Roxy

By: Neal Shusterman, Jarrod Shusterman

Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Megan Tusing, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Candace Thaxton, Neal Shusterman

From the team that brought you the New York Times bestselling Dry comes a “gritty and unflinching” (Booklist) thriller that proves when gods play games, even love is a lie.

The freeway is coming.

It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the inevitable. Yet there you are, in the fifth house on the left, fighting for your life.

Ramey, I.

The victim of the bet between two manufactured gods: the seductive and lethal Roxy (Oxycontin), who is at the top of her game, and the smart, high-achieving Addison (Adderall), who is tired of being the helpful one, and longs for a more dangerous, less wholesome image. The wager—a contest to see who can bring their mark to “the Party” first—is a race to the bottom of a rave that has raged since the beginning of time. And you are only human, dazzled by the lights and music. Drawn by what the drugs offer—tempted to take that step past helpful to harmful…and the troubled places that lie beyond.

But there are two I. Rameys—Isaac, a soccer player thrown into Roxy’s orbit by a bad fall and a bad doctor and Ivy, his older sister, whose increasing frustration with her untreated ADHD leads her to renew her acquaintance with Addy.

Which one are you?

Critic reviews

"Roxicodone and Adderall — the seductive Roxy and the comforting Addi — take on voices and personalities of their own when they make a bet to see which drug can get a troubled teen to the party with Dusty, Charlie, and Al (alcohol) first. Narrators Michael Crouch and Megan Tusing lead an ensemble cast in jumping from the points of view of the drugs to recounting the lives of a brother and sister in high school. Isaac heavily relies on painkillers after he’s injured playing soccer, and Ivy looks for a little pick-me-up to help her study. Anthropomorphism may not be every listener’s cup of tea, but here the driving pace and convincing details get the serious message across."

Brilliant but RUFF

This is pharmacology meets American Gods, so I present to you American Meds. Creative, empathetic, and heartbreaking, this book takes a novel approach of addressing teens, the opiate crisis, and addiction in general. This is grim as hell, but a very worthwhile read. Have tissues.

MUST READ!

Recommend for all tweens and above. Parents should read with their kids if possible—lots to discuss. Perfectly portrays how easy it is to get swept up into addiction….and the struggle to get help before it’s too late.

I loved this book!!

I absolutely loved this book! I think that Neal did a wonderful job at describing how an addiction to a substance can become a relationship of sorts, one where you both hate and love the drug. I loved the perspectives that this book was written from as it deviates from most books about substance abuse. Furthermore, I loved how the author differentiated between the two worlds, what the drugs saw and forced others to see, almost like a hallucination and what people actually saw, that was really cool! And it was fun hearing details about ‘The Party’ and trying to pick out what might be perceived as reality during things like the elevator ride. I loved the interludes and the ending!! Oh my goodness the twist at the end was sooo good!! Even better was the reactions after the twist! That really hammered it home! Lovely book overall and it will be going on my favorites!

5 Star 'American Gods -Narcotic Edition'

Wow. I have read drug related novels before, but nothing like this. I saw a review that described this as American Gods, I would add Narcotics edition. Amazing story, I couldn't stop listening, would highly recommend this book and author to anyone.

Sometimes cheesy but worth the read

I've read all of Neal's books, not just the popular ones, and this fits. I think he learned his lesson from Game Changer, and the book is less "down your throat" political.

The story is told from the perspective of characters, as well as from the perspective of personified drugs (which can be cheesy at times). I can't tell if it's because I'm getting older now (24) or just because it's relatively cheesy in general. HOWEVER, I will say that it's executed very well. Adderall and Morphine being the most well written in my opinion.

If you like his writing style, you'll like the book. Similar "feels" to Dry, being in a modern setting with real world issues.