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Bewilderness
Set in rural North Carolina, this funny, painful, and very wise novel follows two young women—best friends—as they struggle to free themselves from opioid addiction, perfect for readers of Julie Buntin's Marlena .
Irene, a lonely nineteen-year-old in rural North Carolina, works long nights at the local pool hall, serving pitchers and dodging drunks. One evening, her magnetic coworker Luce invites her on a joy ride through the mountains to take revenge on an abusive customer. Their adventure not only spells the beginning of a dazzling friendship, it seduces both girls into the mysterious world of pills and the endless hustles needed to fund the next high.
Together, Irene and Luce run nickel-tossing scams at the county fair and trick dealers into trading legit pharms for birth-control pills. Everything is wild and wonderful until Luce finds a boyfriend who wants to help her get clean. Soon the two of them decide to move away and start a new, sober life in Florida—leaving Irene behind.
Told in a riveting dialogue between the girls' addicted past and their hopes for a better future, Bewilderness is not just a brilliant, funny, heartbreaking novel about opioid abuse, it's also a moving look at how intense, intimate friendships can shape every young woman's life.
Irene, a lonely nineteen-year-old in rural North Carolina, works long nights at the local pool hall, serving pitchers and dodging drunks. One evening, her magnetic coworker Luce invites her on a joy ride through the mountains to take revenge on an abusive customer. Their adventure not only spells the beginning of a dazzling friendship, it seduces both girls into the mysterious world of pills and the endless hustles needed to fund the next high.
Together, Irene and Luce run nickel-tossing scams at the county fair and trick dealers into trading legit pharms for birth-control pills. Everything is wild and wonderful until Luce finds a boyfriend who wants to help her get clean. Soon the two of them decide to move away and start a new, sober life in Florida—leaving Irene behind.
Told in a riveting dialogue between the girls' addicted past and their hopes for a better future, Bewilderness is not just a brilliant, funny, heartbreaking novel about opioid abuse, it's also a moving look at how intense, intimate friendships can shape every young woman's life.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2021
59 people are currently reading
7203 people want to read
About the author
Karen Tucker
1 book40 followersKaren Tucker is the author of the novel BEWILDERNESS (Catapult 2021), which was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, shortlisted for the Crook's Corner Book Prize, and selected as an Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. Her short fiction can be found in The Yale Review, Epoch, Tin House, The Missouri Review, Boulevard, American Literary Review, and elsewhere.
Tucker's honors include an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant for Emerging Writers, the George M. Harper Award for Creative Writing, the Jerome Stern Series Spotlight Award in fiction, and a PEO Scholar Award. Born and raised in North Carolina, she teaches fiction and creative nonfiction at UNC Chapel Hill.
Tucker's honors include an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant for Emerging Writers, the George M. Harper Award for Creative Writing, the Jerome Stern Series Spotlight Award in fiction, and a PEO Scholar Award. Born and raised in North Carolina, she teaches fiction and creative nonfiction at UNC Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 220 reviews
April 27, 2021
BEWILDERNESS is a very honest and hard-hit ting look at opioid addiction in Small Town, America.
When the book starts, best friends Irene and Luce have been clean for a significant amount of time. But after tragedy strikes, their lives begin to spiral down towards old habits and temptations.
Mixed throughout the story are flashbacks that show the hardships they endured to get to where they are now.
It's an amazing look at their friendship. They definitely love and support each other but addiction also makes them co-dependant and enablers.
It's entirely narrated by Irene and the author does a fantastic job of subtly showing how her POV is influenced by her addiction and that other characters can see things more clearly.
Another thing I really like about this book is that it doesn't glamorize drug use at all. There's no wild parties or adventures where everyone is having fun getting high. Instead BEWILDERNESS keeps it real.
*thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
Due for release June 1st.
When the book starts, best friends Irene and Luce have been clean for a significant amount of time. But after tragedy strikes, their lives begin to spiral down towards old habits and temptations.
Mixed throughout the story are flashbacks that show the hardships they endured to get to where they are now.
It's an amazing look at their friendship. They definitely love and support each other but addiction also makes them co-dependant and enablers.
