Rumble

by Ellen Hopkins

Does it get better? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of bullying and forgiveness in this "strong and worthy" (Kirkus Reviews) novel.

Matthew Turner knows it doesn't get better.

His younger brother Luke was bullied mercilessly after one of Matt's friends outed Luke to the whole school, and when Luke called Matt-on the brink of suicide-Matt was too wrapped up in his new girlfriend to answer the phone. Now Luke is gone, and Matt's family is falling apart.

No matter what his girlfriend Hayden says about forgiveness, there's no way Matt's letting those he blames off the hook-including himself. As Matt spirals further into bitterness, he risks losing Hayden, the love of his life. But when her father begins to pressure the school board into banning books because of their homosexual content, he begins to wonder if he and Hayden ever had anything in common.

With brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance, bestselling author Ellen Hopkins's Rumble explores bullying and suicide in a powerful story that examines the value of forgiveness and reconciliation.

• ISBN10: 0606382771
• ISBN13: 9780606382779
• Publish Date: 2 February 2016 (first published 26 August 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 6 April 2021
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Rumble is a fascinating examination of religion, but as with all of this author's books, it's more than that. She covers a lot of topics including suicide, bullying, censorship, PTSD, and infidelity. But amongst all that, I think the main messages were of love forgiveness. Those two things are suppose to be the basis of Christianity, but of course, they can and do exist outside of religion. Matt is struggling with both of these in the aftermath of his younger brother's suicide. And a paper he writes about why God cannot exist raises some red flags. Matt was just stating his opinion, but underlying that is a lot of anger.

I really, really liked Rumble. Matt is one of those characters who is difficult to like, but at the same time is an engrossing narrator. He's not the nicest guy, but he's not a bad guy either. He just says and thinks horrible things sometimes (don't we all!), and has a mighty high opinion of himself. I did find him a bit hard to care about at first, but soon enough, I loved his honesty and could totally understand all of these negative feelings he had. Later his anger turns to guilt as he learns some things about the circumstances of his brother's suicide.

I also liked the way Rumble handled religion. Matt is obviously atheist, but his girlfriend is Christian. It's an odd pairing, but he respects her beliefs even if he doesn't agree. And she doesn't try to convert him, and only asks for his understanding and acceptance. However, throughout the book she gets deeper and deeper into her religion and further and further from Matt. He still loves her, but then secrets come out and it's the last straw. I was mad at her right along side Matt, but at the same time I felt bad for her, because I really believed that she thought she was doing the right/Christian thing. It's just a big mess, but I liked how it didn't feel like the author was taking sides. They each had their own beliefs, and both were equally valid.

Like I said earlier, I felt like Rumble was a lot more about love and forgiveness than any religious journey for Matt. He has a lot of people who he could forgive, but isn't ready or willing to. There's also people who he needs forgiveness from. Matt is very good at holding a grudge, which is part of the reason why he can't move on, not that he thinks he should. He also sees that there's different kinds of love, and that love can change over time. He sees his parents' marriage fall apart, as well as his own, but then there's his uncle and his girlfriend who are going strong despite never marrying.

Rumble does have a surprise ending. I never saw that one coming at all! But I do think that was the point, since it's something that often just happens, seemingly out of nowhere. There are signs, but they're ignored until it's too late. It was an experience that changes Matt deeply, and while at first it seemed to come out of left field, I do think it was a fitting ending to Matt's journey.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[leahrosereads]

3.5 Stars

Poor, poor Luke. To feel like your life will never get better, that the bullies will always win, that no matter what you do, you cannot escape their cruel words and your fragile psyche is punctured and ripped day in and day out, until you can only just give up, is, I’m sure one of the worst, most isolated feelings someone could feel. Especially a kid at the beginning of his life. He should have only had to worry about school and grades, what games he was going to play when he got home, practice at basketball, and spend time with a loving family. However, that’s not what Luke had to worry about. He only worried about the taunts, the pictures, the cruelty that children in packs can be, and he had no one to turn to. The loving family had been broken long before, and Luke really had no one to turn to. He thought he had his brother, Matthew, but Matt told him to ignore it, that it would end or the kids would get bored. But, they didn’t, and in the end Luke couldn’t take it anymore.

I have never seen suicide as weak, or as a coward’s way out. I have only ever felt sorrow for those who’ve felt they had nothing left to gain in this world, and so why stay?


RUMBLE is the story of Matt following Luke’s suicide. The older brother carrying the weight of his brother’s death on his shoulders, the guilt turning into an anger and hatred towards himself, those that bullied Luke, God, his family and faith itself. We seem him as this angry teenager and he progresses to, well, still an angry teenager, but at least he heals throughout the story.


The characters of the story in RUMBLE, were for the most part, extremely realistic to me. From Matt’s self loathing and anger to Hayden’s Christian fundamentalist beliefs, it all really felt accurate.

My favorite character was Alexa, an ex-friend of Hayden’s who becomes extremely important to Matt and his learning to forgive. She was down to earth and a friend first, though she made it no secret to Matt that she loved him. Although I’m usually against love triangles, since my thoughts of Hayden really early on were negative (and accurate), I liked where Hopkins went with Matt’s love interest. He needed someone like Alexa.

The parents in this story were pretty much non-existent, but there were a couple of adults that played very important parts in Matt’s life, namely his uncle and aunt. I really liked them, and thought that they inadvertently adopted their nephew, when Matt’s parents were so disconnected with his (and their own) lives.


Overall, I really liked this novel, and while I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, I definitely think it’s a decent book, and if you want some YA angst, coming of age kind of story, maybe give RUMBLE a try.