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katrinky's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
3.0
the science is interesting, and the pandemic plot (written in 2014) is obviously eerie, but the romance part is cheesy and doesn't land right. the DC references are great. long live Julia's empanadas in AdMo!!
kblincoln's review against another edition
5.0
So this book was published a handful of years ago…but wow was it eerily prescient for stuff going on today as I read this in 2021.
I am a big fan of Johnson’s young adult voices, they’re always brutally vulnerable, not too perfect, authentic to their time, and Bird/Emily is exactly what she is: the privileged black high school daughter of government scientist ambitious parents, navigating prep school boyfriend and college decisions.
Only we meet Emily when she’s ditching her perfect boyfriend and the party to hang out downstairs with a stoner, Coffee, who is bad news, but with whom Emily feels more like herself. Then strange stuff goes down, she gets drunk…maybe….and loses her memory of the rest of that night.
All she knows is a some shadowy gov’t dude named Roosevelt thinks she knows something important, something connected to her parents who are away from home “saving” the world in the midst of a deadly virus causing Washington D.C. and the world to go into lockdown.
Yep, it’s a deadly virus book. That’s what made this so eerie to me, the precautions, the lockdowns, the political manuevers for power, the gov’t lies, etc. etc.
But underneath all that plot is Emily losing her “perfect’ life and discovering her authentic self and that’s always awesome to read about.
I am a big fan of Johnson’s young adult voices, they’re always brutally vulnerable, not too perfect, authentic to their time, and Bird/Emily is exactly what she is: the privileged black high school daughter of government scientist ambitious parents, navigating prep school boyfriend and college decisions.
Only we meet Emily when she’s ditching her perfect boyfriend and the party to hang out downstairs with a stoner, Coffee, who is bad news, but with whom Emily feels more like herself. Then strange stuff goes down, she gets drunk…maybe….and loses her memory of the rest of that night.
All she knows is a some shadowy gov’t dude named Roosevelt thinks she knows something important, something connected to her parents who are away from home “saving” the world in the midst of a deadly virus causing Washington D.C. and the world to go into lockdown.
Yep, it’s a deadly virus book. That’s what made this so eerie to me, the precautions, the lockdowns, the political manuevers for power, the gov’t lies, etc. etc.
But underneath all that plot is Emily losing her “perfect’ life and discovering her authentic self and that’s always awesome to read about.
skiracechick's review against another edition
3.0
It’s kind of fun (in a demented kind of way) to read books about deadly viruses taking over the world when there’s one kind of doing that right now. In some ways this story slightly parallels reality, but not really. Just kind of trippy to read about. The story was kind of interesting, but kind of out there. Overall, I’m feeling pretty ambivalent about the whole thing.
storytimed's review against another edition
2.0
Very cogently conveys race in elite white institutions,and the bits about economic privilege rang true. Really did not like the romance, especially the fact that Bird just let a war happen because she wanted to be with her bf, and couldn't stand him being imprisoned for literally just a few years.
emmalarkin415's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book. The author had been recommended to me by a friend. I found it a bit hard to follow and got frustrated with the "flow" of the story while reading it. I did like the characters a lot and their story line, actually I really wanted to like them more. They we're your typical YA roles (which is why I wanted to read books by the author) but without much "flow", it was hard to keep wanting to read. I was planning on reading more books by this author, but will maybe hold off a while.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
I started reading this book so long ago. I put it down. I read other things. I came back to it and read it very slowly.
This is the first book I read intentionally for the Andre Norton Award for SF or Fantasy YA, and the 3rd book for that book that I'm reviewing for goodreads. I figured, there are only 11 of these books, how long could it take?
This is basically a plague book set in DC as seen through the eyes of a black female senior in an expensive prep school. It is so many worlds that I'm not in and not especially interested in. Throw in disinterested absent parents and a conspiracy and evil shadowy government figures and it is beyond off the rails.
And yet the characters are interesting and seeing the world from a way different perspective is diverting if not necessarily enjoyable.
