Ellen Hopkins remains a perennial YA favorite. This will be a must purchase, as her titles circulate well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this ARC which I was so thrilled to receive. Wow I am so emotional over this and I loved this book so much. Ellen Hopkins never misses! I haven’t read a Hopkins book since I was a teenager and I enjoyed returning to her writing as an adult.

I particularly loved Lake’s story, and enjoyed seeing how her story unfolded, and how it interconnected with Storm’s. Shoutout to the LGBT representation in this book!

The content in this book is heavy and in line with Hopkins’ other books which was to be expected. Definitely read the trigger warnings before reading. I appreciated that the level of detail was enough but not overly graphic.

Hopkins never fails to throw in twists you never see coming and it truly keeps you on the edge of your seat and it’s why I finished this book so quickly. I was absolutely enthralled the whole time!

💫 When the stars align, when the world is in sync, when the chorus is in harmony... things just fit!

🩵 This book hits differently, having been a youth who "aged out of foster care." The layers of heartbreak, survival, being an outsider to other family units, and constantly questioning where your future may take you. Sprinkle in fear, trauma, abandonment, rejection, judgments, stigma, and terrible odds! You get a black cloud that never leaves.

🩵 This book touches on the heavy topics of abuse, family homes that add trauma, and rejection from birth parents who barely survive their own demons. The desire to latch onto love in order to stay afloat. The self doubt of any good being possible in the future. The never-ending hope of wanting unconditional love from your own mom. The required bravery to remain kind and loving while facing those who caused harm in the courtroom.

🍭 One must search for the good things in their lives. You are faced with the consequences as you realize just what lengths you'll go to protect those you love and those who love you. Despite the self-doubt, you continue to fight with slivers of hope. Such beauty as the world continues to bring those people into our lives at the right moments. The world syncs up, and love wins in the end!

💫 The beautiful layering of love, loss, hurt, and boundaries. Reality of some needing to be loved from a distance. Being unable to love away the depression in others. Holding onto the faith that your people will return to you someday. Ellen does a fabulous job in tackling such hard topics. So take breaks, take as much time as needed, and hold love within yourself as you join in the journey of life! But don't quit!

"Sync" by Ellen Hopkins is a compelling and lyrical exploration of identity and connection through the lens of a fractured family. Its evocative prose and multi-layered storytelling create a powerful and emotionally resonant read.

This was a great, well written YA book. Written in verse, this book reads quickly, but packs an amazing punch. It’s sad, devastating, hopeful, emotional…I can’t give it enough descriptions.

This story about twins who are separated within the foster care system broke my heart. After I finished reading it, I spoke to my husband about wanting to foster, it was THAT impactful.

Calling this book entertaining seems wrong, because of how serious the issues within it are. However, it was very engaging and I was completely engrossed in it. I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. I totally recommend this book for YAs and adults alike.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Penguin Young Readers Group for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Readers who are new to Ellen Hopkins and/or are not well read in recent YA should be especially mindful of the content warnings. Think of a topic that usually comes with a TW or CW. It's a guarantee that you'll find that material here. Also, there will be other challenging topics you had forgotten about that will also be tough to read.

Prospective readers who, like me, are well read in the wonderful but upsetting world of Hopkins's characters will already be prepared for difficult content. This is what Hopkins does best. And once again, it's her execution of this content, realistic and unflinching delivery, and tightly structured verse that make this novel another must-read from her collection.

Lake and Storm are twins who are, as the title suggests, in sync, even when they are apart, which is the case physically but not emotionally here. Thanks to the challenges their mother and grandmother faced, the siblings end up in foster care and are ultimately and heartbreakingly separated prior to the start of the novel. What happens to them both after their separation is even worse.

The horrible circumstances are basically relentless. While there are glimmers of hope and humanity, there are multiple instances of rape and sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, and late in the novel, even an injured animal.

So the right reader for this book should not be one who is looking for pleasure or a lighthearted tale. But this is exactly on par with what many actual teens need and want to read lately: experiences that reflect their own realities and those of the people they know and love.

I'll be recommending this one enthusiastically but with many caveats to my college students who are studying YA.

Thank you to NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP, Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books, and Ellen Hopkins for the opportunity to read Sync in exchange for an honest review.

Hopkins does it again: she sets the bar for novels-in-verse and realistic situations that teens face, making for a brilliantly crafted story told in a poetic style.

Sync follows the alternating first person perspectives of teen twins Storm and Lake. With an abusive and neglectful mother, Storm and Lake are placed into the foster system. They have a great foster family, until their guardians move out of state. Unfortunately, the state of California requires foster youth to remain within the state, meaning Storm and Lake are transferred to a new foster family, one that certainly isn't as caring.

Storm and Lake have always felt very in sync with each other (hence the title) in a way that twins often are. This is a measure of unholy closeness, according to their new foster family, and they are split up. Storm ends up with a nice gentleman and falls in love with a girl named Jaidyn, everything seemingly perfect. Until something happens to Jaidyn, of which Storm exacts revenge and ends up in juvenile detention...

