Phixeedifore, commonly known as Fix, the new high

I'm actually very surprised by this book - surprised that I finished it. This is a book, mostly well written, that should have been a short story.

There's probably about 10-15 pages that tell the story and then interminable filler pages that repeat those pages over and over with a bit of tweaking here and there.

Penelope "Pen" is a high school student who lost her big sister to suicide. Since that time she's gotten involved with a different crowd at school and has been abusing the drug Fix, which started out as a prescription anti-depressant.

She takes readers along on her many crazy, hallucinatory trips while taking Fix and none of them seem to differ too much.

This book is written as a YA book for readers 14 years old and up but be warned that there is heavy drug use, teen drinking, and mentions of teen sex. And, just as a note, I read quite a few YA books and enjoy them even though I'm not the target audience.

Obviously this book wasn't anywhere near to being a favorite of mine. I should have done myself a favor and not finished it but I kept expecting it to get better. No such luck.

I received this book from Flux Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Pen's life has been wreck since her sister committed suicide last year. Now, she's hooked on Fix, a drug that changes how she thinks and sees. Although the drug has horrific side effects, she keeps coming back for more because she sees hallucinations of a guy called Nate. Even though she's knows Nate is only in her head, he seems to be the only person who cares about her future. She knows she has to change, but she's more confused than ever when Nate professes his love for her. Then, during a Fix trip one of her classmates goes missing and Pen quickly realizes that she's in more danger than she thought. If she doesn't get her act together quick, she may be next on the missing persons list.

Fix Me by Lisa M. Cronkhite is one of those novels where I definitely preferred the concept of the story to the overall execution of the novel. At least 95% of the novel is Pen high on Fix and hallucinating, or suffering from all sorts of insane side effects. Now, I've read a lot of selfish characters but Pen really takes the cake. She truly thinks of nothing but herself - not to mention that she's astoundingly unreliable. I was also hoping for a little more in terms of the mystery, especially one that makes a little more sense and is less contradictory. I also would have preferred a little bit more clarity when it comes to that paranormal aspect - was that just a figment or what? Quite a few events just seem to crop up with zero warning making me scratch my head and wonder if I missed something along the line. Finally, I also wanted to mention that tonally Pen doesn't really sound like a modern teen (to my ears anyway).

Overall, Fix Me wasn't for me in the long run - I enjoyed the basic premise more than the final result. The story covers dark, heavy themes, but doesn't really handle them in a satisfactory manner. There's so much more that I wish would have been done or could have been explored by our cast.

This was honestly one of those books whereby I enjoyed the synopsis a lot more than I did the actual book; from the synopsis we are led to believe that it is going to be more action packed than it ended up being which was a bit of a disappointment.

I wasn’t really sure what to make of this book; I understand why the author chose to write the plot as she did (Pen, the main character, is high for 98% of it so why would she pay attention to the things going on around her?) but I didn’t necessarily like that decision. Not one of the characters had any redeeming factors to me either which isn’t really what you want when picking up a book to read - sure, nobody is cookie cutter perfect but to not have at least one character not be a complete jerk was a bit too far in the other direction, in my opinion.

There were aspects of the book that I would have liked to be more front and centre - such as the mystery of the disappearances and the paranormal sections - however, like I said above, I understand and respect the authors decision to have done this. It would have been a good way to flesh the novel out though, I think. Make the plot less of a cycle of Pen getting high, hallucinating, coming down and freaking out about still hallucinating (even though we learn, through her, the side affects of Fix pretty early on).

All in all, a quick read that attempts to tackle addiction, depression and teen suicide. It was interesting and I think I might read more YA books that address this, especially addiction, in the future.

The new drug Fix is extremely addictive and is what Pen's sister was on before she killed herself. As Pen tries to quit the drug, she wants to find out who the mysterious Nate is as she only see's him in her head, why her sister killed herself and where the missing girls are going.



Fix Me is an extremely short and quick read. I personally feel like more could have been added to the mystery to make the book a bit bulkier, although the length isn't that problematic. I do think that there was something missing though, which would have made the book a bit more thrilling. 

