A good book I read this in one sitting. It has a very powerful message, and is a great YA novel. I would definitely recommend it.

3.5 stars.

This was a brutally heavy, but realistic, read. It covers toxic friendships, sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and the demons of depression in a way that is almost uncomfortable to read (at least, for me it was) but wholly relatable. It's a whole book about the reality of human nature. The way the characters act is almost savage - they enable each other, they are vulnerable and selfish, but they were human. I felt like there were quite a lot of them, however, and some of them tended to have the same voice. Sometimes, I'd get confused with who was speaking because I'd forget their names or who they were.

The plot was slightly choppy in places, and it didn't feel like the three stories fit together well, but I found myself more immersed in the characters than the plot itself. There were more questions than answers by the end of the book, to the point where many strands were left open and the story was left incomplete.

It was a thrilling read, to say the least. It demonstrates the dangers of a boozy holiday and what the rest entails, of laying yourself bare after being knocked down by your own demons. It tests friendships and raises questions of how well can we really trust those around us?

This book was a fast paced easy read. It is teenage fiction but as a 27 year old I still rather enjoyed it.
The characters were believable and although there was a lot of them and they were sometimes a little stereotyped I feel like I could have known people like them as a teeanger.
The plot dealt with some serious topics like sexuality, drugs, alcohol, depression, lonliness and friendships. I think these are issues many teenagers face these days.
There were a few plot holes. I felt like when Hope woke up on the beach the author could have ran with it and made a book that was all about what happened to her but didn't. It was a major plot hole for me that she never found out what happened. I also felt that Emily going missing was a great part of the plot but then nothing really became of it. It was almost like she died but so what. There was no real emotion to it. If it was me then I would be wanting to find out who was responsable but none of the characters gave a damn. Finally I felt the story of Daisy and Zach really interesting and a lot more could have been made of this. The 3 main stories didn't massively interlink and I felt like there should have been more of a obvious link between them and then the book may have flowed better. Not a bad read but I won't be in a rush to read this authors other books.

Toxic was such a whirlwind. The Greek holiday was so accurately described, it was almost painful to read just how many beers and fishbowls everyone managed to consume. The party atmosphere was permeable and, reading it, you felt like one of the gang. Until everything goes terribly wrong and Hope is abandoned by the guys in the worst possible scenario.

When things spun out of control, as Hope failed to remember what had happened to her the night before, my brain was filled with question marks. To be left on a beach with your skirt around your waist is a serious deal, but before we can really experience the repercussion, the perspective shifts and we're with Logan, Hope's ex-boyfriend. It was odd, as this wasn't prefaced in the blurb as a multiple POV story, and to take the focus away from Hope, and give the discover of the night before to Logan felt unsatisfying. The perspective then shifts again to Daisy, Logan's current girlfriend, and things get even more messed up and cluttered from there. While the mystery did get 'solved', I just wish the emotions were a little more fraught, and the justice served a little stronger.

Atmospheric and dangerous, Toxic is a book with more questions than answers. Would recommend to anyone who likes books that slowly piece together the plot, in a low-key thriller kind of way.

I really liked this book. It was an uncomfortable read at times as it covered a whole host of issues. I liked the fact it was told from different perspectives. There were a few unanswered questions for me which I found a little frustrating. I did enjoy it though and I would recommend.

Initially a promising book and storyline, I had assumed that this would be a psychological thriller but as the story progressed I realised I was wrong. A lot of current issues are touched upon in the book including depression and consent which is a good thing but I can’t help feeling that a lot of the story wasn’t completed and the initial part of the book set on the holiday wasn’t connected hugely to the ‘second’ part of the book. I did enjoy the characters though and I could relate to them all. A well written book but not the correct genre for me .

This was literally a story about friendship turned toxic, centering around one girl on holiday with a group of lads, one night where things go horribly wrong and the fractured relationships within the core group start to show.

On holiday, too much drink, too much sun, a loosening of inhibitions, all leads to disaster. Every one of them is hiding a secret from that night, whether they remember or not. Nicci Cloke dissects her characters with an authentic ironic eye and a brutal realism about human nature and how we don't really know people until the chips are down.

Toxic is beautifully readable even as you roll your eyes at some of the enabling behaviour and the assumptions of forgiveness. The casual way they all treat each other quite often badly is actually very true to life, within any friendship group you'll find divisions such as you find in this story.

It was a good warning against excessive intake of alcohol for sure and a very relevant theme in it's plot - overall very good indeed. Recommended.

Hope is on holiday in Crete with the boys, Dev, Nate and Zack also including Logan her ex boyfriend. When she gets rejected by wrongly trying to kiss him, she sets out to get drunk and forget.



The next day they head off on a booze cruise to an island where she meets Ness, Emily and Hayley with the boys while on board one of then dabbles in drugs but Hope hates the idea of then but not of getting drunk enough to forget anything and everything. The booze boat, sleazy guy and the girls from their hotel they bumped into again.



Then she wakes up the next morning unable to recall the whole night before as she is on the beach, dress round her waist and euro's missing from her bag.



Then Logan and Zack have a secret to keep, a criminal one...



Once back home, Logan starts digging trying to find out what really happened to Hope. As well as struggling with his guilt by sleeping a lot and sinking into depression and worrying he's not good enough for Daisy his girlfriend as they get their A level results.



Dev has a hidden true story from the night whilst JB makes an announcement to the group...



Then Logan discovers Emily went missing that night on holiday and it's on the news online...



There's also the issue of a TV show capturing them on camera partying for the world to watch...



Hope and Logan's latest ex Daisy are pushed together after they both experience similar horrifying situations while there's an attack based purely on gay phobia against one of their friends...



There's drug use alcohol abuse and sex references to throughout so this is definitely a book for older teens. The use of crude language about casual sex from a parent to their son and the son's friends was a bit much. But the story is so important about the dangers of cheap booze holidays abroad especially when friends aren't looking out for each other properly as so much danger could happen as you're so drunk and vulnerable as the teens get in this book. The boys do stick to a typical lads holiday treating Hope fully like one of them unfortunately but they're all deep into their own issues it seems like drink and drugs are the boy's way out of forgetting their life stresses and it can be similar to real life like that. Totally representative of some stereotypical teens and the dangers out there and a true test of how well we all know our friends fully.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!