Lake falls in love with her roommate, Parker, but their foster parent is hyper religious and controlling. When she finds out about Lake and Parker's relationship, the girls run away, learning what life is like on the streets.

All the while, Storm and Lake worry about each other, trying to maintain contact through letters, with the occasional visits allowed through their case-workers. But with Storm locked away, will they ever see each other again?

This novel demonstrates some of the good and some of the ugly when it comes to the foster care system. It is an eye-opening read, especially from my perspective as an educator. With an emphasis in my 10th grade class on juvenile justice, Storm's story resonates to further contemporary issues regarding youth and how our justice system affects them. I do really appreciate the ranch aspect later in the novel, and find that a better way for youth to serve time and learn from their experiences.

This book does have quite a few triggers for many people, including physical abuse, substance abuse, and rape, to name a few, but the topics are approached in a real way that offers an understanding of these perspectives to the readers. This novel made me chuckle at times, and weep at others. Leave it to Hopkins to rip my heart out in the most brilliant, wrenching of ways. Yet another must-read for teens and adults from the novel-in-verse master.

Somewhat different from her earlier stuff but in true Hopkins fashion it took me back to my teen years. Solid 4 star.

Thank you @penguinteen #partner for the copy of this book!

I will always run and jump at books that explore twins because I find them very intriguing. This particular one examines what happens to a set of twins separated in the foster care system. This book is deeply emotional, a bit devastating and squeezed my heart a bit at times. The ups and downs were intense and honestly I appreciate that she didn’t shy away from such hard topics. This book I think would make for a great book club discussion and will most certainly stick with me for a long time.

This book explores the lives of two teenage siblings, struggling with personal challenges and the consequences of their choices. Told in verse, the story reveals how their paths collide and the impact of friendship, each other, love, and resilience on their lives.

This is the barest description I can give because I do not want to spoil anything about this book. First, more novels in verse please?? I LOVED this one and absolutely devoured it. Lake and Storm were given up by their mother and don’t trust any home they find themselves in. They were separated when they were 12, and at 17 have barely reconnected before Storm ends up in trouble.

My heart was aching for these kids the entire book. The circumstances they were dealt, their family, trying to figure out to live and survive. It was breathtaking. I could not turn the pages quickly enough and spent a lot of time highlighting passages.

There were unexpected things that happened too that made me cry. My heart BROKE for Storm with his girlfriend. I was shattered for Lake with the alley.

There is just so much sadness and beauty in this story. I absolutely adored the ending (though I wish there was more!!).

*I was provided a digital copy of this book for review by the publisher, all thoughts are my own.*

Every time I read another Ellen Hopkins, I think to myself “There’s no way she can make me cry more than she did in the last one!” And yet, here I am, sobbing once again. Storm and Lake were both so incredibly written. I felt so connected to them and their emotions just leapt off the page. If you’ve read one of Hopkins’ books before, then you know you’re in for some dark and traumatic events, but also some really beautiful and heartfelt moments too. This book is absolutely no exception. Theo way she writes is simple and yet so lyrical and you can’t help but get swept up in her stories. I highly recommend this one, BUT it is a lot. Definitely check the trigger warnings and make sure you’re in the right headspace for it. It is a story of family, belonging and believing in yourself, no matter your circumstances.
Mini spoiler: one of the dogs gets injured (by another animal), but doesn’t die!

CW: rape, drug use, violence, animal injury, sex trafficking, suicide, abuse, child neglect, mentions of pedophilia, religious bigotry

Thank you to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

TW: rape (on-page and off-page), child abuse, alcoholism, drug use, homophobia, suicidal ideation, suicide (off-page), etc (there might be more but basically, there’s a lot of sensitive content in this book)

In many ways, this is the quintessential Ellen Hopkins book. It’s been years since reading them as a younger teenager after she came to my local library to do a book event, and in some ways it feels like I’ve gone right back. I also say that because it feels like nearly every bad thing I remember happening to previous characters in her books happens to the characters of this book, and I have somewhat mixed feelings. Storm and Lake, the main characters, basically spend 400 pages of the book going through various trauma. Admittedly, they do experience some bright moments, and there’s a hopeful note to the ending, but it’s not a light book. I also don’t have the experience to really speak about the accuracy or necessity of the character’s experiences, but I will say Hopkins’ characters provide a perspective you don’t often see in YA. And while the issues faced by the characters are awful and not fun to read about, the in-verse writing style that’s characteristic of Hopkins’ books made this a technically easy read for me. In some ways I still question the purpose of how much the female characters of this book went through, and the ways in which rape is used as a character/plot device in this book, but I don’t want to make a definitive judgement because I don’t really think that this book is for me, personally. I’m still curious about Hopkins’ backlist, but this might be the extent of my revisiting her work.

