3.5 Stars

An eye-opening and informative book about addiction and neuroscience. Written by an addict turned PhD recipient, there were great insights along with well-researched data. A lot of pieces of information I didn’t know and having Grisel’s personal experience interjected really helped flesh out the material. Addiction is a crippling and oft misunderstood mental illness that so many battle and it was good to see text that exposed the reality of addiction while not shaming those who suffer. Grisel covers alcoholism as well as a gamut of drugs, both legal and illegal. Not only does she detail effects of them she also explores the neurological response garnered from taking them.

This is the perfect blend of science and memoir (leaning more toward the former) and I’d recommend to anyone interested in learning more about addiction or drugs in general.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Grisel does two things really well in this book. She gets to the marrow of what an addict's life is because she lived it before she found recovery and got her professional credentials. She also, in very helpful chapters, describes what the specific drugs do to our brains. So enlightening to me as someone genetically predisposed to alcohol abuse.