'Smack'

Why waste your life on something so stupid?

By: Nick I.

Melvin Burgess' thrilling story, Smack, is an intense, realistic novel following the life of two teenage runaways and their friends. It shows how their lives get worse and worse because of their horrible heroin addiction.

           "Tar," also known by his real name David, runs away home in Minely at the beginning of the book. He lives on the streets of Bristol, until his girlfriend, Gemma, chooses to run away with him. With the help of a sketchy tobacconist, Tar begins to live in a squat with Jerry, Richard, and Vonny, a trio of much older anarchists.

The group shortly after starting has a party to honor their success. Richard invited kids Tar’s age and Vonny doesn’t like the idea of that. She told Richard that those kids were definitely on something, and didn’t want them around Gemma. Shortly after that, Gemma and Tar decide to live with Rob and Lily, the kids Richard had invited to the party. Gemma thinks that these are the friends she has always wanted, and they begin using heroine together

This book caught my eye when I read the first page. It had a realistic plot, and all the characters represented different personalities. It showed how they grew and how they started out. This story shows every characters point of view and that’s what I really liked about it.

I do have to say, it lacked some of the needed detail. Now, don’t get me wrong the detail was there, just not where it was really needed. That doesn’t even compare to the good qualities of the story though, it was a very good book.

I would recommend this story to anyone ready for a book with drugs, sex and profanity. It is definitely a book for teenagers in high school. It shows the dark sides to heroine and how far downhill it can go. If I were you I would go get this book right now, it can be found in your local library, bookstore or even online.

Smack, by Melvin Burgess, Avon tempest, 293 pages