Pen is our (unreliable) narrator due to excessive drug use. Fix is highly addictive, and even more so as she wants to see her imaginary friend Nate. But this means that most of the book you're really questioning whether something is really happening, and whether it has anything to do with the actual plot. Nate feels more like a paranormal/fantasy boyfriend due to the ghostly appearances, brooding stares and cryptic conversations which felt very different to the missing girls plot line. 

The antagonist of the book doesn't appear until quite late into the book which felt off for me. The way they were uncovered as the villain and the conclusion afterwards seemed rushed. All the threads were starting to come together but it just wasn't as well put together as other mysteries I have read. 

Overall, Fix Me wasn't a bad book but it just didn't have the excitement that a mystery needs. I received Fix Me* by Lisa M. Cronkhite from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.

Pen knows she needs to quit, but the thought of Nate keeps her hooked on Fix, a drug that causes hallucinations. As her trips get worse, and more girls from school go missing after taking Fix, Pen tries her hardest to stop taking the drug, until Nate is in trouble, and as the only girl that can see him, its up to Pen to try to save him.

This book was really interesting and has so much potential, but it just didn't come together like I wanted to. There was a mystery aspect with the death of other girls, and there was obviously lots of parts about drug use, and hallucinations.

The main character and supporting characters were all interesting and well developed. Pen was a very complex character, and watching her character development was absolutely fantastic. She was really great.

This book was extremely short, I read the whole thing in a few hours. There was very little world-building, and the mystery aspect could have been more developed and better.

Overall, this book was so creative and had a lovely message and concept, but there were lots of little details that could have been fixed up and made the book so much better.

I don't know why it took me so long to read this book because once I started reading it, I was immediately sucked into the story. The plot was interesting and it seemed well written, up until the end when everything suddenly felt rushed. However, I really enjoyed the POV of an addict because I felt it could really open people's eyes and help them understand what an addict goes through. As a Young Adult novel I don't think I've ever read something similar to this book before, which is pretty awesome. This book has great potential and if it wasn't for the fact that the ending felt rushed, it would have received a higher from me. I recommend this book to everyone to read, and I hope a lot of people do because this book hits real, hard subjects that everyone deals with in their life.


Reviews can also be found on rosebookreview.blogspot.com

From a premise that sounded so interesting and held so much potential, this book proved to be sorely disappointing. Structurally, the plot points were all more or less in the right places, but the writing didn’t really handle them so well (and occasionally they very much came out of nowhere). The characters by no way helped, either, proving wishy-washy, whiny and weak. At no point did the characters feel like legitimate individuals, and I was never able to connect, empathise or relate to them. Developments and decisions changed rapidly throughout the book as was convenient to the plot, and led to some very sudden and peculiar moments in the plot. With a better bunch of characters, I think this could easily jump a star rating or two.

I don’t think this book was made for me. It is a bit too much based on drug use (well it IS in the book synopsis eh), which I haven’t really done. I felt uneasy throughout the read. Still, it has potential.

I thought this book was really interesting. I think it highlighted drug use and the effects of peer pressure really well but there were some aspects that I had a hard time with. I think that the overall premise fell a little flat for me in the end and things felt wrapped up too quickly.

I also didn't understand the use of Nate's character. I think that his character could've been revealed in a more realistic way. I felt that the book needed more depth in certain areas and Nate's character was one of them, as well as the themes of bullying. I think they were touched on but not developed enough for me.

Drugs, addiction and the ease that minors can obtain their next high, their next escape into oblivion. This is Penelope’s story of loss, emotional and physical dependence and her fear of recovery, another form of loss in itself. Her sister committed suicide, and we wonder why Penelope doesn’t take that as a wake-up call to sobriety, but we forget she is a teen, emotionally immature and worse, floundering in a dysfunctional one parent family.

Drugs, addiction and the ease that minors can obtain their next high, their next escape into oblivion. This is Penelope’s story of loss, emotional and physical dependence and her fear of recovery, another form of loss in itself. Her sister committed suicide, and we wonder why Penelope doesn’t take that as a wake-up call to sobriety, but we forget she is a teen, emotionally immature and worse, floundering in a dysfunctional one parent family.

