Gridlock

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Parched

I picked this up at the bargain bin at Barnes & Noble and now I sort of understand why it was put there in the first place. While the premise of the story is interesting and uplifting, the actual telling of it is drawn out and overly dramatic. I'm not sure if I would feel differently if I had ever battled a horrible disease like alcoholism, but I kept wondering when she was going to be done describing the daily downs that accompany 24-7 drinking and drug use.

She definitely got the point across that she was not a likeable person during her addiction - and I liked her even less for the self-pitying narrative (however true it was at the time) that wove its way through the pages

You know from the beginning how the story ends (recovery inspired by family intervention) and as I was reading, I was just waiting for the big tearful meeting to occur. Additionally, the role of religion seemed like an afterthought to the story - again, maybe I would understand if I had ever had a sudden enlightenment of the spiritual persuasion

The most interesting bit about all of this was how immediately intriguing the quotes from her journal entries were. Acidic, scathing, sad, and b*tchy at once, they were truly insightful and amazingly written. I got the impression that the story would have been a better one if it only consisted of her journal entries!

All-in-all, not a bad read, but not a great one either.