I became hooked on Ellen Hopkins' books a few years ago when I finally picked up CRANK, so now I'm always eager to pick up her new books when they release and THE YOU I'VE NEVER KNOWN was no exception! 
 Like all of Ellen's books THE YOU I'VE NEVER KNOWN immediately sounded like it was going to be a book with some subjects that are hard to handle and read about. From the description alone, it's clear that this book is tackling some pretty serious issues, like abuse, abandonment, sexuality, and even kidnapping. Having finished it now, I can tell you that it definitely does tackle all of those subjects, and it's tough to read at times. I could see this book being a trigger to some though, so I will warn you about the abuse because that was definitely the part that was the hardest for me to read. Ariel's father was a very gifted manipulator, and he was very good at spinning everything so that Ariel didn't feel as if she was being abused. At times it was fairly subtle, but at others, it was right there out in the open and even Ariel had a hard time denying it. I don't want to spoil any specific parts of the book, so I hope you don't mind my vagueness. I do feel like that might trigger some people though, so I wanted to bring that out in the open during my review. While I found the abuse aspect of the story pretty difficult to swallow, Ariel's sexuality was a part of the story that really made me think. It wasn't cut and dry, and Ellen Hopkins' spent a very thorough part of Ariel's internal narrative exploring it which I really appreciated! I think that was my favourite aspect of the story because I thought it was really well done! 
 THE YOU I'VE NEVER KNOWN tells both Ariel's and Maya's story, and the two intersect at a pretty interesting point. Ariel's POV is told in Ellen Hopkins's characteristic verse style, while Maya's is in prose. Both characters's lives had some pretty tough spots, and I loved seeing how the two stories interwove. It was a fairly quick read, and definitely kept me interested in seeing what would unfold next! The only part that fell a little flat for me was the ending. It felt rather abrupt, but other than that, I definitely enjoyed it, and I'm extremely glad that I read it! 
 Overall, I really enjoyed THE YOU I'VE NEVER KNOWN. As I said, it was tough to read at times, but I thought that the issues within the book were tackled really well, and Ellen Hopkins' writing style complemented the story perfectly! I'd recommend this one to anyone who already enjoys Ellen's books, and to anyone who's looking for a story that isn't afraid to tackle some hard hitting issues.