Collateral: A Novel

`Collateral' was Ellen Hopkins second book in her adult series and oh my goodness was it fantastic.Cole is a marine and Ashley is a college student who wants to be a social worker. They are in love but can their love survive the war?`Collateral' was a bombshell of a novel. It was a hard hitting, dramatic, tear down your heart strings, action packed, page turner.I loved this book, I have many members of my family who have served this country in the military so this book really hit home for me.This book discusses what these soldiers really go through. Nightmares, post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoia, substance abuse, you name it, soldiers suffer from it, they come back and they have nothing. They don't have the jobs they were promised or the homes they had when they left.Denial is a wide spread disease in this country, war is real, everyone realizes this fact but not many people realize the fact of what war really is and what it does to the soldiers.Ironically the day after I finished `Collateral' a marine showed up on my doorstep. He was doing a program for wounded soldiers. His story broke my heart, 23 years old, he was shot, lost his hearing in one ear, and had lost all of his memories from his junior year in high school back do to a blast that sent him flying, leaving a piece of remnant in his head. He also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The horrible things he went through to serve his country and now the government won't even pay for their tuition to go to school. It just breaks my heart.Every time you see a soldier you should always give him or her, your thanks. A simple `Thank you for your service,' will not cost you anything but it may have cost them more than you can ever understand so please just do this one simple thing, it is your civilian duty as far as I am concerned.Everyone should really read this book, it is a big eye opener for many and it is beautifully written. I highly, highly recommend it.This book really captured it. It was a truly amazing book, written brilliantly.Ashley and Cole's story was a really tragic one and sadly it happens around the world every day. A soldier returns home broken beyond repair.A soldier sent back to his wife and children and a coffin never getting to say goodbye,A mother getting nothing but her daughter's dog tags, always wondering if there is a possibility that she somehow survived, when there were no remains.A soldier losing her limbs before she is even 25 and can truly even begin her life.That is war. War is ugly. War is real. War is and always will be Satan's favorite form of entertainment.

Collateral is Ellen Hopkins’s newest novel. It tells the story of Ashley, a grad student at San Diego State University. She’s studying to be a social worker, but she’s not sure that’s really the path she wants to take. Something else she’s not sure about is marrying her Marine beau, Cole. They had met in a bar five years earlier. It wasn’t love at first sight like with their friends Darian and Spencer, but it did turn from lust to love pretty quickly. Together, they’ve survived four deployments, a death of a parent, and an old flame coming back into the picture. But a war can easily change a person. It can turn a once sweet, loving, poetry writing man into a paranoid, angry, bitter death machine. As Ashley witnesses this change in Cole, she starts to second guess her time spent with him and her plans for a future with him. She also meets another man, a professor, who shows her what it could be like to be with someone who LIVES – and not just for the war, but for other things. For doing what he loves.This was an excellent book. Mrs. Hopkins had me gripped from the very first page. She is my favorite author for a reason and that is because she really knows how to put you inside the characters’ minds. And not just the main characters, but the supporting ones too. She makes such a connection between her readers and the people in her stories to the point where you feel as though you’re reading about yourself.Collateral shows the struggle of being a military wife AND of being a military man. It describes the sacrifices and challenges that go with loving someone and doing all you can for them, while learning to do what you need to do for yourself. This novel makes you think up until the very end when Ashley finally makes her choice. I can’t wait to read Mrs. Hopkins’s next tale. :)

The cover is a little damaged

I have read all the books that she has wrote.This book is nothing short of phenomenal. It is enjoyable and easy to read. As a military wife who has been through the life style and all it has to bring I found myself lost in this book. It is so relatable and thought provoking. I started it when entering my relationship with a marine. Finished it after marriage, two children, and a deployment. All I have to say is, wow.Definitely worth the read. Especially for those in the military or close to someone who is.

Let me start by saying I am a huge Ellen Hopkins fan and have been since I was in middle school about 8 years ago. I am currently in the military, stationed in Pearl harbor, only about 30 minutes east of Kaneohe Bay which is where Cole was stationed. (No, this is not why I read the book, I didn't realize where it took place until I started reading the book). This is such a great story that rightfully portrays military relationships, identifying some of the hardships and emotional distress that comes along with them. With Ellen's very vivid visual imagery, I felt like I was a friend of Ashley's and I could feel what she was feeling. Also, the book touches amazingly on the hardships that men returning from war face regardless of the situations around them. This is such a well written book and I have absolutely zero complaints about it!

For the most part I really enjoyed this book. The author switches between the past and the present to tell the love story between Ashley and her marine boyfriend Cole. Overall the verse style of writing is well done, and the characters are captivating. The entire novel has a desperate, sad feel to it, which is fitting for this story. The only problem I had was the ending. It just came too quickly, and left too much unsaid. I wish the author would have added more, but overall it was a good story.

I may only be halfway through the book, but Cole is, to be perfectly honest, a complete jackass. His views on women are abominable, he's controlling, he's a hypocrite, and even though he initially comes off as the sweet, sensitive poet trope, he's a nasty, cruel man inside.Ashley is even worse for putting up with his misogynistic crap, and constantly forgiving him, even when he insinuated that she looked like a slut and was still in contact with his ex-girlfriend. War brings out the worst in people, but I have very little sympathy for a woman weak enough to even consider marriage with a man that disrespects her so much.In addition, the kindle format of this book was atrocious.Hopkins writes beautifully, but when it comes to broken characters, she creates abominations instead of the type to elicit understanding and sympathy for their situations. I understand that the topics covered in this book are exceptionally sensitive and difficult, but Hopkins made the characters impossibly, downright awful.

The story of love between a university student and a deployed Marine. Detailed, at times heart-breaking. The story is told as poetry, easy to read ... the poetic voice adds to the experience of the book. Best friends, parents, in-laws, fellow Marines ... all have a part to play in the story. In the voice of a strong woman, in love but needing to be true to self. Read it, you will not be disappointed.

I am happy with it.