  • Eyes that look like they’ve glimpsed behind the gates of hell.
    Highlighted by 45 Kindle customers
Show all 16 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Aspens Springs
  • Aspen Springs: A mental hospital for teens in Nevada
  • Black Rock Desert: For the final stage of their rehabilitation, some of the patients go to this area of wilderness for the final "Challenge": three weeks in the desert, living off the land.

First Sentence edit see section history

Sometimes you're traveling a highway, the only road you've ever known, and wham! A semi comes from nowhere and rolls right over you.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Conner
Tony
Vanessa
(repeats)

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • The Paper Airplane: The paper airplane is a symbol that doesn't appear until the end of the book, but it is a prominent symbol. In many books flight, birds, or feathers symbolizes freedom, this book is no different with the paper airplane. The paper airplane also foreshadows the ending of the book.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 2 in Impulse. (standard series)

Followed by Perfect.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Ellen Hopkins (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4169-0356-7
Page Count: 666

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

This book is definitely for a mature reader. Nobody younger than thirteen should get their hands on this book!

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Aimee

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history

   
  • Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teen Literature

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