This was interesting but ultimately not for me! I appreciate what it was trying to do and thought the commentary and exploration on addiction was intriguing and sensitive. I just didn't love the sport-centric plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this graphic novel. I LOVED IT! The art was amazing! This author did amazing. I loved the story and the plot of this graphic novel! I highly recommend.

I could not put this book down, and it left me wanting more! I look forward to reading the rest of the series. The characters are compelling and relatable. This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to know how opiate addictions can happen and how to recover from one.. Every second of this book is enjoyable and has lots of unexpected stories layered into the plot.. Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy.

I received a copy of Gripped Part 1 from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was not my type of book. It was really hard for me to get through. I don’t DNF books so I pushed myself to finish it. I found that there were way too many characters mentioned in this short book that it was difficult for me to follow who was who.

While this was not for me, I think this book will make a difference in many peoples lives when it comes to the sensitive topics it covers. I understand the reasoning behind why this book and the others in the series were published, and I appreciate how the author took the time to bring these issues to light to help younger people avoid going down the wrong path in life.

2 *stars*

The book felt weird in some sort of way. The conversations between characters felt unreal to me. I don't think that children who are partying, using drugs and alcohol are making this kind of conversation. I was struggling with reading this book, because I couldn't get into it. Mostly character conversations was the one reason that made it harder for me. Maybe the category (mystery & thrillers) made me pick up this book to kind of explore what I like in that category and what I dislike. I think that this book is just not for me, but I hope that this book is for somebody and it will be loved!

But I must say that the idea and the message itself is brilliant. Nowadays it's a common thing for younger children to consume alcohol and drugs and it's really important to talk about it. Maybe it could have been more realistic for teens.

Thank you for the experience!
#GrippedPart1 #NetGalley

I am about half way through this book and it is really interesting! The story line is fun to read and I've never read a book like it. Not going to lie I often pull this book out when I'm in class haha.
(will right another review when im finished, but so far its a 3.5 stars - 4 stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Stacy A. Padula for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
The thing that made me request this book was its amazing cover, but the content of this was just plain bad. I'm really sorry to the author, and it is hard for me to talk about books this way, specially a arc that was provided to me, but I just wanted to DNF this.
The writing was so weird and the dialogue made me cringe so hard. It was clear that this was written from the perspective of someone who is not a teen dealing with drugs. Additionally, the way the timelines kept jumping made me really lose interest.
I get that the point of this was to bring awareness to a huge problem, which is the opioid epidemic, but this book isn't the way to do it.
I do not recommend this and will not be reading the remaining parts.

This book does a great job of illustrating how the opioid epidemic has affected teens across the United States. The story follows Taylor, who is a star athlete and has the perfect life until it is taken over by drugs, and his brother Mark, who is watching this all go down and trying his best to help. The reader then meets several other characters, who's lives have been forever changed due to substance abuse. I recommend this book to anyone who hasn't learned of the current opioid crisis happening to teens today, along with others who want to prevent it. This book truly depicts the struggles of what being addicted can do to anyone.