Warning: This book contains drug use. And not just “Oo,
let’s get high on a beach” kinda drug use. Full on, Heroin lovin’ Junkie
heaven. Oh yeah, and this is a book for kids.
For kids.
Yup.
Won a Carnegie Medal and everything. And I
can see why. It was a good book, full of truth.
I personally, would be happy with anyone above and including
thirteen years old reading this book. The main characters are fourteen years
old at the beginning of the novel, and the subject matter, sadly, is something
that a lot of very young kids do go through. I am however, slightly torn on the
‘consequences’ matter. Tar and Gemma, the main characters, suffer throughout
this book, even if they don’t at the beginning of it all when they run away
together (for very different reasons). But in the end they do end up with a lot
of regrets, and have a lot of bad things happen to them. Mostly brought on by
themselves. But I don’t know whether
there was enough of a message that they really really fucked up bad, and now they’re lives are changed forever. I understood that their lives would
never be the same again. I’m not sure if I would have understood this if I’d
have read it aged fourteen. I would have maybe thought “Oh, well look, they ran
away and lived in squalor and got into drugs in a huge way and loads of shit
happened to them but they’re both alive. And not doing terribly. Maybe it
happens that way for everyone on drugs.” I guess it’s the message that you can turn your life around after being an
addict, sort of. I’d probably have got my fourteen year old self another book
about drug users where it didn’t end so well, just to balance the viewpoint. To
make myself understand that just because they’re both alive and “okay” doesn’t
mean everyone who goes through that kind of stuff is.
It’s written well, the characters totally work. Each chapter
is written by a different character (some characters obviously have lots of
chapters), meaning we get a lot of viewpoints, but you never lose track of
what’s going on, or get confused by this. I think that’s due to the fact it is
written for kids (young adults, youths, whippersnappers, or whatever you want
to call them) and you have to keep it relatively straight forward to follow
else they’d lose interest (but not totally simple, else they’d feel like they
were being ridiculed). It’s a messed up book, but it’s a messed up situation.
Gemma as a character really annoyed me, but she’s just how some teenagers are –
stroppy, not getting on with her parents, self-centred and thinks she knows
best. Basically I think the book was really true about a whole lot of stuff
that other books just sort of ignore or pretend doesn’t exist.
Hard hitting stuff. Really interesting to read, especially
if you’ve never really read much like this. It got a lot of bad press and was
banned all over the shop, probably because in parts, it really makes taking
drugs sound like the best experience ever. Read it and see what you think. It
looks like a chunky book but it took me a little less than two days to read.
I’m on a pure role with reading at the minute – reading lots and getting myself
high of other people’s words. That’s a good high y’know? I’m waiting for a bad
book to come along and ruin my enjoyment.
Over and Out.
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