FIX ME by Lisa M. Cronkhite is dark, heavy with tension and a stifling atmosphere as we witness one teenaged addict’s life through her twisted thoughts and skewed perceptions. Penelope’s perspective is often mired in the haze of a drug-induced fog. The illogical becomes logical, the unreal becomes believable and the thought of never having her next fix is terrifying. Will the ghosts that haunt Penelope cut her loose and allow her to get clean or is it too late for her, no matter who has her back?

There is no great epiphany for Penelope, she knows throughout this tale she has a problem, she caves to her weakness and her craving as easily as a knife cuts butter. Dark and moving at a ponderous pace, this is a stark and raw tale of human weakness as mere children become willing lambs to slaughter in the hands of addictive drugs and the lies they tell themselves. While I felt Pen’s inner turmoil, it took little for her to repeat her mistakes over and over, at any cost. She never came across as one who could succeed in redeeming herself, making her less than an ideal role model for hope and the hard work she would face to stave off the instant gratification of drugs.

I received an ARC edition from Flux.

Publisher: Flux (November 28, 2017)
Publication Date: November 28, 2017
Genre: Drug Abuse | Dark Fiction
Number of Pages: 256
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Firstly I should say that this novel is very different to novels I would usually pick up and read - I was very fortunate to be contacted by Lisa M. Cronkhite who asked me to take a look, and i'm really pleased I did!

This novel focuses on Penelope, a young girl who is grieving over the death of her sister whilst struggling with her addiction to the latest 'fashionable' drug, Fix.  As a YA genre novel, this book focuses on two incredibly important topics: drug addiction and mental health.  These are important subjects for everyone in my opinion, but getting young adults to read about them and their effects on people is so very important.

In the novel Fix is the most popular illegal drug in the U.S. and it was previously used to treat clinical depression until its effects were known.  We soon learn that Tabitha, Penelope's sister, was clinically depressed before she committed suicide and had been treated with Fix.

We follow Penelope through her highs and her comedowns, as she battles to work out what is real and what is not - she knows she only see's Nate when she's under the influence of Fix, but he seems so real.  With girls going missing, Penelope has to work out what's real and what's not before it's too late.

I definitely enjoyed this novel.  Like I said, it was different to what I usually pick up but sometimes that's a good thing.  The drug abuse and mental health issues are so relevant at the moment, and both are topics that needs to be highlighted.  There is always help out  there if you are just willing to accept it.

Rating: 📖 📖 📖 📖

Thanks to Netgalley and North Star Editions for an advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

This going to be a very challenging book to review. Here is why......

Fix me is narrated by Penelope, who is always high on an illegal drug that was once used to treat depression patients. She sees Hallucinations, and to be more specific, she sees Nate. An imaginary guy that she likes, but if she wants to get clean and stop this addiction, she should stop seeing him.

I believe that Lisa did a magnificent job in portraying how a high person see things. It is hard to distinct what is real, and what is not, especially when they are horrific events.

The Mystery goes beyond just her and Nate. When a girl from the "getting high party" goes missing, Pen realizes how soon she needs to stop getting high. But how could she, when the only way she could get answers is from " her seeing things"

Honestly, Fix me has an interesting storyline, well written characters, and a great potential.

But, here is why I had a couple of issues.

1) The only POC mentioned the book were either drug dealers, or always pushing Pen to take the drug. The latter was okay since almost everyone was high, but why should drug sealers always be POC?

2) The depression theme.

As a pharmacist and a person who has depression, here is a few things that didn't sit right with me.

Yes,I know that the author has bipolar, so knows what she is talking about. Perhaps if Pen had bipolar, I would have given the book a higher rating, but she didn't*. Quick edit,  Pen being bipolar still wouldn't fit the story. What I meant and wrongfully explained is that the SE of the drug she is taking makes it look like she has a bipolar disorder, and not depression. Again, I am only talking about the SE.  Bi-polar is defined as manic-depressive mental illness. Here is the thing, it switches between 2 different poles, so although they might seem very similar to schizophrenics and depressive patients, they aren't exactly one in the same.

The drug mentioned in the book is fictional because there isn't a drug in the market that does that.

-Well, maybe she did that because this is a Fantasy novel.

Fair enough.

Fix me is an antidepressant. Pen is supposedly suffering from depression. She takes the antidepressant, and starts seeing things. Things that don't exit. Everyone who takes the drug sees things that don't exist, which means, most of them probably don't have depression.

