I had previously read one Mindy McGinnis book (The Female of the Species) and wasn't overly fond of that one, but decided to give this a go anyway because the story sounded interesting. I had similar feelings on this one and think she's just not the author for me. I probably won't be picking up anymore of her books in the future.

It's not that I disliked this book, it just felt very mediocre to me. More than anything else, this read like an after school special. Don't do drugs, kids- drugs are bad. It reminded me very much of a modernized version of Go Ask Alice. Which is fine, if you want to write your books as a lesson go right ahead. Some people really enjoy that. I'm not one of those people. I read fiction to get attached to the story and care about the characters, not learn a moral story. I never felt attached to Mickey or any of the other characters in this book because they all felt like actors for an anti-drug PSA. They were playing their roles to teach a lesson, not acting naturally as fully fledged people.

But like I said, that's not inherently a bad thing. I quite liked Go Ask Alice when I was a teenager so I probably would have liked this at fifteen as well. For where I am now, it just felt so preachy and I don't want to be preached to.

I was also not a fan of starting with her friends dying. Oftentimes, I feel like starting with the dramatic ending is a cheap way to grab a reader's attention early on. It can be done well, but it wasn't here. There was no reason to start with the death of her friends apart from hooking the reader's interest. It accomplished nothing storytelling-wise. I spent most of the book waiting for that to happen so we could get to something new. And it doesn't happen until very near to the end.

There was a lot within the story that felt skipped over. For starters, the car accident. Mickey and Carolina got into a car accident. Mickey was driving. That's literally all I could tell you about the car accident. I don't even know if it was a single car accident or a head on collision. The only time it's ever mentioned is when Carolina's new boyfriend implies he might blame Mickey for the accident, but Mickey and Carolina never talk about it and Mickey never even thinks about it. It's not information that's crucial the story, but as a reader it's something I want to know. It's odd that it's not included. And that wasn't the only example, just the first and most obvious. It continuously happened. We got to see very little of her rehab. Mickey was in pain and could barely stand, then she was in pain and running two miles at conditioning. The focus was so heavily on the drug use from the beginning that all the other important issues got pushed to the side. (This might have worked if that's what it became as she fell further into addiction, but it was the same for the whole book.)

I had trouble telling the passage of time in this book. I'd think a few days had passed and then she'd reference how it was a month later. It made the book frustrating to follow.

I'm also not a fan of McGinnis's writing style. It feels so overwrought. On page 41- "But lately I've noticed a deeper thought, one that slumbers below the warmth, so buried that it took me a while to find it, unwrap it, and realize what it was telling me." It was a fast read in terms of writing style and only took me a day, but she took so long to say simple things. It felt very overwritten, which is how I felt about The Female of the Species as well.

But despite having nothing really positive to say in this review, it garnered a three star rating. I didn't hate it. I had a lot of problems, but it was compelling enough that I had no problem sitting down and reading it for hours at a time, and didn't want to stop. I did like it, even at the most bare minimum. But I don't think this is one I'd recommend. Maybe to fans of Go Ask Alice, but it seemed like so much in this story was lacking. I don't think I'll be trying McGinnis again.