Delinquents by @TeamSmella23 & @LittleGreyAche

Delinquents is a continuation of Innocents. A couple things you should know about this series. (1) This series is a collaboration of two authors who originally wrote “Dusty” as a fanfic. The fans loved the fanfic and wanted a physical copy of the book. Dusty was a huge book at 1229 pages so the authors came together and divided it into 2 parts: Innocents and Delinquents.

(2) “Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri inspired this series. To enhance my reading experience I listened to this over and over again.➜ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nChO-PibN9A. It really sets the tone for the book.

Dusty and Bliss continue to keep their relationship a secret. Dusty’s addiction has become the third person in their relationship. His mistress, cocaine, controls every aspect of his life. To the outside world Bliss continues to uphold her good girl image. Lying is second natural to her and she has little regard to those who she may hurt in the end. Even though Dusty’s mistress fuels him … Bliss enables him.

As a mom of three teenagers this was a painful read. It left me feeling raw for these teenagers and their families. Addiction touches everyone involved with the addict. No one is left standing tall in the wake of the addiction. Families are torn apart and relationships are destroyed. ”Just say NO to drugs”seems like an easy solution to the problem but it’s NOT. Especially when parents try to be cool by allowing their teens to smoke and drink alcohol in their homes. And Dusty’s parents gave him that freedom, to do with his friends, but overtime his need grew stronger. That need turned into needing ‘harder’ stuff to just get through the day. Before his parents realized what was going on with Dusty he had become an addict and was out of control.

It’s been 3 months since I read part one. It took my a little bit to get back into the flow of the books. The writing is very unique and once you catch on to the style you’ll be hooked into the story. I have to thank, M. ~ B&B, for explaining whose pov chapter 55 was from … unfortunately, it’s not marked in the book. It’s Bliss’s heart. That threw me for a loop.

I didn’t read the fanfic so I didn’t know how this one was going to end. The ending reminded me how Rainbow Rowell ends her books, you are left to come up with your own conclusions. I hope in the future these two will write another book for this series giving us, the readers, the rest of the story. The Elizabeths created a realist story about some tough subjects and even though it leaves you feeling raw it was well done.

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RELEASE DATE: October 23, 2014
Pre-order | order:  http://amzn.to/1sUmkcx

SERIES:

Two-part series

**Complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.**