Roxy

Neal Shusterman · Jarrod Shusterman

Nov 2021 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From the team that brought you the New York Times bestselling Dry comes a “gritty and unflinching” (Booklist) thriller that proves when gods play games, even love is a lie.

The freeway is coming.

It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the inevitable. Yet there you are, in the fifth house on the left, fighting for your life.

Ramey, I.

The victim of the bet between two manufactured gods: the seductive and lethal Roxy (Oxycontin), who is at the top of her game, and the smart, high-achieving Addison (Adderall), who is tired of being the helpful one, and longs for a more dangerous, less wholesome image. The wager—a contest to see who can bring their mark to “the Party” first—is a race to the bottom of a rave that has raged since the beginning of time. And you are only human, dazzled by the lights and music. Drawn by what the drugs offer—tempted to take that step past helpful to harmful…and the troubled places that lie beyond.

But there are two I. Rameys—Isaac, a soccer player thrown into Roxy’s orbit by a bad fall and a bad doctor and Ivy, his older sister, whose increasing frustration with her untreated ADHD leads her to renew her acquaintance with Addy.

Which one are you?

Ratings and reviews

A sad and heartbreaking story of two teenagers caught in the darkness of drug addiction. It starts innocently with legitimate reasons for the drugs but grew to a life threatening addiction. Only one would survive the pull of the drug. Isaac and Ivy are brother and sister. Isaac is a hockey player with an injury that introduces him to Oxycontin and Ivy is a student with ADHD given Adderall. Ivy is the troubled daughter often in trouble with her parents, while Isaac is the shiny star of the family. This story of the fall of two teens is told from the drugs themselves. Roxy (Oxycontin) and Addison(Adderall). They explain their jobs as drugs to bring their charges to the drugs higher up like Heri(Heroin) and Crys(Crystal Meth). The two drugs Roxy and Addison want to keep their charges to their selves and bring them to the VIP room which is where the charge would perish. They are in competition with each other while other drugs try to steal their charges away. One of them will win and one will lose. This story would be a good one for the YA age group or even upper middle grades to read. It has nothing too shocking, it has no sex or bad language. It does shoe the progression from legitimate drug use to abuse and how it is such a small step to addiction. It is told in a way that young people will relate and understand. It was an interesting read although I was not associated with the drugs talked about and sometimes did not know what the nicknames stood for but I caught on as the drugs talked to each other at the party. I would recommend this book for teenagers and for the parents of teenagers. It might save someone's life. Thanks to Neal and Jarrod Shusterman, Simon and Schuster Children's Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to enjoy a complimentary copy of the audio book for my honest review.

About the author

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his series Arc of a Scythe is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.

Jarrod Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the novel Dry, which he is adapting for a major Hollywood film studio with National Book Award winner Neal Shusterman. He is also the coauthor of the accoladed novel Roxy. His books have all received critical acclaim and multiple starred reviews. Jarrod wrote his most recent title, Retro, with Sofía Lapuente, and together, they teach a course on writing at UCLA. They are partners in every sense of the word, with love and multiculturalism as an ethos—living between Madrid, Spain, and Los Angeles. If they are not working, it means they’re eating. For behind-the-scenes author content and fun videos, follow them on Instagram and TikTok @SofiandJarrod.