If I can give more than 5 stars I would. So many reasons to love this book. I get into angst, it is what draws me in a lot of the time.  

Can anybody save Amy, or has she finally reached the end of a very long, torturous road?

Long list here but the main character Amelia Hope, aka Amy, she is so realistic. I really got into her as the victim. The books takes you on a journey from her teen years to adult hood. She has several areas in the book where the author takes you back to her as a 5 to 9 year old. Very rich story with tons of agnst, abuse, lies, deceit and drugs.  

 

This girl has really one best friend who is a constant, Julie. The other constants are sadly abuse, drugs and alcohol. The complex character that Amy is could be hard for people to read. I loved her. I loved how the author created Amy’s thinking to be objective and proactive. I mean that she has only Julie so therefore she had no real reason to create all of these elaborate schemes. She has nobody to lie to and certainly nobody to question her. She covered her actions, family life, depression and self destruction well. 

 

When the author introduces Richard Lewis, the ER physician, brought in as a result of Amy’s hospital visit. It was an apparent he was different. Being an ER doctor, he has seen hundreds of teens come in with drugs overdoses, accidents and alcohol poisoning. This is where he is different. Something grabbed him about Amy from the moment he saw her. I cant give a spoiler, but there is a turn of events that scared the absolute shit out of me.  

 

 My Dr. Richard Lewis 

 

Richard brings a new dynamic and changes his perspective on getting involved with a patient. He goes above the call of duty to help Amy. She is not just another patient, he takes a serious interest in her and somehow he knows what her troubles are and how she has lied. He tries so hard to get her to see that he really wants to help her.  

The truth comes out in several moments.Oh My GOOOOD  

  The next big thing for me was that BOTH of them were affected by addiction in one way or another. I dont want to say that one was more or less. I think the ways these addictions touched both of them and how the dealt with it was unique. The author shows that whether it is direct or indirect, their issues create a vacuum in which their friends, family and co-workers will be stuck in the vortex with them. It wont be your typical read where you think “Oh the Doctor will save her and a nice happily ever after” NOPE not this one. 

 

While Richard was great he was not perfect. His family and what appears on the outside were perfect. I was thrilled that we saw he was flawed as well. Not nearly as bad as Amy, but it was nice to see how different he was compared to other characters I have recently read. While I would have enjoyed the book without his flaws, I totally LOVED it that he was a little chipped and broken. 

 

A few important things I saw was Amy always had a plan created to go about her getting in and out of her house. The way she missed the squeaky floor board to sneak out before her Dad left for work was ingenious. It was little things like this that get you caught up and literally at the edge of your seat so scared she will get caught. 

 

 

 

Not suitable for under 18’s due to language, scenes of self-harm and sexual content