monthly review =)

"hits you smack in the face. It not only has sex and drugs and rock n' roll, but it has elements far more rare. It tells the truth. It doesn't preach. It makes you think . . . As addictive as the drug it profiles." -VOYA

This month i read a book called Smack by Melvin Burgess. Its a fiction book about two teens who are in love, both from unpleasant homes, and decide to run away together. Tar and Gemma end up meeting some people there age at a party full of other teens runaways, Lily and Rob, who are also a couple. Gemma and Lily immediately click and become inseparable, and they learn the rules of living as runaways from them. After living with Lily and Rob for a while in an abandoned house, Gemma realizes there both heroin addicts. Lily having such a big influence on Gemma, she convinces her that its not really that bad, in fact its pretty damn good. She persuades her to try it with her, and Gemma falls in love with the drug right away. Eventually she wants share it with her love, and convinces Tar to try it too. So four teen runaways addicted to heroin is basically what this book is about.
Despite how depressing the story line sounds, this book is really great. I really enjoyed this book because it was super interesting and made me keep wanting to read on. I was glad that i had finally picked a book worth reading, because the last few times i made the wrong choices with choosing a book. This is the only book Ive read by Melvin Burgess and i think that he is a fantastic writer. Melvin Burgess is a British author who was born on April 25, 1954. In 1990 his first book was published, The Cry of the Wolf. He gained recognition with his second publication in 1996 with Junk. In 1999 Smack was published. Most of Burgess's writing themes revolve around teen drug use, or underage sex. Like i said he really is a talented, successful writer.

"Maybe that's the difference with me these days. I used to get this feeling that life was rushing past me and i had to grab hold of it or id lose everything. But when i moved here, i remember thinking, I'm in control now. It was the first time i felt i had my life in my own hands. There i was scrabbl9ing and struggling to keep things together. These days, i just let go of them. And it isn't me who falls. Its the rest of the world that goes away-up or down, i don't know. Just away."

I think that Melvin Burgess wrote this book as more of an information source in a story form. Like the causes and effects of drug abuse. In this book he really puts the spotlight on the negatives of addiction and abuse. I think he made the characters, Tar and Gemma, young teenagers to emphasis the fact that that the teenage years is usually where drug use begins. Therefore i believe this book was intended for teens, probably 14 and older, to learn from the characters mistakes. I would actually recommend this book to anyone really, just because its well written and anyone can learn a lesson from it. I'm pretty sure the authors goal was to write something that really made people think about the consequences to actions, he definitely achieved that goal. The good thing about his writing is that he makes a point to highlight the not-so-fun parts of drug use. He makes it seem glamorous at first, just like in real life.But quickly gets to the bad parts. Like coming off of heroin:

" so coming down was the first thing and it was awful. It really makes you feel bad. I spent a few hours rolling around groaning in my cell and then they let me go to the pharmacy. I was in a horrendous mess-sweating this horrid yellow juice that stung, and aching, and my teeth with this toothache that kept jumping from tooth to tooth. "

Like i said before this book is well written and very clear. The thing i like most is that the storyline is not confusing like some stories Ive read. I like the fact that in every chapter, a different character speaks, so you get the story from every point of view. You don't have to wonder what the other characters are thinking in a certain situation, because everyone gets a chance to speak there mind. Also i like that the author doesn't drag on and on about things in the book. A lot of books drag there plots and situations on and on, making the book become boring and redundant. He makes them clear but also keeps the story moving along. I don't really see a lot of weaknesses in this story, Melvin seems like a very experienced writer already and has a lot of talent.

"Looking back-some of the things we were doing. Rob was cottaging-you know? selling sex to homos in the public toilets. Lily went mad when she found out, it totally did her head in. It was all right when she was doing it at home with guys, but him doing it with men-she just went ape, running around screaming and crying. Me, i was knicking (stealing) stuff. Not from shops; I'd lost the bottle for that ages before. From Gemma, from Rob, from Lily. Anyone, id turn up late at a friends house, stay late, ask if i could stay and then get up in the night and sneak about opening drawers and digging around in cupboards and coat pockets. Thats the way it works. you'll eat shit or go in the ring for ten rounds with Mike Tyson-slave, hero, rent boy, pimp, master of the universe-you'll do whatever you have to do get your next hit. I'd have escaped (from jail). Id have committed murder."