(26) Tweak by Nic Sheff

I first want to say that I have never done an illegal drug. I have never smoked pot, never even SAW pot until I was past the age of 25. I am afraid of the effects that it would have on me, as well as the "stuff" I would do while in an altered state. I CAN understand why people would be drawn to the whole drug scene. There are people who can't handle life & can only survive life by escaping.

Having said that, Tweak is one of the scariest books I have ever read.

Now, I went into this book having already read his dad's book. So I know the basics of what went down. Nic started his book, from the point of his second or third relapse. And he went into detail about what happened during that time. He wasn't gratuitous. He described having sex for three straight hours while high on Meth. To the point that both of them were raw and bloody. He flash backed to the days of selling his body on the street to support his habit. He went into detail, the physical reaction to the drugs. It is sickening and scary to read.

The book itself is like an addiction. Hard to put down. Through it all, you can't help but start to like Nic. He is a charismatic young man. He is intelligent and resourceful. Yet very vulnerable.

The book follows Nic through two or three stints in rehab. The sponsors he meets and grows close with. You celebrate the successes with him, the jobs, the vacation with his Dad and Stepmom. You hope that the rest of the book is all about the good times. Sadly enough, he relapsed again.

Over and over. Even I got to the point, as a reader, of frustration with his addiction. I can not begin to imagine the frustration his parents felt.

The book ends after his last stint in an Arizona rehab. He had moved to the South to live with a friend and write. For now he is clean. But he will always be an addict.

Great book. A must read book for every teen. It takes away the "fun" and "glamour" of the drug scene. If it doesn't scare you straight, nothing will.