Toxic by Nicci Cloke

          3.5 Stars

The secret to this book is the characters.  We only really get to know Hope, Logan and Daisy properly in the book but each of the 3 has a strong and individual voice which carries their section well.  I did have issues separating a couple of the characters from each other (Zach and Nate) as they both seemed pretty much interchangeable throughout.  Whilst there is a lot happening here, most of it is of the rather mundane teenage life version of drama - so mountains out of molehills - but that is fine because that is what the book is about.  I hesitate to call it a coming of age novel but really that is what it is all about.

From reading the blurb you could be forgiven for thinking that this is all about a disastrous event befalling Hope when on a "lads holiday" to Crete.  Indeed, I kept waiting for the calamitous event that never really arrives; this did rather spoil the first half of the book for me as I kept wondering if this was "it" we were building to.  So, if you've read the blurb then put it out of your mind and think of it this way - it is a book about the changing nature of friendship.

There is plenty of drama here from the more overt ones of the dangers of alcohol and how they can leave you at the mercy of more predatory people and how it can turn you in to the predator.  It runs through homophobia, the trials of wanting to fit in, depression, cyber bullying, and family/peer pressure.  The writing is fun and pacy and you never really get chance to get bored with one situation or one character - although some of them can be incredibly infuriating (Dev I am looking at you!).

Whilst marketed as a YA read, it really does work just as well for those of us who have long ago left those teenage years behind.  It does have a lot of content that is very relevant to life for a teenager today and could be a good gift book - if you can get your teen to read this it *could* open up lines of communication between you a little bit (especially if you both read it).  Even if it doesn't it is a fun read about characters that feel wholly human and real, so much so I did feel a little bit fly-on-the-wall when reading it.