Deeply emotional and almost difficult to read at times, this is a book that will stick with you long after the last page. The writing is descriptive and evocative and the emotions are real and raw.

Really enjoyed this book. Have never read this author before. Would definitely recommend this book.

Such an emotional, raw story of an addict. The feelings and emotions were so real. I can’t imagine going through this. I praise Courtney for writing this story. I hope it helps anyone going through this. The realization of the Angel part, gave me goosebumps! An ARC was provided by the author.

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy read. The characters were lively and the plot was interesting. I would recommend this book.

I don't know where to start my review with Saving Beck, I should probably say what an emotional ride, it was so intense.
This story is told from two POVs, Natalie and her son, Beck.Both characters are struggling with the death of their favorite person.Her husband and his dad.Natalie is unable to cope with daily tasks she spends her days comforted by Xanax.Beck is a high school teenager and responsible for his two youngest siblings.This and some other things will be the reasons why he will have his own downward spiral.
It was sad and heartbreaking reading about Beck's situation and how his life changed.
I would say this is a book you need to be in mood to read it, but I would also say it's a must read!It's a powerful story which deals with some really serious issues!

Saving Beck is not an easy read--it shows us a family in crisis as it grieves through the aftermath of one tragedy while confronting the tragedy of addiction. Courtney Cole shows us the ugliness, horror, and utter sadness that comes along with a family member being (or becoming) an addict and she doesn't try to pretty it up at all. Within the span of a few hundred pages and the course of a 24 hour period in the hospital, we discover how this particular family ended up in this place to begin with. It's hard, y'all. I kept feeling so helpless and frustrated as I read. I wanted to help this family--to put pause on it going further--to plunge them all in therapy, to take the secrets out of the dark and put them in the light, to somehow, someway put them all on a different path. But the truth of the matter is, is that this happens all too often, and having a family member in and out of rehab and another one come from a line of people with addictive personalities, I know that wishful thinking is just that and it takes a lot of variables to get addicts and families back on track. It's hard and it sometimes feels impossible--something this novel does a good job of acknowledging.

With our country in the throes of what I feel is a drug problem of epic and epidemic proportions, I think that this novel is something that is so important in the reading community. As anyone who follows Cole's career knows, she's speaking from experience and truth and it's those things that make this novel feel so real and so deeply sad and raw and honest. We need more of this, I think. We need the hard truths, the voices of experience--because this is just one of many stories of addiction and we need to see them all--and we need the absolute joy of hope that this novel ends with.

Don't be afraid of Saving Beck. Read it. Absorb it. Talk about it.

*link to come when review is live*

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.

In this book, a young man named Beck gets drug addicted after a horrific car wreck in which his father dies. It becomes very clear that his choices come from guilt over his father's death and his mother is a wreck herself and cannot help and does not see what is happening. Well told.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Courtney Cole for the opportunity to read this powerful book - much more so when you read the author's note at the end.

This is the story of drug addiction and what it does to a family. Matt and Natalie are happily married and have 3 children. When a tragic accident kills Matt, the family is consumed by grief. Beck, the oldest, was in the car with his dad and is struggling with survivor's guilt. Natalie is depressed and Beck finds himself picking up the slack for her in caring for the younger kids and the household. Then drugs offer him a way to escape. Told in the viewpoints of Natalie and Beck, we see the past that led them to the future.

With the current raging drug addiction crisis in this country, this is a heart-wrenching tale of what it does to a family, yet provides hope through the darkness. Highly recommended!

4.5 heartbreaking stars

I’ve always found drug addiction interesting. Interesting in a way that I wonder how anyone even gets started. But as Courtney states in the back of this book, addiction can happen to anyone. Even someone with a normal upbringing, which is even more scary to me. But sometimes life happens and can be hard to cope, I get it, drugs and alcohol can become a “security blanket”, sadly enough.

I haven’t picked up a book by Courtney that I haven’t been impressed with, and Saving Beck did not let me down. I became immersed in Becks addiction. There were so many times I wanted to shake him and tell him, it’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself. I can only imagine the pain a parent, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, etc... goes through with an addict. I can’t comprehend how hard it would be to sit and watch a loved one spiral out of control and there be nothing you can do to stop it.

I honestly think everyone should read Saving Beck, it’s such a learning experience. Thankfully I’ve never had to go through anything similar in my life, but it makes it easier to understand why and how someone could experience such a low in their life and turn to drugs.

I highly recommend Saving Beck!

