Collateral

September 10, 2012
Bestselling author Hopkins turns her signature free verse style to modern war and its fallout for her second adult novel (after Triangles). College student Ashley Patterson meets Cole Gleason, a Marine, in a bar; they fall in like, in lust, in love. Their relationship spans the ups and downs of five years and four deployments. Cole’s experiences in the war zone, what he has to do to survive, and how it translates to the home front define the relationship, as Ashley struggles to build a life simultaneously with and without him: “Semper Gumby. Always flexible.” She works with veterans at the VA hospital: “A few showed me their ramblings. I could/ fix their grammar. But not their memories.” Free verse from two perspectives (using different fonts; san serif for Cole, serif for Ashley) mixes with earnest, often sorrowful poems written by Ashley and Cole: “Ask/ a soldier// what he believes in./ He’ll tell you God. Country./ The patient hands of death—.” The link between war and poetry is nothing new, and, over almost 500 pages, Hopkins turns the sum of her disparate parts into a clear narrative that is uplifting and heartbreaking, but also familiar and a little too easy, featuring characters grappling with the serious issues of our time. Agent: Laura Rennert, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

October 1, 2012
Written in Hopkins' signature free verse (Triangles, 2011, etc.), this book examines the relationship between a young California woman and the Marine she loves in language that ranges from raw to tender. Ashley and her Marine boyfriend paint their relationship in searing physical terms in this uneven tale of two best friends and the men they love. Ashley, a college student who still relies on her parents to support her, and Darian, her roommate, meet Cole and Spencer at a club one night. The two Marines are stationed nearby, but Wyoming-born Cole seems gentle and poetic to Ashley, despite his brutal profession. Ashley's parents deplore the relationship, and her mother, who hates the military, is especially critical of the pairing. She believes Cole is a butcher, but Ashley, who knows that Cole writes poetry and has a loving, sweet side, is convinced he is a much more complex man than her parents realize. Darian and Spencer are another story, though. Their rocky relationship bounces from heaven to hell faster than a melting ice cube, and Darian's sexuality is like a sign she wears around her neck. Although eventually married to Spencer, she can't seem to stop finding other men with whom to occupy her time. Hopkins specializes in writing long-form free verse, and her fans are rabid about her work, but for those who've never before dipped a toe into this style, the book may prove tough going and, in some places, overtly sexual. Although the author assures readers she meticulously researched the book for details about the military and military life, she insists on calling Cole a "soldier," which is a term appropriate to the Army, but eschewed by members of the Marine Corps. She gets many of the other details of military life right and brings much passion to her work, but that one major stumble may turn off military readers. A melodramatic and very often overwrought volume that attempts to capture the heart and soul of what it's like to be the girl left behind.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 15, 2012

Having triumphed last year with an adult novel, Triangles, YA phenomenon Hopkins returns with the story of two women, two men, and the military that comes between them. MFA student/band backup singer Ashley never thought she would fall for a soldier until she met Cole and then endures five years' worth of deployments, uncertain whether to commit to marriage. Best friend Darian does marry a marine but finds life as a military wife unbearable and has decided on divorce when tragedy strikes. Expect a big audience; with a reading group guide.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
Having made the leap from YA to adult fiction with her novel in verse, Triangles (2011), Hopkins continues to tackle mature themes in the same form. A tale highlighting the stress military life places not just on soldiers but on those who love them, Collateral focuses on Ashley, a 19-year-old student, and Cole, a young marine. In a case of near opposites attracting, the two fall in love, and Hopkins uses her signature poetic style to chart the heightened emotions of their relationship during the separation and anxiety of four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the pair's subsequent joyful reunions. As Hopkins alternates between past and present, readers witness the unraveling of a once promising romance, with Cole growing increasingly hardened and Ashley confronting doubts about a future with a man she realizes she barely knows. When a sympathetic professor befriends Ashley, she becomes even more confused. Hopkins' resolution of this triangle is a little too neat and feels rushed, but her point is well made: collateral damage in war often extends to soldiers' families.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)