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Sep 11, 2011

Buggy rated it:

Opening Line: "There were good times and bad times, but in the beginning there were more good times."

Wow this was fantastic, in a watching a beautiful car crash sort of way. Following the day to day struggles, triumphs and ultimate decay of a heroin addict and his girlfriend. It was almost impossible to look away and put this book down even though it’s graphic, horrible, depressing and often pointless. Told in the first person with vividly poetic and just plain amazing writ More...

24 comments like (12 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2007

H. rated it:

I generally dislike junkie movies (except Jesus' Son), and hardly ever read - let alone enjoy - junkie books, with the notable exception of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (which, to be fair, had a lot more going for it than the ins and outs of addiction). But I wanted to read Luke Davies' Candy before I watched the film. It's the story of a heroin junkie who falls for a girl, gets her hooked on dope, and how they both descend into misery, theft, prostitution, and a mutually destructive relationshi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2007

Jenny rated it:

this is an amazing book. it's sort of the "trainspotting" stereotypical heroin-addict book, but it's really an inside look. i feel like luke davies must have either been an addict once himself or done an inordinate amount of research to get this right. the is the finest book about love and addiction i've ever read. the two concepts are remarkably alike, and davies probes not just the love of and addiction to a drug, but the former and latter to a person, and that's what makes the book More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 16, 2011

Red rated it:

I read this when it came out, before they made the film. When I saw they were making the film, my first thought was "Why?"

This isn't a badly written book. I just never saw the point of it. Lots has been written about heroin addiction, and I dont think this book brings anything new to the table. Anyone who has been friends with junkies knows that heroin is a fundamentally boring drug. People are dull while they're on smack, and the junky lifestyle is also dull, dull, dull. More...

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Nov 16, 2009

Nicola rated it:

I have plenty of friends who I could never convince that reading a miserable book is enjoyable. However, I think that miserable books offer the chance to feel strong empathy, served up alongside pity and schadenfreude. It’s the book equivalent of sitting inside on a rainy day and watching through your window as people outside get soaked to the skin.

Candy, a gruelling ride through heroin addiction, has nary a light-hearted moment to be found. Even the very first chapter, where the nar More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 03, 2011

Andrea "Drea" rated it:

From the inside cover...

"Candy is beside me, drenched in sweat. She's breathing gently, long slow breaths. I imagine her soul going in and out: wanting to leave, wanting to come back, wanting to leave, wanting to come back. The day will soon harden into what we need to do. But for now we have each other. . . ."

He met Candy amid a lush Sydney summer. Gorgeous, sexy, free-spirited Candy. They fell in love fast, lots of laughter and lust, the days melting warmly in More...

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Jun 30, 2008

Christina rated it:

Read it within 12 hours, I just could not put it down. Absolutely tragic read, but incredibly beautiful. You can't help but sympathize with the characters, wanting them to succeed, to move past their addiction and live the dreams they keep insisting will come tomorrow, the next week, within the next few months, if only they can kick the habit. You want to believe in them, you really do...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 28, 2011

Allison rated it:

this is not your typical novel about addiction. it's a true love story and not just about the love between heroin and the junkie. it's very well written and the characters are relatable and lovely and loving -- despite their desperation and the things they are forced to do to support their habit. the novel takes the reader through ten years of the relationship between two young people deeply in love -- following them from the time before Candy even tries heroin to the time she has become so undo More...

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Oct 24, 2010

Brandon rated it:

When I pick up any book for the first time, I always open it to a random point in the middle and begin reading. I've done this for years, and it's always served as an accurate gauge to the level of writing the author is demonstrating. For the most part, every book is designed to begin with what's called a "hook," which is why most authors will always tell you in their workshops and seminars, "Always begin with action." The idea, if it's not obvious, is to suck the reader in t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 30, 2009

Melissa rated it:

Very charming and hilarious/heartbreaking book about a hard drug addiction that effects a young couple. Lots of passages and quotes in this book that can stick with you because of how true and well written they are, e.g. The statement: "I am hurling pebbles against the greater saddness," when one character is speaking of their deepening depression and the small things they try to do in order to better their emotional state. This book was made into a small independant film starring Heat More...

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Mar 16, 2011

Quinn rated it:

4.5 stars

I remember when the film Candy was released in 2006, receiving critical acclaim and rave reviews for the performances of the late, great Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish in the leading roles. Despite my interest, for some reason I never got around to seeing it. And it wasn’t until recently reading my friend Buggy’s review here on GoodReads that I discovered the film was an adaptation of a novel.

My interest once again piqued, I promptly obtained both the book and th More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2011

Minna rated it:

Deeply depressing. I'm assuming it was realistic (it certainly seemed realistic, although the only substance I've ever used is Tylenol) but God was this book depressing. I hope that if it was in any way autobiographical that the author is able to move forward with his life in a positive direction and stay clean. Incidentally, this book reminded me of the TV show Intervention... in that show, whenever the addict has a boy/girlfriend, they are usually told that their only chance to come clean a More...

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May 16, 2009

Kazz rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Nov 25, 2008

Carrie rated it:

This is a very hard emotional book to read. It follows the narrator through his relationship with Candy - a girl and heroin. Their life starts out happily in love, sharing the drug, until she becomes a call girl to make drug money, and it all goes downhill from there. The book covers about 10 years of their life. It's definitely graphic, with descriptions of blood and veins and drug use and sex. But if you ever needed something to convince you not to try heroin, this would be it. While difficult More...