This is such a well-written tale of the effects of drug addiction on a family that it is almost non-fiction. The details are horrifyingly realistic. The characters are described in such a way that you leap into their bodies and feel the way they feel. Natalie is a very sympathetic character to me, having lost her husband in a horrible car accident and now losing her son Beck to drug addiction. But she is also that mother you love to hate because of her dereliction of duty just when her children need her. The story is not for everyone since so many have been affected by the opioid crisis and may not be able to read the realistic details of this novel without getting depressed. It is not meant to be a depressing novel; it is instead the story of a regular family going through a terrible crisis and how they come out on the other end. I highly recommend this book for those who want to read a good book that is so real in its details that it puts you right there, in the hospital room, in the alleys and in the bedroom. What a gut-wrenching and heart-touching story!

"Can you even write a review after that?" ~ Misty, White Hot Reads

There are so many things I want to touch on with this one even knowing nothing I could write will ever ever give this story justice. Natalie. Or was it me? At times I wasn't sure. The grief she is living is real. I know because I've lived in. I don't think anyone has ever written grief like this in such an honest and raw way. It's so hard to put into words but Courtney did it. There were times that I had flashbacks to my own grief and I just had to close my eyes and breath for a moment. I sympathized with Natalie. I understood Natalie. I even got angry at Natalie. But at times? I was Natalie.

Until this book I think that I was one of those people who thought, why can't they just stop? And yes, this is coming from someone who has lived with a close family member who was an addict. At the time it only made me angry because I didn't understand how they could choose that life over their loved ones. Living parts of this story in Beck's POV has totally changed my perception of this reality. His hurting was palpable through the pages and the mother in me hurt so bad and I just wanted to take away all his pain. I finally understood why and how this road can be so easy to follow and why it will forever be a daily struggle for him and those like him. His chapters in this story were the hardest for me to get through but I'm so glad they will be out in the world because I think everyone needs him. If not for hope and understanding then for empathy and change.

Every character in this book brought something to the table. There was not one character written in this book that didn't have a significant reason for being there. The POV's from not only Natalie and Beck but the past and present really brought this story together. This story is a rabbit hole I can find myself falling into over and over again and that's due to Courtney's writing and being able to take the hardest of subjects and making it relatable. Making you realize that yes, this could happen to me.

To Courtney from a reader, thank you for putting this story out there. Thank you for putting your truths on paper so others can find their truth and hope again.

To Courtney from a fellow mom, my heart is with you as this book goes out into the world and I wish I could hold your hand. I know it must be a scary thing putting this out into a world of cynicism and judgement but I truly believe that this book can help so many. And my biggest hope is that this book helps you lay this cross to rest.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Saving Beck. This book is not easy to read. The language is at times coarse, the subject matter uncomfortable, yet it's a book every parent should read. We never know when one of our children might become the next "Beck", struggling with drug addiction despite coming from a "good family ". Addiction knows no racial, gender, or socioeconomic bias--it would happily consume us all. Read "Saving Beck". Then decide what role you can play to turn the tide of the drug epidemic in our country today.

I don't usually read books like this but something drew me to it.

This was a book I couldn't put down. It kept me up late at night because I needed to reach the end. I knew I would find hope there.

My mind was blown away as I was pulled into the dark life of Beck and the realization that this stuff actually happens to people. Once they are hooked it's so hard to get away from, I just can't imagine.

As a mother my heart broke for Natalie. The author brought this book to life and her letter at the end was very touching.

A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley.com. All opinions are my own.

An emotional story about coping with loss and guilt, and the personal battle to rise above the pain.

If you know the author or follow her on FB, then you already know her backstory. If you don't, then it is worth noting that this is a very personal story for her, and as I reader, I could tell by reading it, that it was a cathartic process for her given her personal connection to the sad epidemic of addiction.

This story is told from two POVs, Natalie Kingsley and her son, Beck, who are both struggling with the death of their husband/father, Matt. Natalie's decent into depression is a quick one. Unable to cope with daily tasks, she holes up in her room, with the comfort of Xanax and her husband's cologne. That leaves Beck alone, and sadly, as a high school teenager, responsible for his two younger siblings, Devin and Annabelle. This new responsibility, along with some factors revealed later, begins Beck's own downward spiral.

Initially, I was disappointed with Natalie and her lack of awareness to others grief. But that's the thing about depression, isn't not something that can be controlled and appears from the view of others, as a selfish act. She does have moments of lucidity, but at that point, it was almost too late to help Beck.

It is heartbreaking to read about Beck's path toward addiction. It was clear that he had a number of emotions following the accident. Not just the sadness of losing a father he loved, but the guilt in believing he was responsible. Drugs took those feelings away, and gave him peace.

I've read other addition books, and they are not an easy read. However, the way this was written, both in the past as we learn about the addiction, and in the present as Beck struggles to survive his overdose, there was a sense of hope. With a good support system for both Natalie and Beck, I held on to the belief that he's make it through and get a second chance at life.

There are some religious overtones in the book, but I didn't feel they were overdone or preachy.

Overall, this author delivered a powerful story on a sensitive subject that has become an epidemic in our society. Without sugar coating things, she highlighted how easy it is for one to fall to addiction, and the struggle between giving up and fighting back.