It's entirely narrated by Irene and the author does a fantastic job of subtly showing how her POV is influenced by her addiction and that other characters can see things more clearly.
Another thing I really like about this book is that it doesn't glamorize drug use at all. There's no wild parties or adventures where everyone is having fun getting high. Instead BEWILDERNESS keeps it real.
*thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
Due for release June 1st.
November 24, 2021
Irene and Luce are young waitresses that have been clean from drugs for almost a year. Something bad happens and they spiral back into their past.
Hell I can't describe this book I don't know why I'm trying to be all fancy with it.
Here's what I think. At first I thought this book was kinda slow and that I was getting my hopes up for a good book to be let down. I finally decided to give it another go before it expired from my library loan. I read the thing in just a few hours and now I'm sitting here almost sick to my stomach from it.
Sick to my stomach because this book pulls no punches. It tells exactly what happens when you either see or are caught up in opioid addiction.
I'm going to be honest I do not know whether to recommend it or tell everyone to keep their heads in the sand. If you do brave it be ready. This is some powerful writing. Karen Tucker is going to take you there and hold your head while you almost throw up from the truth.
Booksource: library-overdrive.
Hell I can't describe this book I don't know why I'm trying to be all fancy with it.
Here's what I think. At first I thought this book was kinda slow and that I was getting my hopes up for a good book to be let down. I finally decided to give it another go before it expired from my library loan. I read the thing in just a few hours and now I'm sitting here almost sick to my stomach from it.
Sick to my stomach because this book pulls no punches. It tells exactly what happens when you either see or are caught up in opioid addiction.
I'm going to be honest I do not know whether to recommend it or tell everyone to keep their heads in the sand. If you do brave it be ready. This is some powerful writing. Karen Tucker is going to take you there and hold your head while you almost throw up from the truth.
Booksource: library-overdrive.
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March 8, 2022This one is far too tough to get through. Not because of the writing, but because the subject matter of opioid abuse with these 2 best friends, is sad. Depressing. A vicious downward spiral.
There has been enough depression in the last 2 years and with the current Ukraine situation. I don’t doubt many are struggling with this addiction. But it is an all out in your face this is what it looks like.
I won’t rate it as it wouldn’t be fair but I won’t finish it either.
There has been enough depression in the last 2 years and with the current Ukraine situation. I don’t doubt many are struggling with this addiction. But it is an all out in your face this is what it looks like.
I won’t rate it as it wouldn’t be fair but I won’t finish it either.
November 24, 2021
It was on the news the other day that 100,000 people died from drug overdoses, during the time of Covid. I was already reading this book, and it added a horrible reality to a book that is fiction. The book begins with two young woman, in their latter twenties, that have gotten clean from their drug addiction. The story goes back and forth from past to present so we learn how these two, Luce and Irene became friends, their drug addiction and their attempts to quit. Longing to stay clean, have a better job, a better life, a more secure future. A terrible tragedy will send them spiraling back down and their attempts again, to recover.
This is a no holds barred story about drug addiction. It is gritty and realistic. I felt a great deal of sympathy for these two young girls, and a horror of the things they do and the things done to them. It is also about friendship, the ways friends can help and hinder. A tough read but I understand more about the deepness of a drug addiction and the efforts to break an addiction.
This is a no holds barred story about drug addiction. It is gritty and realistic. I felt a great deal of sympathy for these two young girls, and a horror of the things they do and the things done to them. It is also about friendship, the ways friends can help and hinder. A tough read but I understand more about the deepness of a drug addiction and the efforts to break an addiction.
January 9, 2025
Genuinely so heartbreaking and moving
July 2, 2021
I read this off and on yesterday finishing late at night, and then I couldn’t shake it and didn’t feel like going to sleep, so I watched one of those true crime shows about a woman who had her throat sawed open and doused in Pine Sol. Somehow, this took the edge off the book a little and then I went to bed.
It’s that good, and that ugly, and that hopeless. Don’t let this next bit deter you from reading it, but it’s a little bit as if Ottessa Moshfegh's distant stepsister tried her hand at Southern Gothic. Well, maybe not, it’s nothing like that, but this is something truly brutal and truly dark, and also funny, so I’m not really sure how to describe it.
