Little Pills

by Melody Dodds

"Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Navarro never asked to be anyone's hero. If you're a hero, your sister isn't supposed to hate you. And you're definitely not supposed to get hooked on Gramma's painkillers. Even so, Charlotte's sister's friend Mia looks at her like she's some sort of hero. As charlotte starts taking pills more and more, she has to question how it could hurt herself and others, even Mia. is it a harmless habit or a dangerous addiction?"--Back cover.

Genres: Poetry, Young Adult, Ebooks

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2019

Reviews

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with Little Pills, it just left me feeling like something was missing. I didn't really enjoy the dramatic narrative towards the end (how it would suddenly change to all caps and overusage of punctuation — I understand the idea behind it, but it didn't make me feel a sense of urgency as much as stronger phrasing would have), and the ending reminded me too much of the ending of Crank by Ellen Hopkins, which made it feel a little ripoff-y. Maybe I'm being unfair and wouldn't have felt that way if I hadn't read Crank, but it's hard not to compare the two a little bit.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of LITTLE PILLS by Melody Dodds in exchange for my honest review.***

*The ePub ARC copy I received was difficult to read due to formatting of letters on top of each other, so I had to do a little deciphering, which interfered with my enjoyment but did not factor into my review,

LITTLE PILLS, a novel in verse, tells a story of the impact pill addiction in an easily relatable manner that will appeal to middle grade, younger YA readers and reluctant readers. Kids who haven’t yet read verse will have no problems understanding the straightforward storytelling of Melody Dodds.

I’d recommend LITTLE PILLS to most kids as an introduction to understanding substance abuse as well as verse.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started this and realized it was poetry, I didn't expect to like it. I found myself pleasantly surprised. The poetry format of the book helped to tell Char's story. It was completely honest story about how addiction can start and how we affect those around us. My only real complaint is that it did feel a bit short and rushed through.

[Opal Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by letting you know that the e-ARC copy that I received of this book was in a PDF format that contained odd formatting. Some words had odd symbols or question marks instead of letters meaning I had to guess and stumble my way through some of it.

Little Pills a lyrically told tale of prescription pill abuse and addiction. We follow 17-year-old Charlotte through getting hooked on and addicted to Oxycodone, a highly addictive painkiller. The story is told in verse and because of this and the subject matter, I believe that fans of Ellen Hopkins' work may like this read. While I do love to read this kind of story and format, Little Pills disappointed me...a lot. My ebook was roughly 200 pages. 200 pages of verse is very short meaning this is a FAST read but not in a good way. It's too fast. It's too short. I feel like this story could have benefited from more depth and detail. There is no time to connect and care for Charlotte or her family and friends. When I finished it I was left feeling like this was a short introduction to a book but no? That was the book...all of it. Hello, Ms. Doods? Where is the rest of this book? I want the rest of the story? I want the in-between! I want the details?! Where were they? There is so much potential here but it falls incredibly flat.

I received my e-arc copy of Little Pills by Melody Dodds from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Little Pills is on sale April 2, 2019.

[Jeremy Mifsud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Pills is a novel written in verse, following a seventeen-year-old teen with her drug addiction. I found the novel to be creative in its delivery and I couldn’t put it down even though I wasn’t in love with the writing.

What’s surprisingly good is that in a small number of pages, the author developed several characters and relationships; most characters made me feel something. There’s a solid backstory to the characters, and it highlights how drug addiction cannot be extracted from the environment. Having said that, towards the ending, my emotional investment faded — something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. It could easily be the one-note direction of character development, that although interesting, was predictable.

As a novel in verse, I have to consider (even more than usual) the style of writing. Overall, it was rushed and nowhere near fresh. I’d consider this to be an early draft, with the layout put to structure, but not yet embellished with writing. Many poems brushed the surface of conversations and didn’t delve as deep into the character as I would’ve liked. Moreover, formatting was somewhat basic, especially when it comes to several ALL CAPS sentences to show anger. It doesn’t help convey the anger, it only makes me want to skip to next page. At some points, it becomes the author writing poems to tell us a story, and it rarely feels as if it’s the main character talking to the paper, which is a huge loss in a first-person novel in verse.

To sum up, I’m on the fence about this novel. Although I discussed several negative points, at the end of the day, I still enjoyed reading it. Rated as average, I consider that it was worth reading, but I wouldn’t quite recommend it to friends. I’ll leave it in your hands to decide with this one.

I received an Advanced Review Copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.0

Review posted on: https://poetrybyjeremy.wordpress.com/...

[Alyssa Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out this review and others at my blog Too Many Books!

A special thank you to Netgalley and West 44 books for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This verse novel follows Charlotte. One thing I find interesting in verse novels is that the plot can be a lot more relaxed, more about capturing moments in time and experiences. This is a perfect example of this collection of poetry that pieces experiences together to form a plot. The poems included were really good and enjoyable to read because of this focus on the form of the poems.

