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princess_peach's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this book as much as one can enjoy a book about addiction. It was interesting to have the perspectives of both Roxy and Adderall along with the two main characters, Issac and Ivy. I've seen some criticisms about stigmatizing the use of Adderall, which I understand and maybe the authors could have at least put an author's note highlighting that medications help many many many people and that medication stigma is a harmful barrier to people asking for or accessing needed medications. I think the scenes with Rit(alin) and Adderall are really helpful to show how much the medication does help and how it is a good tool to use for ADD and ADHD. Ivy's increase in productivity and focus when she's taking it as prescribed shows that it works as it's being used. Ivy's misuse of the medication shows that it, along with any other drugs, can be harmful when misused. Roxy's statements about how it "helps people" are more clear-- more "told than showed", whereas Adderall's was more "shown than told." I don't think that the book specifies that Adderall is inherently more or worse than other drugs that are used or misused; rather that it can be misused. I think it's an interesting approach to use prescription drugs as the main drugs of the book because prescription drugs may be more accessible. A guide for the names of the drugs would have been helpful, and the "Party" could have been a little more clearly explained. Also, the time line of events seemed a little rushed for me, though to be fair, I don't know if there's a "typical" timeline for addiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Car accident, Grief, Violence, and Vomit
hannalizzy's review
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
3.5
I liked this book! It was definitely worth a read. I’ve never seen a story that balances a dream world/real world so well in live time and multiple POVs. I found the different drug references interesting, and it was kind of fun to try and figure out what characters represented each drug. Fast paced, well done, very sad but with a hopeful end for one of the siblings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident and Death
Minor: Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
amesnotamy's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
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