Review: Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

RUMBLE by Ellen Hopkins

Synopsis
Can an atheist be saved? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of faith and forgiveness with brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance.

“There is no God, no benevolent ruler of the earth, no omnipotent grand poobah of countless universes. Because if there was...my little brother would still be fishing or playing basketball instead of fertilizing cemetery vegetation.”

Matthew Turner doesn’t have faith in anything.

Not in family—his is a shambles after his younger brother was bullied into suicide. Not in so-called friends who turn their backs when things get tough. Not in some all-powerful creator who lets too much bad stuff happen. And certainly not in some “It Gets Better” psychobabble.

No matter what his girlfriend Hayden says about faith and forgiveness, there’s no way Matt’s letting go of blame. He’s decided to “live large and go out with a huge bang,” and whatever happens happens. But when a horrific event plunges Matt into a dark, silent place, he hears a rumble…a rumble that wakes him up, calling everything he’s ever disbelieved into question.


ELLEN HOPKINS

Ellen Hopkins is the New York Times bestselling author of Crank, Burned, Impulse, Glass, Identical, Tricks,Fallout, Perfect, Triangles, Tilt, and Collateral. She lives in Carson City, Nevada, with her husband and son. Hopkin's Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest pages get thousands of hits from teens who claim Hopkins is the "only one who understands me", and she can be visited at ellenhopkins.com. 

Like most of you here, books are my life. Reading is a passion, but writing is the biggest part of me. Balance is my greatest challenge, as I love my family, friends, animals and home, but also love traveling to meet my readers. Hope I meet many of you soon!

REVIEW

I'm a Christian. That is the sole reason for picking up this book. I must say, I was slightly disappointed in the story because it wasn't exactly as I thought it would be. I went into this book thinking it would be about God and Matthew's journey of believing in God. But it wasn't. It was also very frustrating that when Matthew "hears a rumble" it happens three quarters of the way into the book. I mean, come on, the synopsis for the book says that he hears a rumble and it happens at the end?

The characters were not likeable, which is one of the reasons I've continued to read Ellen Hopkins. She writes characters that you hate and some that you can't help but like even if you want to hate them. I wanted to like Alexa from the beginning but I didn't, however she did grow on me throughout the book. Hayden, I can't explain how I felt about her. I had incredibly mixed feelings. I couldn't tell exactly how the author wanted me to feel about her, but she definitely did a good job on making me confused about my feelings for many characters, which I think is good. I enjoyed the internal struggle of not knowing who to actually like.


The story wasn't what I expected, as I mentioned. However, I enjoyed it. It was a good read, something definitely to be followed up with light reads because this one is certainly going to keep you thinking of it long after you're done it.