Readers looking for addiction fiction would be better served elsewhere.
A coming-of-age story told through the lenses of pornography addiction, music, and romance.
While the medical community still debates pornography addiction, books on the topic should offer nuanced, through-provoking, and interesting vantage points to allow readers to consider (and possibly challenge) their perspectives. Alas, this book does not. Readers meet Adam Hawthorne, a white high school student whose addiction to pornography is almost as strong as Connis’ fondness for grandiose and cumbersome dialogue. A school-based MacGuffin forces Adam to meet weekly with a platitude-spouting music producer–turned–chemistry teacher with a drug- and alcohol-fueled past who saves Adam from expulsion by forcing him to attend a public addiction group and to meet with a group of students who all are caught up in their own destructive addictions. Adam also meets the white and infinitely sexy Desiree “Dez” Coulter, a self-proclaimed addict to addiction. When one of the students falls victim to his demons, Adam must re-examine his life and attempt to move forward as a recovering addict. Separately, Adam’s melodramatic eccentricities are not wholly out of line with the teenage ego, but when assembled, they create a disingenuous character. The secondary characters seem little more than sketches with a few capricious quirks, while the character of Dez and her “addicted to addiction” storyline offer little insight or support for readers considering their own dependencies.
Readers looking for addiction fiction would be better served elsewhere. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0730-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
A gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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