Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Clean

i really loved this book - more than i expected.

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 thought Kendall’s anorexia was portrayed really well as i can unfortunately relate to her in that sense. her late night runs were heart wrenching to read but were described and written so well

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!

Content Warnings

ameliapagee's review against another edition

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dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

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

conflicted so i’m going to jot my thoughts down in a pro and con list:

+ 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.

Content Warnings

zafiras_bestie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

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