Blog Post Number Five - 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins; Eden's Story

In the book 'Tricks' by Ellen Hopkins,

There are five different characters; Eden, Seth, Whitney, Ginger and Cody. Out of the five, four are straight and one is gay. But as I'm reading this book, I'm also starting to think that another character might also be gay. But that might just be because she thinks that no one else loves her.

Eden's story is that, her father is a pastor and once at mass, she met a boy named Andrew. But Eden is only sixteen and Andrew is nineteen. But they wind up going out anyways. Eden's parents forbid her going out with anyone unless it is going to be her future husband (her parents are very religious). And if it's not going to be, she is sinning against God and going towards the path to the Devil. So Eden and Andrew secretly go out and meet up with each other. And they are in deep love with each other. But still, Eden cannot tell her parents, because if she does, then they'll shun her and think that she's possessed. But of course, all good stories must come to an end, because Eden's mother eventually finds out and sends her to "Tears of Zion", a place where they exorcise demons.

I think that the theme for Eden's story is that she feels trapped. Because Andrew really is the love of her life. And when he told her  the same, he wasn't joking - he was serious. He really meant it. I also think that Eden feels trapped because she can't tell her parents or else they'll freak out on her. And as she suspected, they did. But her mother on the most part. I think that even if Eden did tell her parents about Andrew, they wouldn't understand. Because they only believe that she must marry someone in order to "make love" and have children. I also think that they wouldn't even listen to Eden, even if she tried to explain, because they want her to marry a Christian and since Andrew isn't, they don't even want to hear her explanation.