August 1, 2014
Faye, forced to become a drug addict at 11, now craves revenge against the men who first fed her Heam. Heam, or Heaven's Dream, functionally kills its users, allowing them a glimpse of what appears to be heaven. When drug dealers seeking to punish Faye's father force-fed the drug to Faye and her friend Christian, Faye saw a hellish vision instead. Her chest covered in the red web of scars that mark survivors of a Heam overdose, Faye has spent the past several years becoming a skilled fighter in hopes of murdering the men she holds responsible for her downfall. Faye meets three people-a young Heam user, the sister of a missing Heam addict and a mysterious boy who pops up every time Faye follows her targets-and she begins to question whether revenge is truly the right course of action. The worldbuilding can be one-note: Readers learn a lot about Heam addiction and discrimination against Heam users, but no other drugs or stigmas seem to exist. Faye's experience of addiction is also unconvincing. She tells readers that she craves the drug, but only rarely is there evidence of this. Faye's relationships, however, romantic and otherwise, are compellingly drawn, and the plot is fast-moving and well-structured. Not perfectly constructed, but Faye's strong yet flawed character is worth getting to know. (Faye's training schedule, watchwords, playlist) (Fiction. 14-18)
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November 1, 2014
Gr 9 Up-An intriguing but faulty exploration of addiction set against the backdrop of a not-so-distant future. Forced to overdose on Heam-a synthetic drug that offers users a glimpse of heaven-to pay off her father's debts when she was 11, 16-year-old Faye is bent on making her attackers pay for their crimes, especially the death of her best friend Christian, who tried to defend her that fateful day. Adopted and trained by a former cop with secrets of his own, the teen is treated like a pariah and must follow stringent rules at her private school because of the inherent prejudice against all Heam users. Permanently addicted to the drug, Faye fights off the urge to get high as she hunts down the hoodlums responsible for her tortured existence. A mysterious stranger named Chael, who seems to know her better than she knows herself, and a new friend at school, have given her hope for a possible future without guilt and loneliness. The interesting premise and initial strong world-building, including heavy ruminations on the existence of heaven and hell, gives way to inconsistent characterization, gaping plot holes, and lengthy preachy monologues on revenge and the difference between good and evil in this haphazard YA novel. The tepid romance and the often cringe-worthy dialogue will leave readers uninspired and unsatisfied.-Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2014
Grades 9-12 Bitterness, sorrow, and hate. That's been the sum total of Faye's existence since the age of 11, when she and her friend Christian were dosed with the illegal addictive drug Heam by vindictive dealers. Heam, short for Heaven's Dream, delivers an unprecedented highit kills its users, gives them a vision of the afterlife, and then, usually, it resuscitates them. Faye woke up with a lifelong psychological addiction to the drug and the visible scars of an overdose survivor. But Christian didn't wake up at all. Heam users are stigmatized, even abandoned, and Faye considers herself lucky that Gazer, an ex-cop, adopted her after she was thrown out by her mother. Now in high school, Faye is obsessed with killing the men who destroyed her life and murdered Christianuntil a handsome boy who knows too much about her appears from the shadows. Faye's confusion about blame and fate slow down this action-heavy thriller, but the noir-like setting and characters will satisfy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)