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donnasaur's review against another edition
4.0
I highly recommend this book. The detail of how abuse of prescription pharmaceuticals and the Mexican black tar heroin combined to create an epidemic is fascinating. Ultimately it is a marketing and distribution story -and not the one I expected.
This was helpful for me as I try to understand more about what drives the belief system in parts of our country.
This was helpful for me as I try to understand more about what drives the belief system in parts of our country.
jenfantoni's review against another edition
4.0
Ver written and painful read about the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the US.
mcbibliotecaria's review against another edition
5.0
Best book I've read as an understanding of heroin opioid epidemic in the last 10 years. Following the trail of origins from poppy seed to streets of Columbus from sackler to pill factories. How interest convergence is the only way to reforms.
mikec363's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very important book that is worthwhile reading for anyone who is trying to understand the heroin epidemic in America, and the convergence of forces that led to its explosion. It's thorough and well researched and I liked that Quinones tried to tell the story from multiple perspectives.
Unfortunately, while I wanted to give this book a high recommendation, it's so repetitive and poorly edited that it the middle portion becomes a total slog. The same stories are told over and over, often with identically worded sentences only a few lines apart, which I found annoying. It's as if each chapter was meant to be extracted for individual use without needing to read other chapters. If it's meant for educational and classroom purposes only then that's fine, but when reading the book as a whole, it's incredibly frustrating. Things pick up at the end when Quinones moves on to how American towns are trying to rebuild and combat heroin addiction, but it just takes way too long to get there.
Yet another book on my shelf that would have been better served having 50 pages trimmed.
Unfortunately, while I wanted to give this book a high recommendation, it's so repetitive and poorly edited that it the middle portion becomes a total slog. The same stories are told over and over, often with identically worded sentences only a few lines apart, which I found annoying. It's as if each chapter was meant to be extracted for individual use without needing to read other chapters. If it's meant for educational and classroom purposes only then that's fine, but when reading the book as a whole, it's incredibly frustrating. Things pick up at the end when Quinones moves on to how American towns are trying to rebuild and combat heroin addiction, but it just takes way too long to get there.
Yet another book on my shelf that would have been better served having 50 pages trimmed.
danoreading's review against another edition
3.0
Downgraded a couple stars because it was awfully repetitive at times, but still really interesting and thought-provoking.
thehawk72's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating 3.5. I wonder if I would have gotten more out of reading the adult book rather than the YA version.
m_klevenberg's review against another edition
5.0
Stephanie Moon recommendation. This book was so interesting. I found myself talking about it regularly, relaying the highlights and the interesting facts. Highly recommend.
nooneyouknow's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Very scary reality laid out in depth. Phrases that were repeated verbatim several times throughout the book were pretty annoying, but the overall story really kept my attention.