This is the first book I read intentionally for the Andre Norton Award for SF or Fantasy YA, and the 3rd book for that book that I'm reviewing for goodreads. I figured, there are only 11 of these books, how long could it take?
This is basically a plague book set in DC as seen through the eyes of a black female senior in an expensive prep school. It is so many worlds that I'm not in and not especially interested in. Throw in disinterested absent parents and a conspiracy and evil shadowy government figures and it is beyond off the rails.
And yet the characters are interesting and seeing the world from a way different perspective is diverting if not necessarily enjoyable.
ria_mhrj's review against another edition
3.0
Love in a time of bio-terrorism - such a great concept! There is a huge amount of ambition here and this book worked for me on a lot of levels. I loved the exploration of the uneasy tension Bird experiences, struggling with her privileged upbringing and her race, her heritage and her place in society. The relationship with Coffee was charming, the title of the book held a lot of power in its depiction of the breathless craziness that love can often induce. He was a different kind of YA hero and a perfect match for our smart but flawed heroine. It was also nice to see an honest depiction of female friendship and the suffocating pressure to feel like part of the gang.
So why only three stars? As much as I can admire elements in this book, I found it hard to get any momentum in reading this. It might have been my frame of mind, it might have been that I was busy, but if I'm really honest, I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the writing. There are some really beautiful expressions and turns of phrases, but more often than not, the excess of simile kept throwing me off my reading groove and given the plot, what could have been pacey felt plodding at times. The whole thread with Roosevelt should have been tense and thrilling, but instead I kept rolling my eyes whenever he showed up with his sinister moustache twirling.
I will definitely read more from this writer in the future, this is the type of story I love and there is oodles of promise here.
So why only three stars? As much as I can admire elements in this book, I found it hard to get any momentum in reading this. It might have been my frame of mind, it might have been that I was busy, but if I'm really honest, I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan of the writing. There are some really beautiful expressions and turns of phrases, but more often than not, the excess of simile kept throwing me off my reading groove and given the plot, what could have been pacey felt plodding at times. The whole thread with Roosevelt should have been tense and thrilling, but instead I kept rolling my eyes whenever he showed up with his sinister moustache twirling.
I will definitely read more from this writer in the future, this is the type of story I love and there is oodles of promise here.
tachyondecay's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is one of those books where I don’t remember how it got on my to-read list. Love Is the Drug is just shy of ten years old now, although thanks to its pandemic storyline it feels perhaps even more topical than it did when Alayna Dawn Johnson wrote it. A YA thriller that mixes Washington, DC, privilege with misogynoir, this novel has a lot of individual elements to recommend it, yet for me it never quite came together as an enjoyable whole.
Emily Bird has it all. She’s with the in crowd at her private school, has the perfect boyfriend, seems to be going places. But something goes down at a party one night—she gets drugged, or something, hits her head, memory absent—and shortly thereafter, a flu sweeps the world and Washington, DC, goes into lockdown. Emily—or Bird, as she increasingly starts to think of herself thanks to the influence of some rebellious spirits like Coffee—is determined to understand more about that fateful night, even if it means antagonizing a private-security spook with CIA connections. Bird isn’t sure who she is anymore—but she is done being a good girl.
Shortly after starting this book, I was beginning to wonder if it would be my first “bad” book of 2023. My reading so far this year has been off to a fantastic start! Love Is the Drug just didn’t grab me. It took me a while, however, to really wrap my head around why that was the case. It’s a less recent book, sure, but there are plenty of 2014 YA releases that still feel relevant to me today. Eventually, I settled on the intersection of setting and character. To be more specific: Bird’s high school experience just feels entirely too bland and familiar. The opening scene at the party felt like the same kind of teenage party scene I had read so many times. Sure, it was a little different because Bird and her peers are mostly rich kids going to one of the most elite schools in the country. Aside from that, however, the setting and the various minor characters who populate it just didn’t feel fresh to me. Paul, Bird’s overbearing sleazeball of a boyfriend, felt like every cluelessly opportunistic young boyfriend I’ve read before. I was having so much trouble finding something about the book to cling on to and enjoy.
