ALA Booklist

"I try to tell her I've tried all that before . . . I'm so sick of this recovery twelve-step psychobabble." Searingly honest, this memoir by a 22-year-old recovering drug addict from Los Angeles recalls years of addiction, recovery, relapse, and recovery again. In the present tense, Sheff writes about his lies, desperation, and the horrors of detox, as well as his shame (he steals from family and friends, works as a prostitute), remorse, and addiction to sick sexual relationships. Always there's his longing to stick a needle in his vein. Although his family gives up on him, he finds a mentor, a recovered addict, who shows him that real life can be wonderful. Unfortunately, recovery doesn't last long. Sheff's ruminations are too repetitive (even obsessive), yet readers who know of his world will grab this; then give them Ellen Hopkins' novel Crank (2004) and its recent sequel, Glass (2007) for more on the power of addiction.

Horn Book

Brutally raw and honest, Sheff paints a heartbreaking and graphic portrait of his life as a drug addict. Convinced he could quit using at any time, Sheff details how drugs rapidly took over every aspect of his life, alienating his family and friends in the process. Readers will be inspired by the author's harrowing struggle to overcome his addiction.

Kirkus Reviews

In the publisher's second (and lesser) recent drug memoir, golden-boy-to-be Sheff recounts his descent from casual drinking and pot smoking as a teenager to heroin, cocaine and crystal-meth abuse in his early 20s. Full of jaw-tightening and occasionally grisly scenes of shooting up, deals gone bad, guns and sex, Sheff's story takes off like a shot in the arm with a terse, honest and spontaneous narrative. However, the page after page of needle-packing, drama and fighting among friends, lovers and drug partners eventually leads to desensitization and disconnect, which may be Sheff's point. But less patient readers, numbed by the truckload of troubles dumped on every page, may find themselves flipping through the pages to get to that point. Part 2 begins with what appears to be the author's recovery: Our hero, now seemingly clean—albeit temporarily—works part-time in a salon and publishes film reviews by night. Once again, however, he falls under the spell of romance and cocaine in the guise of a wealthy, L.A. socialite's daughter, and he's shipped off to rehab once again. A raw, directionless search for the truth. (For his father's side of the story, see Beautiful Boy , 2007) (Nonfiction. YA)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-This graphic and detailed memoir painfully depicts the author's addiction to methamphetamines and his tortuous, tentative journey to health. It is a companion to his father's seering and guilt-ridden memoir of witnessing Nic's gradual slide into drugs, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Meth Addiction (Houghton, 2008). As a child and teenager, Sheff lived with his father, stepmother, and siblings in a California home with much love and understanding, and it's not clear why he began his descent into drugs. He started drinking at 11, smoked pot at 12, and became addicted to methamphetamines (and other hard drugs) when he was 17. He blames his addiction on genes and maybe the trauma of a broken family. But it's clear from his anguished narrative that he simply was not at peace with himself and his environment. Sheff narrates his story with many flashbacks that document in excruciating detail the drug underworld and how he dragged others whom he loved and himself down into a seemingly bottomless pit of despair. The author, in recovery (though not for the first time), nonetheless ends his memoir on a note of hope.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

Nic Sheff began smoking and drinking at a young age. In his early twenties he fell into serious drug use. He begged, borrowed, and stole to feed his habit before finally getting clean. In this memoir, Scheff chronicles the 230 days prior to completing rehab. Chapters begin linearly with Day One; however, the narrative clumsily switches between present tense and past via flashbacks. Perhaps Sheff attempts to replicate the hyperactive mind of someone on methamphetamines. Whatever the reason, the story is difficult to follow-the author uses four pages of reflection to answer a simple question, "What are you doing here?" He breezes through his teenage smoking and drug use without sharing insight into how or why he began using. He mentions feelings of inferiority but does not go into enough detail. And statements such as "I smoked pot everyday" and "I had been accepted at prestigious universities across the country" do not add up when he goes on to say that he was getting high everyday between classes. He needs to tell more about how a college-bound student veered off course to make this book pertinent to young adults. Sheff details his downward spiral, and the reader feels his desperation that he really would rather die than try to fight his demons, but poor editing makes the journey to his recovery a frustrating one for the reader. His stream-of-consciousness narrative does not fit his linear construction.-Jessica Mize.