I loved how slowly everything is introduced and explained how it goes on. The moments in time captured from Charlotte's point of view and emotions were really cool, especially because there are things that she doesn't fully understand, like why her sister doesn't get along with her anymore and a few other things. Her relationship with other characters were really interesting, especially with her older brother who while technically not there places a very important role within the context of the story. All of the characters had positive characteristics and flaws and while darker in subject matter than what I typically read, I enjoyed how real everything felt.

The ending was more open ended than I typically enjoy but it was really well done and powerful. While it hints at what happens next, it is really cool how the book is both a beginning and an end of Charlotte's story, and also some place in the middle. It's definitely not happy but I still enjoyed these aspects of the book.

This may have been partially because some of the lines were cut off on my eARC edition, but I think that there was more to it. I just got a little lost relating to what was going on and had to backtrack at times. Like I said, some lines were cut off on my copy so this may be partially responsible, but this is something to keep an eye out for. I had to keep backtracking and rereading.

All in all, I really enjoyed this verse novel. If you like verse novels, then this is definitely a worthwhile read. It is very much entrenched in poetry and the format of a verse novel so if you typically dislike verse novels, then this is not the thing for you. I personally loved it and the last poem gave me chills because holy crap.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful poetry book, Little Pills by Melody Dodds is the story of seventeen year old Charlotte Navarro, who is struggling in many areas of her life- constantly in detention in school, missing her older brother who is away in the army, fighting with her little sister and wishing her mother did not have to work so many hours to keep body and soul together. The only joys she has in her life are reading, her friend Alexis and her music. When she begins to take some of her grandmother's pain medication to take the edge off, it helps. Life feels like floating on a cloud, and her new boyfriend is only too happy to float along too, but when the pills begin to run out and tempers start to fray, Charlotte is brought back down to earth with a bang when she thinks her little sister's friend has overdosed.
Raw, powerful, emotional , this book had me hooked as easily as Charlotte got hooked on the oxy, I loved it's depiction of how addiction damages not just the addict but also their relationships with family and friends. It may be a short book, but it really says all that is needed. I know a book is something special when it leaves me feeling like the ending of this one did. To say more would be a spoiler, but I am sure that I will not be the only reader hoping against hope that Charlotte makes the right choice.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Kasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Pills follows the descent of 17 year old Charlotte as she deals with opioid addiction. Over the past year she has struggled with several losses - her brother joined the army, her sister hates her, her mother works too much and her stepfather spends all day in his bedroom after losing his job due to arthritis. The loss that hit her the hardest was that of her favourite teacher and librarian, who left the school without warning. Charlotte turns to pills to cope with her recent losses and numb the pain.

At 200 pages, written in verse style, this was a super quick and easy read. However, it was a little too quick. 200 pages of verse style writing is about an hour's worth of reading. For someone who wants a quick peak into the life of a teenager struggling with addiction and doesn't care much for all the in between details, this is perfect... Unfortunately I am not that person and found myself wanting to know more. The story was so short that it completely skipped out on mentioning any sort of positive interaction between Charlotte and Mia, to the point where I felt a little lost during the final quarter of the book.

This story has a lot of potential and could be suited for younger readers wanting to get a first glimpse into verse-style writing and the struggles of addiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and West 44 books for the advanced e-copy of this book for review.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the very first poem I knew I would love this story immensely.. It reminded me of Crank by Ellen Hopkins. This book was written in short free very poems all about a young woman who gets hooked on her grandmother's painkillers. I liked how this story shows the effect that the drugs take on not just the user but the family's as well. I think that the poems helped take what could have been a very dark subject and made it a little bit more family friendly (if that's even possible). Very good book I liked the main character the most, probably because the whole story was about her and just mentions of others but it made the whole thing more interesting. I think it was like that because you could see what she was doing feeling etc so it gave you a better scoop on the story. This book is great for all ages even though its a teen read. Great read and I'm glad that I got the chance to check it out.

[Rigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with and arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is most definitely not a book for everyone.
It brings up some pretty touchy subjects, namely mental illness in the form of addiction. I appreciate how the author essentially wrote a cautionary tale of the impact addiction not only has on and individual, but on others around them, and how difficult it is to truly quit.
Discussing mental illness is very important and must be done in the right way, which I feel Dodds did very well.
Unfortunately, I'm not very into poetry and I there were many letters missing replaced with (? " ') etc. Not sure if that's because it was an arc or if that will also appear in the final copy.
I also felt like we weren't really able to get to know the characters very well since the book was so short, and consequently, I can't truly care for them.

[Cara Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

*An ARC for this book was provided by West 44 Books through Net Galley. This review is 100% my OWN opinion.*

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines addiction as a “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance.” For some, these addictions can be as minuscule as a laptop or social media. For others, though, these addictions can become detrimental — affecting not only themselves, but the ones around them. For Melody Dodds’ novel, “Little Pills,” this is exactly what happens.

