Triangles

A Novel

By: Ellen Hopkins

Narrated by: January LaVoy, Jan Maxwell, Michele Pawk

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Three female friends face midlife crises in a no-holds-barred exploration of sex, marriage, and the fragility of life.

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-at-home mom, she sheds 60 pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?

Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?

Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.

As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate pause-resister. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost....

Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

©2011 Ellen Hopkins. All rights reserved. (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Hopkins delivers a raw and riveting tale of love and forgiveness that will captivate readers." ( Publisher's Weekly)

Not her best.

Love Ellen Hopkins and was expecting more in her adult book but her young adult is actually way better in my opinion. The only one who made this story was Marrisa, I thought she was awful at the beginning but she grew on me especially all the problems she kept facing. I wanted to stop reading but the end made up for it. I started crying. Not her best but still not the worst I’ve read. A little hard to follow with narrators a bit confusing until the middle of the book you put together who is who.

the ending was a little lackluster (spoilers)

I love Ellen Hopkins. have since I was a teenager. this book did not disappoint. slice of life, heartbreaking. however, there are a few loose ends that i wish got tied up. I'm listening to "tilt" now to learn more.

I wish holly found out about Andrea's affair with her husband, but I also really dislike holly's character. she is arrogant, selfish, and borderline narcissistic. shes always going on about things she wants to say to her kids, but never does. just do it, coward.

in Andrea's defense, if my friend was in a wonderful relationship and used me as a cover to cheat on her husband, I would resent her too. but what happened to their relationship in the end? When Andrea began questioning her paternity, but that thread was never explored, it was like drama for dramas sake.

It's like everything was leading up to shelby's death, but only two characters mention her, and only one mentions any real attachment to her. it was a little hard to keep track of Andrea's love life with so many different suitors, all of which she finds something wrong with. I know that's kind of the point, but geez girl, live a little.

there are some inconsistencies with character development. Marissa's first introduced as almost hating her daughter. a very bitter, sarcastic character. I liked that. it was interesting for a character to break the "suffering parent" archetype. But as the story went on it was obvious how confused and ashamed she was. Shane was introduced as a complete asshole kid, but has a complete shift into arguably the best character. it was almost like Ellen was trying to set up Marissa's family life as extremely dysfunctional, due to their lives being overtaken and navigated by a sick daughter. but then it took on a more stereotypical flavor, like Ellen forgot what direction she wanted to go with it. on the flip side, I absolutely loved the storyline with shelby's illness. I actually cried when she died.

there are a few characters who are introduced, and then nothing comes from them. like Sahara. Holly was warned about her attachment problems and I wish that was explored more. and what happened with Brian, really?

also, maaaybe listen to this one with headphones. lots of sex.

the ending

Ellen Hopkins as always is a stunning author her story ends leaving you wanting more

good but with some flaws

good read but could not stand the random chick talking in the middle between people. I skipped it every time. It's a definite miss for me

Uniquely honest, I recommend you listen...

Unique, reflective, and refreshingly honest account of 3 women's lives. There are no perfect lives and many authors struggle with capturing this, very often there's the typical night in shining armor to save the day, not in this book, and that's what I like about it.
This is my first listen from this author, I tend to choose my books based on who's narrarating it and I really love January Lavoy, as usual her character was my favorite, Holly. I encourage you to take the journey with these women, I wasn't disappointed and I'm sure you won't be either.

The ending was great...

This one took me awhile to stay into. The ending had me in tears.

One more success for the amazing Ellen Hopkins

I love this story. It's entertaining and intriguing. It has love, friendship deception and sex. Very great adult novel. I have never been disappointed by Ellen; she continues to deliver book after book.

I didn't mind the narration of the book. I was a little confused because I thought with 3 characters and 3 narrators they would have one for each character...That is not the case. Some of the impressions of the male characters and teenage parts were hard to read and very obnoxious but not bad enough to ruin the story.

If you are familiar with Ellen Hopkins or if you are looking for a REAL to life racey adult novel for women...give this a shot!! :)

Great Book, terrible narrator

The story was awesome, characters very layered and interesting but the woman who read the Andrea part nearly made me pull the plug on this.

Annoying

Could have done without the airy-voiced lady reading definitions every 10 minutes. Not a bad plot just very blah ending.

Great Story, felt the characters

I really enjoyed the character Andrea although I didn't care for character Holly at all.