ARC Review: Thicker Than Water by Kelly Fiore

Title: Thicker Than Water 
Author: Kelly Fiore
Genre: Contemporary 
Source: Edelweiss 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: January 5th 2016
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Summary: 

Cecelia Price killed her brother. At least, that’s what the police and the district attorney are saying. And although Cecelia is now locked up and forced into treatment, she knows the real story is much more complicated. Cyrus wasn’t always the drug-addled monster he’d become. He was a successful athlete, but when an injury forced him off the soccer field and onto pain medication, his life became a blur of anger, addiction, and violence. All CeCe could do was stand by and watch, until she realized one effective way to take away her brother’s drugs while earning the money she needed for college: selling the pills. Soon, CeCe becomes part drug dealer, part honor student. But even when all she wants is to make things right, she learns that sometimes the best intentions lead to the worst possible outcome. Thicker than Water is an unforgettable dark, harrowing look into the disturbing truth of drug addiction and the desperate love of a sister watching her brother deteriorate before her eyes.

Review: 

I finished this book a little less then 48 hours ago, and I am still trying to digest what I read. Fiore's writing was beautiful, and she took on a topic that is rough for many people. Thicker Than Water is heavy book, and I will warn you now that it is triggering. 

Thicker Than Water is book about drug addiction and denial. The denial that everything was okay. The denial that things would get better one day. The denial that it could never be someone you love in that position. Cece's family fell apart. Her mother died of cancer, her father sold their house, remarried and moved to a farm, her brother injured his knee and is now addicted to pain medications. It's killing Cece, who had a strong connection with her brother, to see him going through this. But between her father's denial and Cyrus's reluctance to get help there isn't much that she can do. Cece's dreams of going to college are slowly being crushed under the weight of the farm's foreclosure, and one day while in the library an idea comes to her. She can sell Cyrus's pills.

The book is split between now and then. Before Cece is arrested for her brother's death, and after. In the now section Cece is a behavioral rehab, something her lawyer believes will help lessen her charges. Why lessen the charges? Cece didn't murder Cyrus. But she feels responsible for his death. I don't think it is possible for your heart not to break while you read this book. It is raw, and Cece doesn't hold anything back. Fiore's writing gave you a clear image of each of her characters, and the heart breaking reality of addiction. 

 

I can talk about this book all day, but nothing I say is close to what this book deserves. Thicker Than Water is a book that I haven't stopped thinking about since the moment I put it down. With its beautiful language and a tough subject readers won't be able to put Thicker Than Water down. 

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