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Review

“Here’s here. I’m here.
That’s all we need.
It’s our greatest lie.”

This is a beautifully written story about two very damaged people both drowning under the weight of addiction, but trying their best to live their lives without disturbing the delicate balance that keeps them functioning.

Lily and Lo have been best friends since childhood. Both from obscenely wealthy families, they moved into together when they started College, and are faking a relationship in front of their families in order to hide their destructive behaviours. Lily and Lo are both addicts. Lo is an alcoholic, while Lily is addicted to sex – hooking up with random guys anywhere and anytime she can in order to get her sexual high.

The main focus of the books is the relationship between Lily and Lo, and I think the authors did a fantastic job at telling their story. They love each other, they have no secrets, are completely honest with each other, and they accept each other exactly as they are. This is such a beautiful part of their relationship, but at the same time, hiding their true selves from everybody else in their lives means that they are totally insulated in their own little world, and in trying to be there for and protect each other, they actually end up enabling each other’s addictions.

“Lo drinks. I screw. And our schedules overlap and bypass too often, becoming more destructive than healthy.”

And beneath it all is the fact that both of them have true feelings for each other. It makes their situation even more intense, and certainly kept me madly flipping pages, and when their friendship finally morphs into romance, it is beautifully done, and absolutely swoony.

“Let me try,” he says, his hand cupping my face. “Let me try to be enough for you.”

OMG, Lo absolutely stole my heart! They have always been there for each other, but the way that Lo accepts Lily without reservation, promising to be all that she needs, is just amazing.

“I know what you want, and you don’t need to take it. I can give it to you.”

But the change in their relationship brings about a shift in the way that they try to manage their addictions. They start to see the impact that their behaviour is having on the people that love them, and even though they love each other deeply, their co-dependency is only contributing further to their problems.

“We’ve been friends, allies, for so long that I don’t know who I am without him. Our lives intersect at every possible junction, and separating sounds like a fatal, irreparable cut.
But something is so wrong.”

The other big shift in their lives comes when they start to let others into their little circle – fellow trust-fund baby, and straight-talking intellect, Connor, and protective hardass with a big heart, Ryke. I love these boys! So completely different, but bringing so much to the story! And when Lily’s perfectionist older sister, Rose joins the crew, things get even more interesting.

I love these characters! The story is told from Lily’s POV, but the authors have done a fantastic job at getting us right into the gritty rawness of their addictions, and my heart broke at their selfish and destructive behaviours, and their feelings of hopelessness about their situations.

Sex addiction is a really difficult problem to tackle. I think it is sensationalised a lot in the media by people trying to excuse themselves for bad behaviour, but the way that the authors have shown Lily’s struggle really reveals what I believe would be the true nature of the condition. Lily is naturally a shy girl and she is ashamed and frightened by her behaviour, but it’s a compulsion for her and she can’t resist searching for her high. Her struggles are described throughout the book in a manner which is raw but discrete. And even though sex is obviously a big theme in the book, the authors don’t go overboard with it. It’s there, but it’s not in your face, and I think they balanced it really nicely.

I love the fact that this book is real. This is two characters struggling with real-life issues. There’s no easy solution, there’s no shining moment where love conquers all, and they are magically healed and suddenly everything is ok. Lily and Lo’s struggles are real, scary, and heartbreaking. I love the way this story is being told, and I love the way that everything is unfolding, and the direction the story is taking. It all builds to an inevitably intense ending, and I’m going straight on to Ricochet!  

4.5 stars.

 

The Addicted series

 

Check out our Author Spotlight on Krista and Becca Ritchie.