It’s that good, and that ugly, and that hopeless. Don’t let this next bit deter you from reading it, but it’s a little bit as if Ottessa Moshfegh's distant stepsister tried her hand at Southern Gothic. Well, maybe not, it’s nothing like that, but this is something truly brutal and truly dark, and also funny, so I’m not really sure how to describe it.
July 8, 2021
A story about female friendship and drug addiction inside the "opioid crisis" in rural NC, the author does a good job showing how people can keep you pulled in to using, and back in, how people who use are taken advantage of instead of helped, how difficult it is to move past it. I would say if you have a past with addiction this is not the book for you as it portrays drug use cover to cover. I had to look a few things up because I'm not super familiar with the terminology. Irene and Luce are memorable characters, alongside some of the minor characters like Wilky and Nogales. There is one moment where Irene does something for her friend that is the absolutely wrong thing but you can completely see why she does it - it is an agonizing subject with no clear answers.
The author went to Warren Wilson and FSU, teaches at UNC, and name dropped some names I recognized in the back. I had a copy from the publisher.
The author went to Warren Wilson and FSU, teaches at UNC, and name dropped some names I recognized in the back. I had a copy from the publisher.
September 2, 2021
A poignant tale centered around two best friend's and their journey through drug addiction. This story was both heartbreaking and humorous. The narration was perfect!
My Rating: 4.5 ⭐️’s
Published: June 1st 2021 by Random House Audio
Audio: 7 hours
Recommend: Yes!
#Bewilderness #DrugAddiction #Recovery #JustFinished #AudioBook #Libby #BrittanyPressley #KarenTucker #BestFriends
After publication my reviews can be found at Amazon, Twitter, GoodReads, Barnes and Noble, BookBub, NetGalley, and Edelweiss
@_karentucker_ @PRHAudio
My Rating: 4.5 ⭐️’s
Published: June 1st 2021 by Random House Audio
Audio: 7 hours
Recommend: Yes!
#Bewilderness #DrugAddiction #Recovery #JustFinished #AudioBook #Libby #BrittanyPressley #KarenTucker #BestFriends
After publication my reviews can be found at Amazon, Twitter, GoodReads, Barnes and Noble, BookBub, NetGalley, and Edelweiss
@_karentucker_ @PRHAudio
June 4, 2021
This was phenomenal. Gut-wrenching, honest, deep and authentic. I was GLUED to it and I read it in a day. Cannot recommend highly enough. The main character, the friendship, what happens... I just can't even. READ THIS BOOK.
December 21, 2022
The story follows two girls Irene and Luce, who are on and off different drugs. Part time pill addicts who manage to keep jobs and try to keep a normal life. They go to regular rehab meetings to keep straight for awhile but keep slipping up. The story feels raw and difficult at times.
Irene wants keep Luce for herself with a friendship that borders on obsession. Luce has a boyfriend named Wilky who makes for a Love triangle.
The story made me think back to a few questionable choices that luckily didn’t derail my whole life. These girls made a few bad choices which led them down the paths that they just can’t get out of. They make for very relatable characters because they are not too far normal girls.
The ending describes how a rehab place takes advantage of funding to make money but not help the patients which is really sad and terrible.
Irene wants keep Luce for herself with a friendship that borders on obsession. Luce has a boyfriend named Wilky who makes for a Love triangle.
The story made me think back to a few questionable choices that luckily didn’t derail my whole life. These girls made a few bad choices which led them down the paths that they just can’t get out of. They make for very relatable characters because they are not too far normal girls.
The ending describes how a rehab place takes advantage of funding to make money but not help the patients which is really sad and terrible.
May 17, 2021
A heartbreaking, tender story about friendship, made bearable by the author’s casual way of telling the story. This is how someone would tell you about a luminous best friend she once had while you both linger over cheap beer at a sticky bar. It’s not an easy read, emotionally; proceed with caution if you’re sensitive to drug-related stories. That said, I am one of those people, and I am so, so glad I took the plunge with Tucker’s debut. A stunner.