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Apr 12, 2008

Raegan rated it:

Extremely graphic and moving account of 2 Aussie's decent into heroin addiction.A sad, cautionary tale.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 08, 2011

Christopher rated it:

My life only a few years ago, thank god I've been clean for almost 5 years now.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Brittani rated it:

From the first page to the last page you will be filled with gut-wrenching sorrow. The emotion in the words on every page will hit you like a parade of freight trains. I want every word of this book written on my walls, on my body, buildings, streets, everywhere. One of my favorite books of all time. You truly become a heroin addict with them, and become involved in their relationship. You continually want things to get better, like the characters do. I want to commit every word of this book to More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Greta is Erikasbuddy rated it:

I honestly did not want this book to end!!

It was brilliant, haunting, utterly cruel and true love story. It wracks your brain, wrecks your heart, and leaves you wanting more. There were times when I couldn't put it down, times when I wanted it to end because I thought something really really bad was going to happen, and times when I fell so madly in love that I just didn't know how much more I could handle.

This has to be one of the most real books I have read. I kind o More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2011

Eva rated it:

3.5 - I'd say if you want a close, truthful look at what a heroin addicts world is like, read this. I have no doubt, no doubt in the world, that this man went through heroin addiction. If not I'd love to have a chat with him. But there is no 'if not' in my opinion. I don't care if his twin went through it or if he's studied the subject, in every manner possible, for his entire adult life, he'd never know the little things that he shows he knows.
He captures it powerfully here. I wish I coul More...

11 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Velvetink rated it:

23.01.2011;
Ok it's been a while since I read this & only have vague feelings and thoughts on it, feeling it was intense and tedious at the same time. Same old story of addiction and love gone wrong. Tonight I saw the film & like it or not was swayed by Heath Ledger's beautiful lips. Yeah yeah. Ok - I'm probably shallow. In the book I felt his character the typical junkie but the film portrayed his deep love for Candy, his fear, his conscience and his need to finally do the right thing and k More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Angela rated it:

I was forced to read this for a module at university and I hated this book. The tutor for the module told the class after we read it that she was very good friends with the author. She took an immediate dislike to myself and a friend because we didn't go down the sychophantic route like everyone else in the class and told her we hated it.
If you want to read a good drugs book(by that, I mean a total headfuck of a book) then go read 'Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs.

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Jan 04, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

Although at times, this book was extremely hard-hitting, gritty and therefore difficult to read, it was even harder to put down - the highs and lows of love and heroin addiction are so eloquently captured by the author.

It is very easy to be transported into the world of the two lead characters from the very beginning and empathise with them the entire way through, as the euphoria of falling madly in love descends into pain and tragedy.

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Oct 26, 2011

Katie rated it:

A friend recommended this book to me, so I gave it a shot and loved it. It was about a couple who were heroin addicts, who go though life waiting for their next fix. Which is just the same as every other drug story out there. You get use to the characters and I found myself hoping and cheering them on to quit the habit, like they said they would again and again. Throughout, your thoughts on the book having a good ending go up and down and you just want to finish it, so you can find out if their More...

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Dec 14, 2009

Kelly rated it:

This book is a realistic (or so I've been told) look at the downward spiral caused by drug addiction. The unnamed narrator of the story is a man in his 20s who starts using drugs, mostly heroin, and falls in love with a girl named Candy. Candy also starts to use heroin, and the two become enveloped in their own world of addiction, and doing whatever it takes to support that addiction. Not for the faint of heart - the novel contains graphic language and graphic descriptions, both of drug use a More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Jen added it

I didn't know this was a book - I watched the movie before so it was a pleasant surprise to find the book. Obviously, the book was more detailed than the movie and I did like it as well. But I think because I was alwyas comparing the movie to the book as I read it, my impressions would have been swayed by the actors' take on the characters. NEvertheless, it was a good read and quite informative, I must say.

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Jan 03, 2011

Mgn rated it:

Super! A great story and a really good film as well. Davies really demonstrates the physical bliss of heroin in the eyes of his narrator Dan whilst simultaneously hilighting how it was tearing his life apart. Overall I would see it as a cautionary tale, and as a reader I got really emotionally invested in the characters and felt profound disappointment with each of their failures and tragedies.

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Jul 20, 2009

Emma rated it:

An amazing, gut-wrenching and dizzy look into the life of herion addicts and their struggles with addiction and life in general. I adore this book, and read it after I saw the movie with Heath Ledger, Geoffery Rush and Abbie Cornish. It was alot better than movie, and so SO intense! Not for the squeamish, or those wanting a light hearted read. This is full on disturbing stuff.

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Aug 16, 2011

Andrew rated it:

Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction couldn't have been titled any other way. The novel focuses on a couple who are deeply in love with each other and heroin. As the novel continues, both have to decide which of their loves is stronger: for their relationship, or for the drug. The book is well written and devastatingly tragic- a fantastic read.

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Jan 03, 2011

Olwyn rated it:

Well written, and the distraction of it being a love story makes it so much more readable. Oh but the cliche of Candy being so amazingly beautiful that everyone man wants her! Yeah, right. And some of it was just overly sensational. But on the whole, it's a great grunge book that displays a lifestyle with honesty and integrity.

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Sep 11, 2011

Jenna rated it:

This was the most powerful book I have ever read. It is now my favorite novel, as it rightfully should be. I love the movie, the novel, the author, everything about it is just magnificent. I finished the book in three days, and I could almost never put down my Kindle. I wish Luke Davies wrote more books, his writing is just so captivating.

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