I don't think I've read an Ellen Hopkins book since high school when Crank was released.
I'm glad to see Sync was just as well written as I remember Ellen's books being.
Ellen Hopkins is one of those authors who always does realistic fiction well.
With Sync, you felt for the main characters and the life struggles they were going through. Like most of Ellen's books I would recommend any reader take the trigger warnings seriously, she doesn't just put them there for fun - if they are they, you know the book is going to address the topic in a raw but beautiful way.

This is for sure a book I will recommend to my friends, and most likely re-read when I need to feel all of the emotions.

17 year old twins Storm and Lake are extremely close after going through hell together during their childhood. When they are separated after being placed in foster care, they try to keep in touch, but things become difficult.

I love Ellen Hopkins and her verse-writing style. I find it so compelling and easy to read. This book covers some very heavy topics such as sexual assault, homelessness, the juvenile system as well as homophobia in a very respectful way. I loved the dual POV of Lake and Storm, and was intrigued by both of their stories. Both of their stories are heartbreaking in different ways. You were rooting for them both so much, and every time they faced a new obstacle it made you root for them harder. The ending was very satisfying, and I really liked the hopeful note to it.

Ellen Hopkins will forever be one of my go to authors.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this arc for an honest review!

i personally have been a huge fan of ellen hopkins books since 2013, so maybe i already am partial to her writing style and the content in her books. she is the one and only author that i can ever read books that are written in verse. and i think it mainly has to do with the hard-hitting topics that she talks about in her books.

this book hit a little close to home as i am someone who did go through the foster care system when i was younger, and could relate somewhat to the feelings of the characters. i love the dual pov, i love how each sibling is going through their own things yet they still maintain that sync that they have with each other. i love how ellen is able to talk about the dark sides of things such as the foster care system in a way that other authors cant really seem to do.

overall, a great read. take the trigger warnings seriously as they are there for a reason. and if you enjoyed all of the other books that ellen hopkins has written, this will also be a book that you enjoy.

Days before I requested this eARC, I had just been talking with a coworker about my love for Ellen Hopkins, which led me to look up if she had anything new since People Kill People. Lo and behold, I saw Sync on her book list. I promptly forgot about it as work took precedence, but after a few days, it popped back into my stream of consciousness and I searched it up. Thank you so so so much to NetGalley and Penguin for the eARC for one of my favorite authors!

Twins Storm and Lake have been through hell together, until they didn’t. Separated from each other in the foster care system, unsure of where the other is, they wonder what the other is going through. Storm has a juvenile record, but his new foster father and his girlfriend are helping him through life post-juvie, until a new incident has him seeing red and sending him right back. Lake is queer, and her bible-thumping foster parents would immediately disown her and send her away if they found out, so she must keep her situation-ship with foster sibling, Parker, a secret. Both siblings must deal with their past and present in order to have a future, but without the other, they are unsure of how to continue.

I am a huge proponent of novels-in-verse, and Ellen Hopkins will always be my first recommendation. She handles difficult topics with grace and with heartbreaking poetry. Sync is no different. She takes a look at teen homelessness, homophobia, prison/juvie, rehabilitation, drugs, and many more topics. She does not hold back making the audience feel the same intense and true emotions that our main characters feel, which makes the novel even more immersive. I could feel a connection to both Storm and Lake in many different ways, and this book could relate to many people with how much is discussed. Very lyrical writing but also very relatable and colloquial, so it made it accessible to read. Kudos to Ellen once again!

I have always been obsessed with Ellen Hopkins books and reading another book by her had brought all the nostalgia from my high school years. This book is just as captivating as all of her others while shedding a light on another real world topic that plagues so many. The foster care and juvenile court systems that sometimes stream in to each other, along with the homeless population, is portrayed perfectly through a set of twins who was split up by the system and continuously kept apart. Add in the LGBTQ+ aspect of what Lake is experiencing and this book covers it all. I’m obsessed as always

I started reading Ellen Hopkins books when I was in middle school. I'm now in my 30s and get just excited for new books from her.
This story is about a set of twins and their struggles with life and love in the foster care system.
It pulls at your heart strings left and right and was wonderful, like all of her others.

Absolutely loved this book about twins Storm and Lake who haven’t seen each other for five years because they’ve been in foster care. Now 17 Storm has been locked up a few times and now lives with his current foster dad Jim. Lake lives with a racist Bible humper and is in a relationship with Parker. When something happens to Storm’s girlfriend, he winds up in the same lockup as before but is given a new chance to help out at a ranch with guard dogs. When Lake and Parker decide to run away from their foster home, they become separated and Lake is sexually assaulted. Lake is placed in a new foster home and is happy her foster mom stood up for her. Do Lake and Storm ever see each other again?

Ellen Hopkins is one of my all time favorite authors, I’ve yet to read any author that lives up to her talent with verse. I’ve read every one of her books, Impulse being my favorite, but this one comes a close second. Seeing another book in verse was coming out made my whole year!

I loved reading from Storm and Lake’s points of views (twins separated in foster care). Both of their stories are completely different in circumstance yet stem from the same thing.

Overall, if you are a fan of this author this is a must read. Please look up trigger warnings, as always there are many in this book. I have already pre-ordered a copy for my shelf to add to my Ellen Hopkins collection.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

It has been a really long time since I've read an Ellen Hopkins books. Glad to see the writing is still as beautiful and emotionally devastating as I remember it to be.