May 24, 2021
4.5 Stars
See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf.Inspiration Instagram
“Once upon a time there was magic, there was music, and then: nothing. Even now, years later, there are days when the world is little more than an empty scraped-out bag.” - Bewilderness.
Irene, a lonely nineteen-year-old in rural North Carolina, works long nights at the local pool hall, serving pitchers and dodging drunks. One evening, her hilarious, magnetic coworker Luce invites her on a joy ride through the mountains to take revenge on a creepy customer. Their adventure not only spells the beginning of a dazzling friendship, it seduces both girls into the mysterious world of pills and the endless hustles needed to find the next high. Everything is wild and wonderful until Luce finds a boyfriend who wants to help her get clean. Soon, the two of them decide to move away and start a new, sober life in Florida—leaving Irene behind.
Thank you to NetGalley , Catapult , and Karen Tucker for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Wow what can I say about this book! Bewilderness is the story of the friendship between Irene and Luce as they live in their small mountain town, and are caught in the hold of opioid addiction. The friendship between them is one of love, co-dependence, and even danger as they battle between sobriety and drug use. I really liked how this book examined friendship through the lens of addiction and how they impact one-another. This is a heartbreaking, graphic read but it is written so well. I felt that it accurately depicted addiction and the multitude of ways that it can impact someone’s life. I would recommend this book, especially for those who have read and enjoyed books such as “Marlena”, books by author Ellen Hopkins, or movies such as “Thirteen”.
Release Date: June 1, 2021
See more on my Bookstagram: Shelf.Inspiration Instagram
“Once upon a time there was magic, there was music, and then: nothing. Even now, years later, there are days when the world is little more than an empty scraped-out bag.” - Bewilderness.
Irene, a lonely nineteen-year-old in rural North Carolina, works long nights at the local pool hall, serving pitchers and dodging drunks. One evening, her hilarious, magnetic coworker Luce invites her on a joy ride through the mountains to take revenge on a creepy customer. Their adventure not only spells the beginning of a dazzling friendship, it seduces both girls into the mysterious world of pills and the endless hustles needed to find the next high. Everything is wild and wonderful until Luce finds a boyfriend who wants to help her get clean. Soon, the two of them decide to move away and start a new, sober life in Florida—leaving Irene behind.
Thank you to NetGalley , Catapult , and Karen Tucker for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Wow what can I say about this book! Bewilderness is the story of the friendship between Irene and Luce as they live in their small mountain town, and are caught in the hold of opioid addiction. The friendship between them is one of love, co-dependence, and even danger as they battle between sobriety and drug use. I really liked how this book examined friendship through the lens of addiction and how they impact one-another. This is a heartbreaking, graphic read but it is written so well. I felt that it accurately depicted addiction and the multitude of ways that it can impact someone’s life. I would recommend this book, especially for those who have read and enjoyed books such as “Marlena”, books by author Ellen Hopkins, or movies such as “Thirteen”.
Release Date: June 1, 2021
June 7, 2021
The Struggle
This is a story about opioid addiction, it's easy access and its appeal to the young. Sadly it shows the struggles of two girls to shake the pull of the drugs and to come clean. It was so sad to see that the struggle was so real for these young people.
It was sad that both had a family member that abused a substance either alcohol or drugs. It also showed the boyfriend that had the same struggle and had a well to do family, he had a college education and still could not shake the pull of the drug. I think that it would have helped them a great deal to win their fight if they had had proper support from some family member during this time.
They tried cold turkey, they tried the meetings and both made it almost a year before they relapsed again. They fed off of each other. When one would try and quit the other would not and both begain using drugs again.
You will experience their friendship , betrayals of and by friends and family and ultimately learn if one or either of them ever kicked free from their drug dependence.
This was a sad story but it really brought to light the struggle those addicted live every day. Yes, it was their choice and they should not have started in the first place, but it was a bad choice and they needed help and support to then get off the drugs. As a society we need to recognize this need and somehow address it.
I would recommend this book to any parents of young people.
Thanks to Karen Tucker, Catapult books, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of the book.
