529 pages"Triangles," Hopkins' first adult novel, alternates between the perspectives of three friends who are all facing a different kind of midlife crisis. Holly is filled with regret about her life as a stay-at-home mom with a workaholic husband. After losing sixty pounds, she distracts herself from her problems by flaunting her new body and eventually indulging in extramarital sex. Meanwhile, her friend Marissa is dealing with a severely handicapped, terminally ill daughter and a rebellious gay teenage son. Marissa's sister, Andrea, is a single mom who has vowed celibacy after yet another failed relationship...that is, until she learns of Holly's affair and turns into a shoulder to cry on--and then more--to Holly's spurned husband, whom Andrea has had a crush on for quite a while.
I've been disappointed with some of Ellen Hopkins' books but really liked others, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this adult one. If I had to sum up my feelings about it with one word it would be: eh. I just didn't really like any of the characters, and it's really difficult for me to like a book if I don't care about any of the people in the story. The only characters that made me feel anything at all were Marissa and Shelby, her handicapped daughter, but they didn't make up for the indifference I felt toward the other characters. Since it's written in the verse that has made Ellen Hopkins so popular, it moves really quickly, but I found the style distracting (as I have with some of her other books). I thought most of it was a bit predictable as well. Definitely not Hopkins' best effort, in my opinion.
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