This theme scared me as in the start of the book the main character Alice reminded me a lot of myself, because we are the same age. However what happens to Alice at one unsavory party will change her life forever. She gets an invite to Jill’s party, someone she doesn 't know well, and when she is there they spike her drink with LSD without her knowing. Not long after that Alice can 't go a few days without getting high. This quote is just after her first time taking LSD. It illustrates that even after one time on drugs she is hooked, highlighting her vulnerability. “I’m sure if I hint around she’ll see that I get to try pot just once, then I’ll immediately go home and forget the whole drug set-up.” As a reader at this point, considering my preconceptions of the book, I realised that is only the start of slippery slope for Alice. Just under a year later Alice has run away from home, she has no money, no job and is desperate for a pill. “What a bastard world without drugs!.. I don’t know what the hell hour or day or even year it is, or even what town. I guess I’ve had a blackout or they’ve been passing some bad pills.” This line made me think about how easy it is to get addicted to drugs. Before reading this book I did not understand how people got addicted. Early on in the book I found myself saying, ‘is it really that hard to say no?’ However what I came to …show more content…
Alice’s untimely suicide at the end of her battle to stay off drugs portrayed a serious message that year 12 students, like myself, need to hear and leaves the book on a cliff-hanger. Through the use of relaxed and informal diary format of the book, I was able to relate to the character. In terms of today’s society and the world of technology, we are influenced by what we see on social media and what we hear in songs. For example hip hop and rap artists promote the use of drugs by making people think they are cool and desirable. Many other teenagers listen to artists like Snoop Dogg who have songs such as ‘Smoke Weed Everyday’ and ‘Smoke the weed’ endorse and glamourize the usage of drugs. Studies have also shown that teens aged 12 to 17 are five times more likely to use tobacco; three times more likely to use alcohol; and twice as likely to use marijuana than teens who do not spend any of their day on social networking sites. Because, like most of my peers, am a person that goes on social media everyday I was surprised at this study. Due to increasing social media usage I would strongly recommend this book to bring home the message; don’t do