If I had ever wanted to consider taking drugs this book would stop me from trying them. While the images of purple skies and the thought of being able to manipulate what you see and hear during hallucinations sounds intoxicating and inviting, I’d much rather use my imagination to do the same thing minus the side effects.
I found it so hard wanting to continue reading when there wasn’t a single character I liked or cared about. Pen, our protagonist, is one of the most self centred characters I’ve ever come across. Her self esteem is in the toilet (unlike her vomit which invariably ends up wherever she is at the time) and while she gets used by almost every other person in the book it was hard to feel sorry for her as she was in turn using everyone else as well.
Overall I was disappointed by this book. What started out promising turned into a series of descriptions of people getting high and the last quarter of the book felt rushed. I rarely ever work out who the murderer is in books until the big reveal, yet I figured out not only who they were but their motive early on. Hint: it’s the only person in the book with a motive.
The lack of attention to detail really annoyed me, with contradictions consistently made with what we’d already been told, sometimes even as recently as the page before. Also, why is Pen continually surprised that she is hallucinating the day after she takes Fix when it’s already been established early in the book that Fix’s side effects can last for a significant period of time after you stop taking it?
What I wanted to eat while reading this book:
- Absolutely nothing! Between the frequent descriptions of Pen wanting to vomit and what her vomit looked like there was no way I was going to eat while reading this book. I guess those descriptions do make a valid point about drug addiction though … no matter how disgusting the side effects, if you’re hooked on a drug they pale in comparison to the need to get high.
I was so excited about this book after reading the blurb and the first couple of chapters but if I’d borrowed it from the library I doubt I would have made it past chapter 4. However, as I’d requested a review copy, I felt I needed to persevere. Thank you to NetGalley and Flux for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
Penelope Wryter’s life has been a mess ever since her sister committed suicide a year ago. Now Pen’s hooked on Fix, an illegal drug that makes her feel, think, and see differently. The hallucinations are intense, but there’s one vision that keeps Pen coming back for more – Nate. He’s the only person who cares about her. Too bad he’s just a side effect of the drug. Pen knows she’s going nowhere fast. She’s desperate to change. But when she tries to say goodbye to Nate, he professes his love for her making her more confused than ever. Then, when a girl from school goes missing during a bad Fix trip, Pen realizes she may be in a lot more danger than she ever imagined. Unless Pen straightens up and faces reality quick, she might be the next missing girl on the list.
Schizanthus Nerd 