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libvin96's review against another edition
4.0
Quinones does an excellent job building his thesis on how the pharmaceutical industry's promotion of pain as a vital sign coupled with the Xalisco Boys' work led to the opiate epidemic. However, the Afterword mistakenly forces this idea brand new to the book--the idea that isolation and "helicopter parenting" is probably what led so many teens to use heroin. I can see this connection to his anecdote on the religious Russian immigrants whose children were holed up in their homes, but nowhere else. Such a claim requires evidence, which Quinones doesn't tie in much. To make such a bold claim more successful would have required more elaborating and connection to stories earlier in the book. Instead it came off a little bit as random Boomer thoughts. I think ending the book with the quote that "we may thank heroin someday" was a bit outrageous. Considering the pages upon pages described of the tragic deaths brought on by heroin, I don't think it's plausible that Ohioans would ever thank heroin the same way that some former addicts thank prison for their recovery.
In summary: Good book with stellar writing and thesis building, up until some strange claims at the very end.
In summary: Good book with stellar writing and thesis building, up until some strange claims at the very end.
takumo_n's review against another edition
4.0
Really good reporting and writing. Quinones is mostly a journalist so he just writes what people say and do. He doesn't have the knowledge to back up all the claims in this book. Which is fine, but the book is too repetitive sometimes, and he could've cut some of it out and fill it with arguments from neuroscientists or psychologist, or whoever that could give another perspective. At the very end there were people doing recovering and talking groups, stating that a better enviroment and a sense of community was a better way to fight an addiction epidemic than open a bunch of recovery clinics. But those chapters were too short, and that argument should be explore more. But I guess this is not that book. I'll recommend Carl Hart for that, if you haven't heard of him.
nderiley's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting and sad. This book goes a long way to explain the confluence of factors which made a perfect recipe for heroin addiction in middle America
robivy's review against another edition
4.0
Great book. So well researched. Fascinating and eye-opening. Like a lot of non-fiction, it was about twice as long as it needed to be to covey the story, but I’m glad to have read it and would recommend it to anyone - especially those with kids.
alyssacreechie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
I read this for a college class and actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It did get repetitive at times and I was bored at some parts. Though, I loved the short chapters, because they made the book a lot easier to get through.