DNF at about 35%. The book felt rather flat to me, thanks to the 'darker and edgier' tone to it. Everything was just unrelentingly grimdark, but in the exact same way at all times, and...I can only care for so long if I don't have some variety. Plus there were a lot of tropes that I'm extremely not fond of, the whole "not like other girls," the "bad guys are rapists to show off how bad they are."

But the worst, the absolute worst? The book tries to create a drug that's LIKE SO MUCH WORSE THAN ALL OTHER DRUGS, I SWEARS IT YOU GUYS, IT'S LIKE, THE WOOOORST LIKE YOU CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE HOW MUCH WORSE IT IS and the whole thing comes off just like that. In the process of trying to be OMG THE WORST THING EVER it manages to diminish the effects of real-world drug use and alcoholism by comparison. It was basically "Heam is so much worse than alcohol addiction because of [enter description of alcoholism here]." Yeah, the book describes addiction and then claims that that's worse than...addiction. It was weird.

It also took a lot of the myths and stereotypes that came out of the 'drug war' and played them PAINFULLY straight, painting all drug dealers as 'gross gangsters' and users as 'desperate poor people, with maybe some evil rich kids on the side, but just a few.' And....no thanks, I'm out.

In this young adult dystopian novel, society has been partially destroyed by a drug called Heam that is highly addictive and deadly. Heam addicts are seen as scum and their lifespans are not very long. Faye and her best friend Christian were forced to take Heam when she was 11 and he was 13. She survived, he did not. She is now living in squalor with an ex-police officer who rescued her and took her in after her mother kicked her out for taking Heam. She has been training physically since she was 11 years old learning how to defend herself, with plans for revenge on the men who dosed her with Heam. Then, a mysterious, handsome young man shows up who seems familiar to her. Fans of young adult dystopian novels should enjoy this book.