This is a story about opioid addiction, it's easy access and its appeal to the young. Sadly it shows the struggles of two girls to shake the pull of the drugs and to come clean. It was so sad to see that the struggle was so real for these young people.
It was sad that both had a family member that abused a substance either alcohol or drugs. It also showed the boyfriend that had the same struggle and had a well to do family, he had a college education and still could not shake the pull of the drug. I think that it would have helped them a great deal to win their fight if they had had proper support from some family member during this time.
They tried cold turkey, they tried the meetings and both made it almost a year before they relapsed again. They fed off of each other. When one would try and quit the other would not and both begain using drugs again.
You will experience their friendship , betrayals of and by friends and family and ultimately learn if one or either of them ever kicked free from their drug dependence.
This was a sad story but it really brought to light the struggle those addicted live every day. Yes, it was their choice and they should not have started in the first place, but it was a bad choice and they needed help and support to then get off the drugs. As a society we need to recognize this need and somehow address it.
I would recommend this book to any parents of young people.
Thanks to Karen Tucker, Catapult books, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of the book.
July 9, 2021
this book hit me harder than i expected. the beginning was slow and i felt as if i had read the same story before--but after i got the chance to dive into the setting and Irene and Luce's friendship, i became more engrossed in what would happen to them. this book tackles the opioid epidemic in Appalachia in a haunting and beautiful way, and the storyline felt painfully familiar. i wish i could have heard even more about Irene's feelings for Luce, but i appreciated the beauty of this friendship. this is a poignant story that might not be for everyone but certainly hits hard.
thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an ARC!
thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an ARC!
June 4, 2021
BEWILDERNESS is a vivid, gut-wrenching, and surprisingly funny portrayal of addiction and female friendship. Set in a rural North Carolina town, we follow Irene and Luce, as they struggle with opioid addiction, sobriety and the downward spiral of their friendship and the relationships around them.
Irene is sharp, witty and one hell of a narrator. Told through a nonlinear timeline, she takes us on her heartbreaking journey with addiction and the highs and lows of her friendship with the free-spirited Luce. Their relationship is undeniably harmonious, maddening and incredibly unhealthy.
Written with unblinking honesty and laugh-out-loud humor, Tucker’s debut is a realistic glimpse into addiction in small town America. I cannot wait to see what Tucker writes next. This beautiful, intoxicating story about opioid addiction, friendship, codependency, love and loss will grip you from start to finish.
CW: rape, sexual assault, drug use/addiction
Thank you so much @catapult for the #gifted book!
Irene is sharp, witty and one hell of a narrator. Told through a nonlinear timeline, she takes us on her heartbreaking journey with addiction and the highs and lows of her friendship with the free-spirited Luce. Their relationship is undeniably harmonious, maddening and incredibly unhealthy.
Written with unblinking honesty and laugh-out-loud humor, Tucker’s debut is a realistic glimpse into addiction in small town America. I cannot wait to see what Tucker writes next. This beautiful, intoxicating story about opioid addiction, friendship, codependency, love and loss will grip you from start to finish.
CW: rape, sexual assault, drug use/addiction
Thank you so much @catapult for the #gifted book!
June 17, 2021
This was a wonderful book - heartfelt, incredibly well-written. The characters leapt off the pages! For me, there was something of a Salinger Catcher in the Rye feel to it because the main character was so flawed, so hurting, so trying to make sense of things. I read it start to finish in only a few days, and was touched by it. I loved so much how every character was so real and three-dimensional, you could love them and then hate them for their destructive attitudes and how they treated one another and their quirks. There was a lot of pain in this book yet it was not depressing, it was really a triumph of going on with life and moving forward. LOVED IT! Highly Recommended.
June 30, 2021
Deftly written, raw and authentic. The story of a friendship and the bittersweet hell of addiction, with a narrative that shifts around in time, without ever losing the reader, as the story escalates. Super gritty but nothing graphic (no frank sex or animal cruelty), terrifically real characters, lingers in your mind in a good way. Well worth the read. Would make a great series-- HBO, are you listening?
