Reviews

Junkie Love by Joe Clifford

ariailheath's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• 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

3.0

rasmenia's review against another edition

5.0

There's not much I can say that I feel would really do justice to this book. This book, it's the kind of book that before you're halfway through it, you've already resolved to read everything else ever written by this author. It's the kind of book that by the time you read the final sentence, you're reminded why you love reading and you feel like now you know what it would be like if Jack Kerouac had been a junkie in 1990s L.A. The fact that Clifford survived his heroin addiction is a triumph... the fact that he can recount the tale for us with prose this alive is another. Even if you haven't struggled with heroin addiction, it's still a story so human that it's hard not relate to certain aspects of it. Feeling broken, that you've failed at being human or let down those who love you - many of us struggle with these things, but few of us are able to find the beauty in them, or the courage to talk about so honestly. The story is a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride - one that is absolutely worth taking.