This feeling continued for most of the first half of the book. Maybe I should have given up on it. I think mainly what kept me going was the pandemic: I was so interested to see how that worked out given its eerie prescience here in our post-COVID world. So I kept reading.
And damn it if Johnson didn’t mostly change my mind!
Somehow the second half of this book nearly completely turned my opinion around. I think when Bird drops the baggage of her old self, commits to being friends with Marella, decides she’s going to do whatever it takes to bring Roosevelt down—I was like, finally. Let’s do it! The book kicks into a higher gear, and the result is a much more satisfying read.
I’m happy about this because there is plenty to like about this book. Johnson is making some very salient commentary on life as a Black girl in the upper echelons. Bird’s parents, particularly her mother, have a very clear idea of who she is supposed to be: relaxed hair, always polite, going to make a name for herself. We see how Bird’s mother has really bought hard into things like respectability politics, and when Bird dares to express a desire to rebel even a little bit, her mother loses all perspective. Yet her mother isn’t a villain, isn’t a bad person per se—she genuinely believes that her very conservative ideas, that blending in, is necessary for Bird’s survival. Her mother understands the harm of misogynoir in America, and her reaction is to try to fit in more rather than stand out and stand up against it. In this way, Johnson chronicles how different generations of Black families deal with the intergenerational trauma of anti-Black racism differently, and it’s fascinating.
The pandemic content is also, of course, deeply interesting in our current context. Johnson in many ways anticipates how the country would respond to a pandemic respiratory virus: masks, lockdowns and quarantines, the rush for a vaccine. I can only imagine how readers prior to 2020 might have panned the portrayal as unrealistic, but I don’t think anyone who reads the book now can do anything except shake their head at how optimistic, if anything, Johnson was regarding the swiftness and absoluteness of the US government’s public health procedures.
You might notice, if you have read the book, that I’ve said relatively little about the romance between Bird and Coffee. I don’t know that I have much to say, for it’s yet another one of those aspects that just didn’t feel original. I feel terrible saying that because I’m really trying hard not to slate this author. The intensity of feeling that develops is, at times, a very rewarding experience for the reader. But the overall subplot just never feels like it goes anywhere interesting or gets all that exciting.
Love Is the Drug is a book with great intentions that just never quite settles into itself. It has all the ingredients for a great thriller, yet it doesn’t turn into a filling meal. While I don’t want to give the impression it’s awful, I also don’t recommend it, not even for the experience of reading about a pandemic set in such temporal proximity to our own. When I return to this review ten years from now, this is not a book that I will remember.
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
Emily Bird has it all. She’s with the in crowd at her private school, has the perfect boyfriend, seems to be going places. But something goes down at a party one night—she gets drugged, or something, hits her head, memory absent—and shortly thereafter, a flu sweeps the world and Washington, DC, goes into lockdown. Emily—or Bird, as she increasingly starts to think of herself thanks to the influence of some rebellious spirits like Coffee—is determined to understand more about that fateful night, even if it means antagonizing a private-security spook with CIA connections. Bird isn’t sure who she is anymore—but she is done being a good girl.
Shortly after starting this book, I was beginning to wonder if it would be my first “bad” book of 2023. My reading so far this year has been off to a fantastic start! Love Is the Drug just didn’t grab me. It took me a while, however, to really wrap my head around why that was the case. It’s a less recent book, sure, but there are plenty of 2014 YA releases that still feel relevant to me today. Eventually, I settled on the intersection of setting and character. To be more specific: Bird’s high school experience just feels entirely too bland and familiar. The opening scene at the party felt like the same kind of teenage party scene I had read so many times. Sure, it was a little different because Bird and her peers are mostly rich kids going to one of the most elite schools in the country. Aside from that, however, the setting and the various minor characters who populate it just didn’t feel fresh to me. Paul, Bird’s overbearing sleazeball of a boyfriend, felt like every cluelessly opportunistic young boyfriend I’ve read before. I was having so much trouble finding something about the book to cling on to and enjoy.