Told through prose (think Ellen Hopkins), this story follows seventeen-year-old Charlotte, a young girl whose life is changed forever when she discovers the spiraling world that is Oxycontin. Weighing in at only a little over 200 pages, Dodds is able to convey the battle that is addiction, ultimately leaving us with a sorrow in her hearts for those who have dealt with the little pills.

Read to full review here... http://caraalwaysreading.tumblr.com/

[Cutie314 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even adding this to my competition tally bc it's so short. This book is... disappointing, in my opinion. It feels like a watered down version of Crank. Which I suppose, is fine. It's just... fine. I'm frustrated because I think theres an interesting story here, but you have to be so patient during the obnoxious rhyming and rhythm of the poetry. It's like something I would write--and I say that with disdain. It's amateurish.
There are sections of this book that ARE good, where the rhyming/nursery rhyme lilt WORKS and feels so effective. But when its constant it loses some of the oomph. I think this book would have done better as a blend (maybe prose in the beginning, move to poetry format as she uses and up to the end--because the end is something I DO think was effective).
Again, it's a fine book. It's not the worst book in the world, but I didn't find it to be particularly note-worthy. It just was.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventeen-year-old Charlotte Navarro starts taking pills and more pills until her sister hates her, she meets a dangerous boy, and she steals from her Gramma. Will she get help before it's too late for her and her friends?
"Little Pills" tells a provocative story about addiction and how it affects individuals, families and relationships. I read the book in an hour because I couldn't put it down. But it's a tough read. Any book about addiction, particularly with teens, troubles me since addiction has affected numerous loved ones. Plus, the writing doesn't flow sometimes and the story includes unnecessary details in places. However, this book is also an important read since it offers insight into addiction and its effects. For that reason, I can recommend "Little Pills."

[BunnyDollz · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was a slender beast - coming in at 191 pages it told a full story, i was captivated. it told the entire story of addiction and recovery, showed withdrawal and showed what can happen to people we love when we use drugs, it showed folie á deux, which is a mental condition where two partners make each others insanity worse, which we see with her and male love interest. i was shocked by this book in every way imaginable - and it completely changed for the better towards the end

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Little Pills felt like an attempt to recreate what Ellen Hopkins has done successfully so many times. As a big Hopkins fan, I rally wasn't that impressed with this one. It seems to be more juvenile, despite the fact that this book is about a high school girl addicted to Oxy. This was a short, fast read.

[Mama K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spent Easter Sunday afternoon with this book while family snoozed off dinner. Judging by the description, i had hoped it was a novel-in-verse similar to the work of Ellen Hopkins. But, really, it didn't hold together well as a novel. It was more like just disjointed slam poetry.

[Hadleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good and it reminded me a lot of the book Go Ask Alice, which I loved as well. I recommend this book to anyone who is going through addiction or knows someone who is. The end was very unsatisfying though..

[BJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who hasn't read any of the Ellen Hopkins oeuvre, this feels like someone trying but failing fairly hard to emulate it. I wanted to like this, but it just ends so abruptly for me to really care like I probably should.

[Ankita Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Pills is a story-in-verses that talks about drug addiction. The verses flowed perfectly, and I couldn't stop myself from finishing the book in an hour. It was so good.

I especially loved the ending, since it was so full of hope and it left me with a smile. Nothing can be better than knowing that you'd accompanied a character in their journey towards becoming a better person than they'd been.

In the limited time they got within the verses, the characters all managed to look whole and real, which I really appreciate. It was a joy to read the verses sporting such well crafted characters.

I really liked the way Little Pills picked up the topic of drug addiction in teens and turned it into a story with such a meaningful, not to mention hopeful ending.

Little Pills was insightful, enjoyable and real. And I loved every part of it.

[🌈⭐️RoseOfRainbows⭐️🌈💕 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay. It wasn't wow. But it was okay. And it was short which was kinda nice.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick read showcases a spiral of bad choices a young lady zig zags due to her curiosity of little pills. I like the last page the best because it added relevancy and purpose to the reader.

[Patt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rhyming poetry detracted from the story, but otherwise this was an interesting verse novel.

[Katy Pritsel · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lesson to be learned with this book. Sad story but it's a good read.

[Shaundell Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte becomes hooked on her grandmother's pain pills and has to deal with the fallout of becoming an addict.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Coming off of the "Crank" series, this one was a huge let-down.

[Alexos Cress · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was good it was about a girl on drugs and it seemed as if her whole family was on drugs

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story written in verse about a high school girl and her struggle with oxycodone. It seemed like a very real story that a teen could go through. Very fast read and well worth it.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I was wanting more detail in this short book I didn't get that but I was interested enough to finish the book of 17-year-old Charollete and her issues with oxycontin she stole from her grandmother. It not great of a well-crafted verse but it kept me engaged enough to want to finish and see what happens to her. Why Mia seems to be changing. Wishing to get more on Leo. How on earth Char is going to maintain all which now seems to be falling apart?

So yeah, not much in-depth but interesting enough to get through.

[Kerrington · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was ok, I did not like the poem format but a good enough story.