July 30, 2021
This book is about 2 codependent girls, as they meet already past the “just partying” phase, and the descent into hardcore addiction. Really, it’s just Drug Porn. If you think you may learn something from it, it’s not that kind of book. If you are in Recovery, it’s *not* the book for you.
The main character obviously is in love with her “best” friend, but this is never discussed. This, and other unexplained gaps annoyed me greatly through out the book. It skips back and forth, and nothing really happens except the current Situation and then it just ends. A lot of it is unbelievable, like her relationship with a clean-nosed cop, who busts them for possession, then is forever apologizing for it?
It’s obvious the Author is familiar with Addiction and NA. What *really* bothers me, is that at some point she’s been in the rooms and probably passively learned The Steps. There are 3 different areas, where the Author gives explicit drug-using information. *I* learned 3 things I didn’t know about or how to do. I think it’s incredibly irresponsible to throw in, because it adds NOTHING to the story. Except: look, I know what I’m talking about 🙄
We don’t actually know if the Author is in recovery, because she failed to mention this in the Acknowledgments/back cover. If she’s in Recovery, she knows better. If she’s not, that’s almost worse, because she obviously researched for this book and she should know better than to profit off of people’s pain and misery.
The main character obviously is in love with her “best” friend, but this is never discussed. This, and other unexplained gaps annoyed me greatly through out the book. It skips back and forth, and nothing really happens except the current Situation and then it just ends. A lot of it is unbelievable, like her relationship with a clean-nosed cop, who busts them for possession, then is forever apologizing for it?
It’s obvious the Author is familiar with Addiction and NA. What *really* bothers me, is that at some point she’s been in the rooms and probably passively learned The Steps. There are 3 different areas, where the Author gives explicit drug-using information. *I* learned 3 things I didn’t know about or how to do. I think it’s incredibly irresponsible to throw in, because it adds NOTHING to the story. Except: look, I know what I’m talking about 🙄
We don’t actually know if the Author is in recovery, because she failed to mention this in the Acknowledgments/back cover. If she’s in Recovery, she knows better. If she’s not, that’s almost worse, because she obviously researched for this book and she should know better than to profit off of people’s pain and misery.
March 8, 2021
Wow. What a heavy look into life in addiction (and codependency). I wanted to punch Luce and shake Irene by her shoulders and wrap them both in warm blankets. The last tenth of Bewilderness DESTROYED me. I'm so grateful for an ARC of this and definitely will be buying a copy when it comes out.
March 22, 2021
DAMN. Preorder this book.
July 19, 2021
2.5 ⭐. This was good writing but I just didn't connect with the characters and the story itself wasn't to my taste. Dnf at 50 pages.
December 19, 2021
Update 12/18, I’m bumping this up to 5 stars bc I think it’s the best book I read this year
July 4, 2021
Twenty-something friends Irene and Luce wait tables, hustle, scrape by, mourn a friend who’s OD’d, and struggle to stay clean themselves. When Luce finally takes her chance to go to rehab, Irene can hardly stand the thought of being separated...but it seems like the best chance for them both to turn their lives around.
This short novel about friendship, addiction, and codependency is both gorgeous and heartbreaking. It sucked me right in and never let go. I got the feeling reading it that elements of the story must be somewhat autobiographical for Tucker, as I’m not sure how else she’d be able to write about the ins and outs of addiction so convincingly. Her author acknowledgements seem to confirm this. In any case, Luce and Irene go through some pretty hardcore stuff before all is said and done, so take caution if reading about overdosing or sexual assault would be triggering for you. Other than that, I highly recommend this.
This short novel about friendship, addiction, and codependency is both gorgeous and heartbreaking. It sucked me right in and never let go. I got the feeling reading it that elements of the story must be somewhat autobiographical for Tucker, as I’m not sure how else she’d be able to write about the ins and outs of addiction so convincingly. Her author acknowledgements seem to confirm this. In any case, Luce and Irene go through some pretty hardcore stuff before all is said and done, so take caution if reading about overdosing or sexual assault would be triggering for you. Other than that, I highly recommend this.
July 8, 2021
My lord this book was depressing.