** I received, Saving Beck, via NetGalley from the publisher for an honest review, no compensation was given.
I have been a fan of Courtney Cole for some time now, this book touched my soul in ways I never expected. This is the book you will be thinking about for years to come. Saving Beck addresses a national problem of epic proportion that we have in this country, drug addiction.
This book was beautifully written and the pain and love these characters were experiencing was palpable in every word. This is a story of an American family, who has everything and then a tragic car accident takes the life of their husband and father. Natalie finds herself unable to cope with the loss of her husband and their son Beck is left trying to hold the family together. Beck, a good student, football star, in his senior year of high school ,is trying to take care of his mother, his two siblings and also dealing with the guilt surrounding the death of his father. This becomes overwhelming and he turns to prescription drugs and marijuana which leads him to heroin. The book is written from Natalie and Beck's perspective, which gives the reader insight into the addict and also the parental issues of loving an addict. The author describes in chilling detail Beck's drug use and the intense cravings he experiences. She also does an exceptional job of describing the total loss of control and the feelings of hopelessness that a parent, of a drug addicted child, must feel.
I truly loved this book, it was heartbreakingly poignant and, at times, difficult to read. If you do decide to give this book a chance, please read the author's note, it gives the book even more insight and meaning. Not only did I read it but, I also shared it with my two teenage sons. Their reaction, "WOW Mom". I want to thank Courtney Cole and her son for sharing their story in the author's note, you are both very brave.

I've knows of Courtney Cole's son, Gunner's addiction to hard substances for a while, having following her writing and by extension, her social media feeds for years now.

When Saving Beck was announced I was immediately intrigued and rightly so. Addiction is probably one of the hardest situations/diseases to deal with. Because while the person, if we're lucky, is still functioning and alive, it's not him in there. The addiction has taken over and he is forever altered.

White Saving Beck isn't following Cole's life exactly, the process that Beck is going through, his gradual dive into addiction is very similar. I know this because, a) Courtney has said so, and b) I've watched the three YouTube videos she did with her son Gunner. Those were very hard for me to watch, but they were infinitely harder for Courtney to live through. 

There's so much that isn't taken into consideration when we become acquainted with, or hear of an addict. We are quick to judge and to "know" what should be done. It's not so simple, guys. It's quite the opposite, and I pray not one of you reading this will go through this in their lifetime.

There's a psychological part to addiction, that's true. But there's a physical part as well, and that part is the most problematic, because the horrible chemistry of addiction is directly tied to the psychological challenge that the addict is facing. And they almost always are facing some sort of psychological and emotional issue.

Read Saving Beck and know that it's just not so simple. And be grateful for your health, for the health of your families and friends, and say a prayer to those dealing with drug addiction. Most importantly - be kind.

Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for my free E-ARC in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a sad story, reading about how Beck struggled with coping with his father's death, his mother falling apart, having to take care of his younger siblings, because his mom won't leave her bed. All the while trying to stay strong from himself. 

He was the super star athlete, with everything going for him, who let drugs get the best of him. You witness the downfall, the heartache and the pressure that Beck put on himself, causing him to crack.

This book was written from Beck's POV in his current state, and his past, and from Natalie's current POV. It takes place in the 24 hours that Beck is in a coma from his drug overdose. It is so incredibly well done. Their emotions jump off the page at you. I felt like I was there the first time Beck stuck a needle in his arm, I was there screaming "No, don't do it, put it down" from that first needle stick I was addicted to this book, like he was addicted to his drug.

This is such a complex story, it is about so much more than drug addiction. It does give a wonderful insight to how the whole family struggles, how everyone is affected by this terrible epidemic. Everyone in this book is fighting their own battle in this story. From Beck, to his mother, to his aunt, to his girlfriend, to his dad's best friend, to his younger siblings. Everyone plays a part in this book I can safely say this is one of my favorite books I've read so far this year.

I really appreciate the opportunity to read and review this thoughtful contemporary but, a few chapters in, I realized it just wasn't my kind of book, or the kind of book I would usually review. Rather than pushing through only to leave a negative comment, I'm putting it aside now.

I liked the was the story was told. Great storyline. Couldn't put it down once I started. Heartbreaking in some of the chapters. Describs in detail how addiction gets started and takes a hold of you. Exceptional reading. Highly recommended

Saving Beck addresses a major current epidemic we are dealing with as a country, drug addiction and overdosing with heroin, head on. Quite an emotional read, where I found myself in tears at some points of this story. Beck has it all good looking, smart, and quarterback on the varsity football team, taking them to the playoffs and sure to land a major scholarship. A car accident leaves his father dead and his world forever changed, as he spirals out of control
I definitely would recommend this book, it is a heart breaking, emotional ride.

** Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. **