Review: Roxy

Roxy by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Everyone has heard of Roxy and Addison, even if you didn’t know that was their name.  Roxy, AKA Oxycontin, is good at her job.  She catches people while they are down and keeps them in her grip.  Addison, AKA Adderall, is a smart overachiever who would like to update her image from a helpful friend to a dangerous one.  Roxy and Addison make a bet.  They each believe they can bring a person to “the Party” first without the person switching to a new player.  Who are the marks?  Ivy and Isaac Rameys.  Will these siblings be able to fight the pull of these experts?  With their lives on the line, what choices will they make?

Roxy is a stand-alone novel that is hard to pigeonhole into one genre.  The premise of the story is set in the real world, yet Roxy, Addison and the other vices explored are not really interacting with humans in this way.  The Shusterman’s have taken a very real and devastating topic and brought it to an audience that needs to understand what is happening in people’s lives.  I have close family members that have been addicted to various substances and know the cycle is hard to break.  With the personification of these chemical compounds, readers may be able to empathize with those who are suffering from addiction.  Once this book got its grip on me, I couldn’t put it down!

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