I didn’t expect it to be happy or anything based on the subject matter but damn it was just terrible thing after terrible thing happening to these characters. It’s just very tense throughout as each scene you’re waiting for something terrible to happen and pretty much every scene it does.
That being said it was an incredibly well done, honest and heartbreaking look at opioid addiction in small town America. I think especially because the main characters are teenage girls it is just particularly heartbreaking how many people throughout the book take advantage of them and their situation. The characters are really well written and it feels like the author doesn’t shy away from anything but also doesn’t force anything just for shock value.
Hard to rate because it was not necessary pleasant to read but is definitely really well done and 100% worth the read as long as you know what you’re getting into. 4.5ish
I didn’t expect it to be happy or anything based on the subject matter but damn it was just terrible thing after terrible thing happening to these characters. It’s just very tense throughout as each scene you’re waiting for something terrible to happen and pretty much every scene it does.
That being said it was an incredibly well done, honest and heartbreaking look at opioid addiction in small town America. I think especially because the main characters are teenage girls it is just particularly heartbreaking how many people throughout the book take advantage of them and their situation. The characters are really well written and it feels like the author doesn’t shy away from anything but also doesn’t force anything just for shock value.
Hard to rate because it was not necessary pleasant to read but is definitely really well done and 100% worth the read as long as you know what you’re getting into. 4.5ish
June 28, 2021
A painfully brutal portrayl of addiction, friendship and love.
January 27, 2022
As a friend to someone with an opioid addiction, this book is hard, and yet, clarifying to me about things I haven’t understood before. I’ve read Empire of Pain and watched Dopesick on Hulu and I’m disgusted by Big Pharma, as are so many people. This novel brought an even more personal glimpse into the real people who are suffering from addiction. Even though this is fiction, the characters felt so real.
I hadn’t heard of this before the Aspen Words long list, but I hope it gets much more recognition because Karen Tucker has written an incredible book.
July 8, 2021
4.5
What a book. The story of two friends' descent into addiction and struggle to climb out was wrenching. Tucker took me into a world I know mostly by headlines and statistics, and gave me more understanding of and empathy for addicts, particularly users of opioids. It never felt preachy or technical—instead, I felt the agony of the dilemmas the characters found themselves in believed the motivations for their choices, and grieved the outcomes. The portrayal of friendship at that pivotal, formative age was tender and relatable. I couldn't put it down.
What a book. The story of two friends' descent into addiction and struggle to climb out was wrenching. Tucker took me into a world I know mostly by headlines and statistics, and gave me more understanding of and empathy for addicts, particularly users of opioids. It never felt preachy or technical—instead, I felt the agony of the dilemmas the characters found themselves in believed the motivations for their choices, and grieved the outcomes. The portrayal of friendship at that pivotal, formative age was tender and relatable. I couldn't put it down.
May 24, 2021
I stayed up until nearly 1:30 to finish this. I read it in one fell swoop because I couldn’t stop reading.
July 15, 2021
Read this if you want to get your heart broken.
Also... at least half the time I read books centered on female friendship, I want to email the author and ask her if she knew that she was actually writing about unrequited romantic love. This is one of those instances. Not that it matters to the plot exactly, but--
the love here was so raw and exposed that it was impossible not to see.
Also... at least half the time I read books centered on female friendship, I want to email the author and ask her if she knew that she was actually writing about unrequited romantic love. This is one of those instances. Not that it matters to the plot exactly, but--
the love here was so raw and exposed that it was impossible not to see.
October 12, 2021
I don’t know how I stumbled across this one. Bewilderness, about two young women Luce and Irene, poverty stricken and sucked into a world of darkness and grief with only each other to hold on to, was so heartbreaking.
If I knew how much it focused on opiates I probably would not have read this. I am glad I did though because it was beautifully written. The author put a lot of research and effort in this book. I liked how she wrote it from the pov of a seventeen-year-old. It made it so raw and gave the realization of how many people struggle with opiate addiction every day. It also sheds light on how we view those who use and that they can easily be family, friends, a neighbor, or someone sitting right next to you. Thought provoking novel by Karen Tucker.
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