Main Character: Christopher, Kelly, Jason, Olivia and Eva
Love Interest: None (well, not really)
Series: None
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads
You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. I’m still wondering the same thing.
Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. And they certainly don’t want to share their darkest secrets and most desperate fears with a room of strangers. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.
2011 is shaping up to be the year that I try reading books that I normally wouldn’t have given the time of day. I’m much more of a romance reader. I like happy endings and pairing couples up and watching them fumble their way to their happy ending and in this book, there’s no real love interests for any of the characters in the book but I was still captivated by the characters and their stories.
This book follows five different teenagers as they are sent to rehab to battle their addictions. We have Christopher, who is meth addict with a secret, Kelly who is addicted to alcohol, cocaine and sex, Jason who is an alcoholic, Eva who lost her mother and finds solace in drugs and finally, we have Olivia who suffers from an eating disorders, diet pills and has a severe case of OCD. This story follows all five of them on their road to recovery and it puts you right in the thick of it all. We get five different stories told through personal essays, group therapy and through the two main POV’s of Christopher and Kelly.
This book wasn’t an easy read but man was it good. It’s probably not going to be for everyone but I thought it wouldn’t be for me and yet I was dead wrong. Reed did a wonderful job of sucking me right into the thick of everything going on. My heart went out to all five of the teenagers and what I liked most of all was how each teenager acted just like what they were. Teenagers. They made mistakes and they were stuck in that place that none of them wanted to be at and they had bad attitudes and everything but over the course of the book, you see each of them making strides in beating their addictions.
They were all so different and yet each and every single one of them felt real to me. Not once did I roll my eyes because something didn’t ring true for me. I could have known any one of these teens, they were that real. They’re stories were all flushed out and I wasn’t left feeling like I missed something or I knew someone more than the other. I understood why they felt the way that they did and just like Olivia says in the end of the book, they became my friends and I wanted to keep in touch with each of them.
My heart went out to each and every single one of these guys and though I loved them all, I loved Christopher a little more. The home-schooled, sheltered and thoroughly naive boy who held so much inside and knew he was weird. The kid who kept to himself because he knew that he was weird and he knew that people were going to make fun of him because it was what he knew. He had self-esteem issues and when he finally stands up to a bully in the rehab center, how happy he was, was exactly how I felt. I was thrilled for him because he was so proud of himself. After that, he knew that he could stand up to people and I literally cheered out loud for him. Aside from how proud of Christopher that I was, Christopher made me laugh.
Throughout the book, I would send Ames and Izzy emails about different scenes where Christopher had me cracking up. His personality was just so refreshing and funny that I couldn’t help but love the guy.
The one thing that I wanted more from was Jason. His story made my heart hurt and the man that he grew to be in rehab was ten times the man his Dad would ever be and I was so hot dang proud of him that I just wanted to hug him close. He was a good man and I was so glad that by the end of the book, there was a chance that he might see what everyone in the Group saw in him and that made me happy.
I really connected with each and every single person in this Group of addicts despite not having gone through anything that any of them have gone through. I wanted to be all of their friends and help them with all of their problems. I wanted to be there for each of them because they needed me. I thought Reed did a fantastic job of drawing everyone’s stories out and creating a story that raised awareness to teenage addiction and painting it for the picture it really is, an ugly one that can be fixed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and though it’s a bit on the dark side (issues wise), it’s still an outstanding read and I totally recommend it.
..and that’s your scoop!
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
I really enjoyed your review. I’ve had this book on my radar — now it’s on my list! Thanks.
I will be reading this soon, and am glad to see you enjoyed it 🙂 Great review!
@Annette & Cindy,
Thanks guys, I hope you guys enjoy this book as much as I did.