A review by exhaleartist
Clean by Amy Reed
3.0
This book has been in my Amazon cart FOREVER. I saw it ages ago and it caught my interest. I have been waiting impatiently for it to be released, so when I saw it in the Galley Grab newsletter I was completely psyched. It took me about a week to get to it (my TBR pile is getting a bit out of hand), but when I sat down to read it, I read it straight through!
All of the characters in this book are very flawed, but each is so different. They are all addicts that have been sent to rehab, but for each of them the journey leading there has not been the same. It was very painful reading about the stories behind each of these characters. Kelly has a wonderful family, but one incident with a boy years ago has led her to rehab. Christopher is seemingly a perfect, Christian boy, but that facade hides a scared guy full of pent-up emotion. Jason has suffered years of abuse at the hands of his father, and he struggles not to follow the same path. Eva is a girl who lost her way after the death of her mother, and has been crying out for her father’s notice. Finally there’s Olivia. Olivia refuses to admit that there’s anything wrong, but is probably farther gone than the rest of them. Of all the characters, I really could relate to Eva & Olivia the most. Grief is something I am sadly too familiar with, and it has caused me to do a lot of things I regret, so I could completely understand how it drove Eva. Olivia strives to be perfect and hurts because she can never really achieve perfection. It’s an all too common plight for teens today.
I really enjoyed the way the story is written. It is alternatively told from the viewpoints of the addicts with some chapters told via personal essays, questionnaire answers, or group therapy sessions. It is very creatively done, and the writing itself is very solid. The story, however, is very, very intense. All of it is very emotional and at times, a tough read.
Overall I really enjoyed reading this, but I am not sure if I could read it again just because it was so very intense, heartbreaking. The story, however, is one the really needs to be told continually. This is a book I would highly recommend and I am looking forward to what the author writes next!
All of the characters in this book are very flawed, but each is so different. They are all addicts that have been sent to rehab, but for each of them the journey leading there has not been the same. It was very painful reading about the stories behind each of these characters. Kelly has a wonderful family, but one incident with a boy years ago has led her to rehab. Christopher is seemingly a perfect, Christian boy, but that facade hides a scared guy full of pent-up emotion. Jason has suffered years of abuse at the hands of his father, and he struggles not to follow the same path. Eva is a girl who lost her way after the death of her mother, and has been crying out for her father’s notice. Finally there’s Olivia. Olivia refuses to admit that there’s anything wrong, but is probably farther gone than the rest of them. Of all the characters, I really could relate to Eva & Olivia the most. Grief is something I am sadly too familiar with, and it has caused me to do a lot of things I regret, so I could completely understand how it drove Eva. Olivia strives to be perfect and hurts because she can never really achieve perfection. It’s an all too common plight for teens today.
I really enjoyed the way the story is written. It is alternatively told from the viewpoints of the addicts with some chapters told via personal essays, questionnaire answers, or group therapy sessions. It is very creatively done, and the writing itself is very solid. The story, however, is very, very intense. All of it is very emotional and at times, a tough read.
Overall I really enjoyed reading this, but I am not sure if I could read it again just because it was so very intense, heartbreaking. The story, however, is one the really needs to be told continually. This is a book I would highly recommend and I am looking forward to what the author writes next!