Here is a very, very,very simplified scientific reason to why I am saying that.

<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-awF7_xWt0G0/URjA1SXVAFI/AAAAAAAANZ4/Z1_JbzzwnTg/s1600/Quimica%2Bda%2Bvida.png" width="400" height="600" alt="description"/>

Let us consider love to be the perfect amount of Neurotransmitters you should have. When you are depressed, Dopamine levels are very low. So, hypothetically, antidepressants raise the very low level, counteracting the reason of depression.

Now, you have normal level of dopamine; you take antidepressants, so your dopamine now reached a very high level. Similar to what Schizophrenic patients have, so you start seeing illusions.

P.S: This is super simplified; it is actually way more complex than what I am saying.

Spoiler Alert ( Not really, but I have warned you)

When she stops taking the drug, she is finally diagnosed with depression. Not even a month has passed since stopping the drug, and the Drs say that she has depression.

Another mini science lesson:

If there is too much of a thing that you have in your healthy body, receptors will be down regulated. Meaning, less transporters for the Dopamine to make you so happy.

While taking the drug, the body does that to try to reduce the problem. You stopped the medicine, so now you have less dopamine, so receptors should be up-regulated to make up for the less dopamine.

But that takes time, which means, the person abusing anti-depressants would experience some Depression symptoms upon attempting to stope them. That sone of the reason why it is hard to stop. So why on earth would a Dr. diagnose her with depression, when she might be feeling all time low because of her drug abuse.

Yes, she can take things to lessen the extent of the damage, but why say that she has depression when the correct methods of Diagnosis haven't been done yet?

There you, my 1st ranty review. I believe that Lisa's writing has potential,but I hope in the future that more research is done and a few science- related sensitivity readers are hired to review the story before it's published.

I received an e-ARC in exchange with an honest review

4/5 stars!
Full review to follow closer to publication date!

After Penelope Wryter’s sister committed suicide a year ago her life has become a big mess. Hooked on the same illegal drug Fix that her sister had been on Pen knows she needs to find a way to stop using. But if Pen stops the drug that gives such realistic hallucinations she will lose Nate that she only sees when on Fix and Pen really cares about Nate even though she knows he just isn’t real.

As Pen tries to say goodbye to Nate and give up using Fix Nate tells her that he really cares and she just can’t let go yet making her even more confused than ever. But when a girl from school goes missing after a Fix trip Pen really starts to realize she may be in a danger and that there is more to Nate than just her imagination.

Well, my review for Fix Me could really be an extremely short one and just state the obvious with this book that it just wasn’t for me. As much as I wanted to get into a young adult mystery read this one was a bit iffy already with the drug use but I was hoping with the description that the author would be rather creative with this imaginary drug that people could see things using but that fell short right off the bat really.

The book somewhat read more along the lines to me like a twisted drug PSA with the it’s bad, but I need to, no it’s bad back and forth which distracted me from enjoying any of the mystery/paranormal aspects that are included. The story itself was just an alright one under that annoyance really so I was also hoping for an amazing end to bring my rating up but again that hope just fell flat with what actually happens in the story. I found the ending really sort of a rush job but quite unrealistic to me too. So overall, as I said to begin this one just wasn’t my cup of tea but maybe the younger crowd may enjoy it a bit more.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ghost, hallucination or side effect....Fix Me is a thrilling YA novel that entrances the reader. This novel will help teens, young adults and readers in general think about consequences and side effects of drug use. This action packed novel will help teens see the downward spiral of drug addition through an action packed setting.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book. I also apologise if this review is all over the place! I tried to put my thoughts into words as best as I could.

The author contacted me through Twitter to tell me about her book. It's not really the kind of book I usually read, but since I want to read more different books, I thought I'd give it a shot. Fix Me is alright. It really makes you think about drugs and the consequences and while reading some parts of the book, I actually thought it would be really helpful and educational in a drugs prevention program kind of thing.

