IN ECSTASY

An oddly old-fashioned drug-abuse story from Australia. Best friends Mia and Sophie say yes when popular Lewis offers them Ecstasy at a party. Shy, insecure Mia loves the rush, the power and especially the resulting relationship with Lewis. Bold Sophie, who hates losing control (especially after a drunken blowjob left her with a reputation) is less enthralled and walks away after Lewis and Mia leave her with Glenn, who slips her a roofie and tries to rape her. Sophie and Mia’s alternating—often pitch-perfect—voices detail the deterioration of their friendship and Mia’s descent into addiction. However, the first-person narration necessitates Mia’s being blind to her own behavior even as she describes it in painful detail, and Sophie’s long delay in reaching out to Mia propels the plot but fails to be true to her character. Predictable and oddly stilted for a book that deals with drugs and contains two incidents of sexual predation, this didactic tale is unlikely to find a wide audience, particularly in a country where Ecstasy use among teens is declining. (drug-abuse resource list) (Fiction. 13-16)