This feeling continued for most of the first half of the book. Maybe I should have given up on it. I think mainly what kept me going was the pandemic: I was so interested to see how that worked out given its eerie prescience here in our post-COVID world. So I kept reading.
And damn it if Johnson didn’t mostly change my mind!
Somehow the second half of this book nearly completely turned my opinion around. I think when Bird drops the baggage of her old self, commits to being friends with Marella, decides she’s going to do whatever it takes to bring Roosevelt down—I was like, finally. Let’s do it! The book kicks into a higher gear, and the result is a much more satisfying read.
I’m happy about this because there is plenty to like about this book. Johnson is making some very salient commentary on life as a Black girl in the upper echelons. Bird’s parents, particularly her mother, have a very clear idea of who she is supposed to be: relaxed hair, always polite, going to make a name for herself. We see how Bird’s mother has really bought hard into things like respectability politics, and when Bird dares to express a desire to rebel even a little bit, her mother loses all perspective. Yet her mother isn’t a villain, isn’t a bad person per se—she genuinely believes that her very conservative ideas, that blending in, is necessary for Bird’s survival. Her mother understands the harm of misogynoir in America, and her reaction is to try to fit in more rather than stand out and stand up against it. In this way, Johnson chronicles how different generations of Black families deal with the intergenerational trauma of anti-Black racism differently, and it’s fascinating.
The pandemic content is also, of course, deeply interesting in our current context. Johnson in many ways anticipates how the country would respond to a pandemic respiratory virus: masks, lockdowns and quarantines, the rush for a vaccine. I can only imagine how readers prior to 2020 might have panned the portrayal as unrealistic, but I don’t think anyone who reads the book now can do anything except shake their head at how optimistic, if anything, Johnson was regarding the swiftness and absoluteness of the US government’s public health procedures.
You might notice, if you have read the book, that I’ve said relatively little about the romance between Bird and Coffee. I don’t know that I have much to say, for it’s yet another one of those aspects that just didn’t feel original. I feel terrible saying that because I’m really trying hard not to slate this author. The intensity of feeling that develops is, at times, a very rewarding experience for the reader. But the overall subplot just never feels like it goes anywhere interesting or gets all that exciting.
Love Is the Drug is a book with great intentions that just never quite settles into itself. It has all the ingredients for a great thriller, yet it doesn’t turn into a filling meal. While I don’t want to give the impression it’s awful, I also don’t recommend it, not even for the experience of reading about a pandemic set in such temporal proximity to our own. When I return to this review ten years from now, this is not a book that I will remember.
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
tangleroot_eli's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
I friggin love Alaya Dawn Johnson's writing. While I saw clear thematic similarities between this and The Summer Prince, TSP is lush and lyrical, as befits its solarpunk setting, while Love is the Drug is tense and taut as befits the frantic events of the plot. Not many authors can change tone that deftly, and it's a real treat to watch Johnson do it.
Reading this 2014 book now, as COVID languishes on, is a wild ride. The martial law, nationwide curfew, and actual quarantining - none of this wishy-washy golly it'd be great if y'all could stay home if you don't have a gosh-darned good reason to leave - reminded me how much more severe the US's pandemic response could've been. At the same time, it showed me how cynical I've become about abuse of power.One of the book's big reveals is that DC's rich and powerful movers and shakers and their families were secretly vaccinated before the rest of the nation even knew the vaccine existed. Most of the characters were shocked and appalled by this discovery, but to me it just felt like business as usual.
Reading this 2014 book now, as COVID languishes on, is a wild ride. The martial law, nationwide curfew, and actual quarantining - none of this wishy-washy golly it'd be great if y'all could stay home if you don't have a gosh-darned good reason to leave - reminded me how much more severe the US's pandemic response could've been. At the same time, it showed me how cynical I've become about abuse of power.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Medical content, Racism, and Classism
Moderate: Homophobia, Child abuse, Ableism, Child death, War, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Terminal illness
CN: bad parenting, terrorism, pandemic, illness