In 2023, a member of the Plattsmouth School Board attempted to ban 52 books from the high school and middle school libraries for being “pornography.” A review committee read all 52 books and determined that none of them were pornography and that they did not warrant banning. They opted to remove one book, not because it was inappropriate, but because they believed its subject matter would not appeal to teen readers. This is the book with which we will kick off our reviews.
Title: Triangles
Author: Ellen Hopkins
Year Published: 2011
Genre: Realistic Fiction/Contemporary Women Fiction
Reason for Ban: Considered pornography by a (now recalled) Plattsmouth School Board member who called it “DISGUSTING.”
Themes: Self-discovery, friendship, love, marriage, jealousy, sex, betrayal, forgiveness
Review: When a local (former) school board member attempted to have 52 books banned from the school libraries, several parents decided to read them to see why she was kicking up such a fuss. I was most intrigued by the one this person called “DISGUSTING” since I love a good smutty novel. Did Triangles live up to the filth hype?
Let’s get right to the point: when it came to the supposed pornographic and obscene content, no, it did not.
Yes, there is one character – Holly – who spends the majority of the novel cheating on her husband. This includes a short-lived Sapphic affair and an orgy at a club, none of which are detailed to the extent that a person would find as erotic as promised by the blurb. Perhaps the ideas are erotic, as is the way the sex is portrayed in the narrative: sensual, but brief, all of it blurred into a hazy almost-dream as Holly loses herself in seeking validation that doesn’t lift her up, but instead causes her to tear herself down even further.
The next character, Andrea is dealing with her own issues, including struggling with Holly’s decisions. Not that another person’s behaviors should weigh on our shoulders, but sometimes that happens. Andrea finds herself considering the possibility that she could even be there for Holly’s husband when he comes to her, distraught over his wife’s emotional distance from him. Will Andrea make the right decision, not just as a friend but as a person trying to be authentic to her own needs?
Last, but not least, Marissa has a terminally ill young daughter. Even though I saw it coming, the culmination of her story made me cry. Her husband and teenage son deal with the fragility of their daughter and sister in their own ways, ways that make Marissa question whether her family is even truly there for one another. In the end (spoiler alert), the loss of her daughter leaves her feeling free again, but there’s a heaviness to it, as there should be with such a significant event.
All three of the characters’ intertwined stories are sad. They are middle-aged women making difficult choices or living with the hand life has dealt them, and navigating the consequences. Maybe that’s why the book is so compelling and so relatable – because no one comes away from the story unscathed. As the blurb says, “Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.”
This book isn’t pornography by any means, but I can see why that school board member didn’t like the few paragraphs she glimpsed of it. It’s because Triangles is only a story for people with courage, curiosity, and the capacity for empathy. It is only a novel for those who can appreciate – or are in the mood for – substance over fluff.
Do I recommend it? Yes. The prose style isn’t for everyone, especially me, as I’m picky about tense and voice. However, I was able to lose myself in these characters’ complicated lives.
