Scan barcode
itsmeimkaty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Sexual assault
elllav's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Drug abuse, Self harm, Eating disorder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Vomit
aliteubner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Drug use, Death, and Mental illness
beaky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
although some of the characters seemed stuck in stereotypes of race and class, i thought the characters were really well portrayed when it came to their experiences with mental illness and addiction.
i loved the ill kids do crime aspect and the found family vibes although i don’t normally like the latter trope
they all seemed real and had heart and dynamic personalities - all the characters had layers which i loved to read about.
i loved Juno’s writing and now want to read more Dawson books.
obviously, BIG TRIGGER WARNINGS for anorexia, binge eating, ocd, addiction, drug abuse, self harm and make sure to check these before reading!
i’d 100% recommend clean, especially to ppl who have gone through mental illnesses and struggled with addiction WHO ARE NOW RECOVERED!
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, and Self harm
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship
ameliapagee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
+ addiction was represented very, very accurately and is not glamorized in the slightest.
+ comforted me and bought me back to my time in a clinic which was a healing, positive place and i think Juno did i remarkable job at capturing the atmosphere, solidarity and acceptance for who the person standing opposite you is (no matter how twisted and ugly) patients have
+ lexi was a super interesting character, with depth
+ does not use the love can save your mental illness trope
+ you can tell this is a really important issue to Juno, and that she knows what she’s talking about
+ super readable, reignited my joy for reading after months and almost years of not reading anything
+ first book i finished after school so sentimental value
+definitely important for younger readers i think
+ some beautiful sentences
- felt very rushed and not fleshed out, almost surface level as if the book was trying to tackle too much at once
- although i think the depiction of the rehab facility was super positive it is strange how they’re on a private island and it’s meant to be a world class centre, yet more than once patients are seriously injured and bear a ridiculous amount of responsibility which wouldn’t happen even in maximum security places. Also even in the voluntary clinic i was at they still had cameras to monitor the patients weren’t going to harm themselves which is what happened multiple times in this novel.
-> why was an ED patient being treated with the same programme and steps as a opiate addict? It doesn’t make sense.
-> for a world class center why aren’t they checking in on patients and making sure
a) they wake up and come to the meals
b) they aren’t up to high jinks at night
- weird bordering on classist / racist stereotypical representation of a black character with mental illness (super disappointed in this actually Dawson used a lot of harmful stereotypes, language and just the depiction of Sasha as the low income loony was not it)
- Never really got to see Lexi work through her trauma / familial problems or get to see it resolved but i guess maybe that’s a symbol of it being a lifelong thing she’ll have to find peace with
Overall: enjoyed but i think as someone who has been to a treatment facility i found more inconsistencies and errors that took away from the experience as a whole.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Toxic relationship
zafiras_bestie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Body shaming, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Drug use, Death, Child death, Medical content, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Eating disorder
maevehandy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Death, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship
char9341's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction and Toxic relationship
enmcurrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
What I love about this book is just how raw and real it feels. It doesn’t cut corners it doesn’t try to belittle anything, it’s straight to the point in its handling of addiction and recovery and was really eye-opening to me. It’s so easy to be judgemental of addicts but they have so many more layers to them, and that’s conveyed clearly in this book. The plot is dark, but Dawson gives Lexi such a great dry sense of humour to counteract just how dark and heavy the storyline is, which I appreciated. The characters weren’t meant to be perfect, they say and do offensive things. They’re heavily flawed. But they don’t feel curated. The characters feel real, like you’re reading about the lives of random people you pass by on the street.
Lexi’s recovery felt real too, it wasn’t one dimensional and simple. It wasn’t cliche. The same goes for the other characters in rehab recovering.
The only issue I could comment about with the book would be the way it dealt with anorexia and overeating. I didn’t really like the favour and better treatment there was towards anorexia, but there was good representation there. Also, the ending felt a bit out of place and didn’t make all too much sense to me:
The ending was satisfying though and overall I really enjoyed this book. It tackled a lot of issues and it did it well. The pace was good. I would definitely recommend.
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Vomit, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Eating disorder
Minor: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Clean is an easy read, which seems fast but is more medium paced, and may discomfort the reader or at least make the reader question what's really important in your life.
I don't know if it was the writing, the characters or the story that got me hooked, no pun intended, but I breezed through this book in a day, all the while alternating between yelling a Lexi to grow up, and to realise she can do better in friends/boyfriends.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement and Self harm
Minor: Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Transphobia