It was written well, but also a bit inconsistent. Sometimes it was really good and other times it felt a little off. It wasn't bad per se, but some scenes could've used a bit more dialogue instead of 'He told me this than that, etc...' if that makes sense. I also wasn't quite sure of the time period of story. In the beginning, there's a scene that makes you think it's winter, since 'it's cold and icy'. Later on, there's talk of Autumn leaves and colours... Obviously this wouldn't be a problem if there were time jumps, but there aren't. Another thing that I really liked, but kinda disappointed me later on, was the fact that this book takes place in 2017. Like, it's actually mentioned and that was pretty cool! But then our main character used Internet Explorer on a computer and well... Who still used that in 2017 when there's Chrome and Safari?

I totally didn't connect with the characters in this book. I don't really know why that is. Maybe it's because they are so unlike me? Although that wouldn't make a lot of sense, since I can sort of relate to assassin's? (Hehe, I swear I'm not an assassin!) Penelope/Pen really irritated me sometimes. She was in a constant cycle of "I'm going to quit taking fix." and "Let's take another pill." And I get that I mean, she's addicted and it makes perfect sense, but I felt like she didn't even really try. Her friend offers/forces her to swallow a pill and Pen would be like "Suuuure!" Also, in the end she has a depression, and I really would've liked so see more of that and dive deeper into it. I think I would've liked a little more drugs drama and a little more rehab stuff, but that's just personal taste. As for the other characters, they're not very memorable and/or special to me, which is unfortunate! I think the characters could've had a little more dept to them.

Let's talk about Fix for a minute. The pills/drugs that are so important in this book. I like the backstory and how Pen researched it. That way, it became more than just some weird, dangerous drug. Another thing I found really interesting, were these "Fix Circles" It felt a little like ghost summoning/ouija board stuff and it was brilliant.

The mystery didn't really come into play until about half way through the book, and thank goodness it did, because that's when things got interesting! There was murder, drama, plot twists and some interesting revelations!

Overal, Fix Me wasn't the best book, but it definitely wasn't the worst either. I liked reading something so different for a change, but I doubt I'll be picking it up again. If you're into mysteries, this book is definitely one for your TBR!

Fix Me
*Thank you to Netgalley for an honest review**
This book was painful to read. Not in a “the writing is terrible way”, but in an “I want to wrench these children out of the story and help them”! Living in a community, like so many others, it is difficult to read a novel about drug addiction.
Penelope craves the highly addictive drug called “Fix”. Since her sister Tabitha committed suicide it is one way that she can “cope”. Get away from the pain. Her mother, in her own pain and self-destruction does not help. When she takes the drug, she witnesses hallucinations that may help find answers to her sisters’ death. Not only is she grieving for her sister and facing drug addiction, but schoolmates are missing, girls are being murdered and life seems to become darker. Even though I kept saying “I’m not going to finish reading this”, I found I couldn’t put it down. I will read more by this author.
This book is for mature teens and up.

Thank you to Hachette and NetGalley for allowing me to read this. A real rollercoaster read...uncompromising in its depiction of addiction, but not too bleak as we never are quite sure how much is real and how much is down to Pen's addiction.

I received a copy of this book to read and review from Netgalley

The description of this book is the initial reason I picked it up. I can relate to wanting to escape from the pain of grief all too well and found myself drawn to read this novel. Fix Me makes for an interesting story about a circle of addicts and a bit of a murder mystery. Lisa Cronkhite does a good job capturing the mind of an addict in the crux of their addiction. She also does a great job capturing and conveying the emotions of the characters. The writing really made the story great.

Right away the book exposes you to the ugly side of addiction. The sickly parlor, jittery nerves and bones protruding from two addicts who can't seem to kick the habit. They're addicted to "Fix" a drug that sounds similar to acid with its hallucinogenic properties. It enhances the five senses and causes the main character to see people who aren't really there.

The relationship between addicts are often complicated and I think that this was portrayed very well. Rose, for example, was clearly lonely and wanted to have friends, but it was clear that her addiction took priority over anything else. I found Fix Me to be a relatively realistic portrayal of addiction, even though "fix" is a made-up drug.

I found the climax to kind of come out of left field and the ending was a bit to "happily ever after "for me. But the harsh reality of addiction is that getting clean is much harder for most, although some get so do get sober abruptly like this novel portrayed. I would definitely read another book by Lisa Cronkhite as she brought these characters and this story to life for me