-- 5/5 Stars -- ★★★★★

Trigger Warnings for ​Sync: Abuse (Sexual, Emotional, Physical), Sexual Assault, Rape, Separation of siblings, foster care, blood homelessness, homophobia, prison

Sync is a young-adult novel by #1 New York Times Bestselling author Ellen Hopkins. As with many of Hopkins novels, we follow the story of young adults through prose. In Sync, we watch Lake and Storm discover what the world has to offer - or take away. Twins Lake and Storm are separated from each other when they are accused of being too close by a foster parent. What happens when the only person you've ever truly loved is ripped away?

This is the first Ellen Hopkins book that I have picked up since high school. I truly thought I would read this book and wonder how I ever loved these books as a young adult... WRONG. Sync literally had me in tears by the end. I was sitting at 99% completion on my kindle wondering how Hopkins could wrap this up. Let me just say: she does and it's the best way possible. Lake and Storm go through so incredibly much. Listening to their stories through alternating lenses really helps to pack a full punch.

All in all, read this book. If you liked Ellen Hopkins books at any point, or you're just interested in her writing, pick it up now. Thank you to Ellen Hopkins, Penguin Group, Nancy Paulsen Books, and Netgalley for an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the eARC of this book.

Themes: Foster Care, Sexual Assault, Physical Assault, Separated Siblings, Drug Abuse, Suicide, Homelessness, Religion, Child Abuse- This book was very heavy as you can tell by the themes- so please check the warnings.

I read my first Ellen Hopkins books when I was in middle school, 17-18 years ago, once I read Crank I read like 8 more books.. I went down a rabbit hole. It has been a while since I read one of Ellen Hopkins books because I knew that it would wreck me emotionally, and honestly, it did. I cried multiple times- not all of them were sad, but most of them were.

Storm and Lake are twins. They have been taken into custody by the state of California because their mother is not fit to parent them. This story follows the siblings as they travel through getting separated and everything that happens. The ending does give me hope though.

Honestly, I am not sure how to put what I feel into words. I enjoyed this book-it emotionally destroyed me, but I kind of knew that this would occur. I always enjoy reading a book in verse, it is so interesting to read and it is a creative way to tell a story.

This novel gripped me from the start and never let go. In fact, I'm still thinking about the powerful writing and the characters.

The writing brought out all the emotions--I felt fear as both Lake and Storm were removed from their home and placed into foster care and fear every time they were forced into another home. I felt happiness when each found love and a family that truly cared for them. Anger reared up when adults and peers bullied them or committed acts no one deserves to experience.

This novel takes on difficult subjects and does not shy away from the gritty and painful details; violence is an almost daily part of Storm and Lake's life at times and this book is not lighthearted. But even though it was a difficult book to read at times, it also brought hope that there are good people in the world that care about others.

The ending was amazing and perfect for a young adult novel. I can't wait to read more of this author's work.

what an emotional rollercoaster, it was exactly what I expected and needed from an Ellen Hopkins book.


Lake and Storm are twins that have gone through such terrible trials and hardship that eventually ended them split up in the foster care system. Ellen always writes characters that can overcome their challenges and hardships with such grace and brings attention to such difficult and tough topics.



The teenager deep inside of me cannot thank penguin teen enough for this NetGalley arc!!

Another beautifully delivered, heart wrenching novel by Ellen Hopkins paralleling the stories of two siblings in foster care. It is a story of heartbreak and cruelty and of prevailing love sometimes in unexpected places

A story told in two points of view, twins Storm and Lake. They are abused and neglected, so wind up in the foster care system. And we all know how thst goes.

Another great book from Ellen Hopkins. This one drew me in and I gave up the rest of my afternoon and evening to finish it.

Trigger warning for abuse, rape, suicide.

My coworker introduced me to Ellen Hopkins with the Crank series and I was so excited to see a new book coming out soon after I finished that. I definitely need to read her backlog because this was just as good as that series! Her books are formatted to be extremely fast reads and I love how deep they get but also how bingeable they are. She writes entirely in verse-poetry and it works so well along with her storytelling. The content is 100% heavy but it's so addicting, you just can't put it down. It was extremely heartbreaking at times, but the story is so well told and I honestly think this is a great book for teens to read, but also so good for adults to read as well. I really enjoyed the dual POV between the twins and I thought the foster storyline was written so well. There are some major trigger warnings so check those out before diving in. I look forward to finding out if there are plans for a sequel, I could just feel so much more story to be told.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

5 Star: This book is not for the weak of heart. The author depicts a very realistic roller coaster of events for two twin siblings in the California foster care system. As a parent of kids who spent their youth in foster care & friends of many other similar adoptive families, I can attest that the events in this book are heartbreakingly common. I loved the format of the story; it is told in verse and alternating between the POV of the twins as they share unsent letters to one another detailing what is happening while they are a part. While the book is extremely heavy, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. One of my critiques for the ending is that one of the twin’s experiences turns a little unrealistic for me and could be a false hope for other teens reading this book in similar situations. That said, I think it was written very well and I’m so happy there are books like this available for teens, because unfortunately, MANY teens in the US foster care system will relate. The triggers are very intense which I’ll list in that section of this review.

LGBTQ+ rep: F/F relationship with MC
triggers: homophobia, rape, suicide, violence, death