I thought he was my antidote, but it turns out that he’s just my new drug of choice.
Before him, it was heroin.
And then they put me here against my will.
At the time it seemed like my only viable choice.
I preferred stumbling through life numb to it all. But now I’m here, and every sound and every emotion is heightened to a level I never knew existed.
Then somehow, in a moment of weakness it became all about him.
My counselor.
He makes me feel things I never thought possible. But I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to recover…
Review
“This wasn’t what my life was supposed to be like. This wasn’t what I dreamed of as a little girl.”
This was a hard book for me. Not because it was beautifully written or incredibly touching but the topic of addiction, esp addiction to hard drugs, touches close to one with several people I love dearly. Reprieve does not sugar coat it or make it shiny and easy just because it is a romance. Instead she takes this story to a gritty and dark place that while done in a way that makes you want to keep turning the pages it might still be hard for many to handle.
“Heroin was my entrance to Hell. Hell was here on earth.”
Teagan is addicted to heroin and this is one instant where we are definitely shown and not just told about the drastic pain and destruction that the drug has had on her short life. The book is told in alternating chapters of past to present going backwards to see her destruction and what a destruction it was. My heart broke for Teagan and for all those around her. Her choices in life were awful and sad and her own. She knows she is the cause of her demise but cannot stop. After hitting rock bottom she is forced into treatment.
“I surrender completely, my lips opening for him – no urging him to continue. He intoxicates me.”
Asher is a former addict and current addiction counselor at the treatment facility where Teagan is enrolled. Innocent enough at the start he is nothing but professional but soon enough lines are blurred and their professional relationship develops into a friendship and eventually more. Nothing about them is healthy or smart but there is something the two of them just cannot deny.
“It’s then that I realize he has become my new drug of choice. Asher Hughes is my new heroin.”
There is something about an underdog rising again that gets my heart pumping every time. And while this was a deeply emotional and difficult read for me I would not have changed reading it for everything. I am constantly surprised by the array of talents that A.E. Woodward possesses. Her stories are always unique and different takes on story lines we all know.
