You can take the red pill or you can take the red pill? Or how about no pills.
On New Year's Eve, Jess's life is unrecognizable: her best friend is
in the hospital, her boyfriend is a cheater. A drug-dealing cheater it
would seem, after finding a stash of Nostalgex in his bag.
Nostalgex: a drug that stimulates memory. In small doses, a person can
remember the order of a deck of cards, or an entire revision guide read
the day before an exam. In larger doses it allows the user detailed
access to their past, almost like watching a DVD with the ability to
pause a moment in time, to focus on previously unnoticed details and to
see everything they've ever experienced with fresh eyes. As Leon, the
local dealer, says 'it's like life, only better.' What he fails to
mention is that most memories are clouded by emotions. Even the most
vivid memories can look very different when revisited.
Across town Sam Cooper is in trouble. Again. This time, gagged and bound
in the boot of a car. Getting on the wrong side of a drug dealer is
never a good idea, but if he doesn't make enough money to feed and
clothe his sister, who will?
On New Year's Day, Jess and Cooper's worlds collide. They must put
behind their differences and work together to look into their pasts to
uncover a series of events that will lead them to know what really
happened on that fateful New Year's Eve. But what they find is that
everything they had once believed to be true, turns out to be a lie ...
This book involves a fake drug that allows that gives you super memory. It was interesting and featured in the plot well. Though, I would have liked to have more scenes with the the effects of the drug, especially on a minor dose.
The characters are likable enough and have complex relationships with each other. Though, I feel character's action/thoughts were unrealistic.
The ending is unusual but it feels a bit of unnatural conclusion. It's still satisfying because it did make the sense.
Overall, I gave this novel four out of five stars for dreamories. It was good and is worth checking out.
I got this off NetGalley for review and it was published by Hodder Children's Books on 4 June 2015.
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