This book tells the story of 2 unhappy teenagers living in a small town in England in the 1980s, both unhappy for different reasons - one legitimately and the other mainly due to teenage angst - it is quite a dark story which is not afraid to deal with the controversial issue of drug addiction and the resulting effects on people's lives. It is an engaging story with each chapter telling part of the story from a different characters point of view. The characters, to me anyway, were well-written with the loveable but troubled Tar, the young and naive Gemma and the sinister, almost ethereal Lily. At the time I read it I was about 15 (around the age of the main characters) and I loved it, I found them very easy to relate to. However I think it may seem a bit dated now to today's teenagers in an age of mobile phones and the internet.
My 15 year old self would have given this book 5 stars whilst my adult self would say 3 stars so I decided to compromise on 4.
I'm not saying it's not enjoyable for adults but I doubt you will relate as much to the characters issues and some of the actions may seem a little childish.