'I can feel it swimming through my veins like glitter ... it's liquid gold.'
Lexi Volkov is a socialite hotel heiress who finds herself admitted to the Clarity Centre, a rehabilitation unit for the under twenty-threes. In denial of her drug problem she lashes out and initially resists the help of the doctors and staff.
As the days in isolation pass and Lexi's body goes through the shocks of withdrawals, she begins to assess her choices. On meeting the other residents of the Clarity Centre, each with their own demons, Lexi is confronted with a crossroads, leave the Clarity Centre at the end of her 70 day stay and revert to her drug fuelled highs, or tread the path of recovery and stay clean.
This book is both important and needed for a generation that has had so much pressure to conform and perform. It doesn't shy away from exploring the dark, ugly sides of addiction and there are heavy segments that deal with death and grief. A note from Juno at the beginning of the novel points readers to support lines if the subject matter triggers any reactions.
Addiction is not portrayed as an easily solved problem, but instead recovery is presented as an ongoing process - one with setbacks but a journey nonetheless. Juno's cast of characters may all be flawed in their own ways but you root for each and every one of them.
Clean really packs a punch, at times incredibly delicate, at other times shocking, this is the book for any teenager who feels they don't belong.
Lexi Volkov is a socialite hotel heiress who finds herself admitted to the Clarity Centre, a rehabilitation unit for the under twenty-threes. In denial of her drug problem she lashes out and initially resists the help of the doctors and staff.
As the days in isolation pass and Lexi's body goes through the shocks of withdrawals, she begins to assess her choices. On meeting the other residents of the Clarity Centre, each with their own demons, Lexi is confronted with a crossroads, leave the Clarity Centre at the end of her 70 day stay and revert to her drug fuelled highs, or tread the path of recovery and stay clean.
This book is both important and needed for a generation that has had so much pressure to conform and perform. It doesn't shy away from exploring the dark, ugly sides of addiction and there are heavy segments that deal with death and grief. A note from Juno at the beginning of the novel points readers to support lines if the subject matter triggers any reactions.
Addiction is not portrayed as an easily solved problem, but instead recovery is presented as an ongoing process - one with setbacks but a journey nonetheless. Juno's cast of characters may all be flawed in their own ways but you root for each and every one of them.
Clean really packs a punch, at times incredibly delicate, at other times shocking, this is the book for any teenager who feels they don't belong.
Clean is out 5th April 2018 from Quercus Children's Books.
