A review by mellabella
Clean by Amy Reed

4.0

I was surprised by Clean. Told from 5 different viewpoints from 5 very different teens in rehab. It was very realistically written. The teens are all grappling with their own serious issues, while forging friendships. There is Chris. He has a morbidly obese, super religious mother. He might also be gay. I say might because the person that he got his drugs from (not a friend. Someone he used to play with when they were kids and now... Pretends he doesn't exist. Until he visits him, of course) kind of forced him to do things at first. Chris doesn't have very high self esteem or, confidence. There's Kelly. Pretty, with younger sisters that are sick. Kelly is promiscuous. That is the result of being raped at 13 by an older neighborhood boy who took advantage of her. There's Eva. Her mother died. She found new friends and turned to drugs. All the while blaming her father for what she thinks of as deserting her after her mothers death. Jason is constantly verbally and physically abused by his military father. While he was drunk, his three year old sister fell down stairs and is now brain damaged. Then finally Olivia. Perfect, overachieving family that she feels she is not a part of. I was surprised by Clean I really liked it. I was almost sad it ended. But, not with a happy, tidy bow.