4.5 stars. ( )

Saving Beck is a raw, powerful book about addiction. It's tough to read in parts because it's written so realistically.

Beck is a high school senior in what was a perfect life - he was a football star, going steady with a cheerleader and had gotten a football scholarship to Notre Dame. He got along well with this parents and his younger brother and sister. It all changed in an instant - coming back from a college tour with his dad, there is a car accident and his dad is killed. His mom, Natalie goes into such deep grief that she can no longer take care of her kids, buy groceries, pay bills so it all falls on Beck who is trying to deal with the fact that he feels to blame for his dad's death. So first it's a couple of Xanax and some marijuana to dull his pain. His relationship with his mom, girlfriend and siblings begins to deteriorate until one day, in anger, he leaves the house and meets a friend and does heroin for the first time. His life begins a down ward spiral where the drug is the only thing he cares about. As the novel begins, his mother finds him passed out on her front porch after he has been missing for two months.

This novel is told in alternating chapters by Natalie and by Beck. Natalie gives a lot of the back story and how she coped with her husband's death. She has spent two months trying to find Beck and prays that he will live through this overdose. Beck's chapters happen when he is in a coma. He doesn't remember why he is in the hospital but as his memories start to return, a lot of information comes to light about his last two months and his day to day life searching for more drugs.

This was a book that will stay with me a long time. Addiction can affect anyone from any walk of life.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own. ( )

Natalie and Matt have the perfect marriage and family. They have three children with Beck being the oldest. They are a normal, loving suburban family, but when tragedy strikes, it changes the lives of the Kingsley family in the worst possible way.

Natalie is completely devastated after a tragic accident takes the life of her husband, leaving her her son Beck to deal with the care of his younger siblings. Often times Natalie can’t even get out of bed and face the day. She relies on prescription medicine to dull the pain of losing the love of her life. What she doesn’t realize is that Beck is also suffering and living with the guilt of his father’s death as he was with his dad when the accident happened. Not able to face his own pain, he slowly starts to fall victim to drugs himself. Beck is such a bright and promising student, so full of life, but drugs are slowly but surely ruling his life. Natalie is determined to get her son back, but is it already to late? Or can a mother’s love pull her son out of the darkness?

Saving Beck is told in both the present and the past. We learn what happened to the Kingsley family in flashbacks and it is truly hard to read without getting emotional. But, the story is powerful and has such a strong message that really makes you stop and think about the drug epidemic that is happening in our country. We often times don’t think that drug addiction happens to good families, but it does more frequently then you realize. Often times we dehumanize drug addicts, but they are people, with a family and a story to tell. Not every addict is bad, they are just lost and addicted. Their brain chemistry is compromised from drugs and they just make bad decision after bad decision.

While I was out today running errands, I happened to drive along a strip that is notorious for addicts panhandling for money and it really got me thinking about what led them down this path and I truly felt sad for them. A big part of the reason why I looked at them differently today is because of this story. I really thank Courtney Cole for bringing this out in the open because I never really thought about the other person struggling outside, probably living on the streets because of an addiction that has taken over their entire lives. It really is a shame.

There are a lot of moments in Saving Beck which hits close to home for me in regards to faith and beliefs. Natalie prays for her son while he lays in a coma from a drug overdose and then you get to see the other side where Beck is dreaming about his father and his father is urging him to fight and that it wasn’t his time yet. I firmly believe that when it is your time to go that a loved one will come for you. Is this something that has just been ingrained on me by my only families beliefs? Is it something spiritual? I don’t know, but it gives me comfort to know that I won’t be alone.

Saving Beck encompasses so much more than just addiction. It is a story about grief and acceptance and how each of us deals with pain and guilt differently in times of tragedy and loss. This is a heartbreaking story and yet it is also filled with hope, love, understanding, and forgiveness. Courtney Cole has truly touched me through her writing and this is just one of the many reasons why Saving Beck should be on everyone’s reading list. ( )

A mother's anguish and a son's unbearable guilt. You think it can't happen to you, you hope it never happens to. Until it does. How much hurt and grief can one person bear? A mother's worst nightmare, your son gone, taking drugs, the son who was a football star, won a scholarship to college, now in the fight of his life.

I was emotionally wrung out by books end. There is so much realism here, authentic feelings that any mother would have in this situation. Absolutely heartbreaking. Narrated alternately by mother and son, we are privy to the guilt and anguish thry both feel. Making deals with God, praying, hoping for better days, for life itself. Realistic characters, supporting, suffering together, trying to give each other hope that things will turn out better. It is hope that sustains this book, this situation, as it would be in real life.

In the afterward the authentic feeling is explained, as the authors own son was heavily addicted to drugs. As a family they were in the fight of their life. Drugs have been so much in the news here in the US, as we are dealing with an opiod and drug crisis of epidemic proportions. So many families effected, so many young people addicted, losing their lives. So much pain.

ARC from Edelweiss. ( )

Saving Beck
By
Courtney Cole

What it's all about...

I always wonder just how a family would deal with the addiction of a beloved son. In this case a family tragedy helps to push Beck off of his precarious steps before addiction. His fall leads to an unbelievable dive into heroin, homelessness, and months out on the street. What makes this book even more arresting is that it is loosely based on the author’s own family.

Why I wanted to read it...

The story of Beck and his mother just drew me in.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

I loved the way it was written...by flashbacks but also an hour by hour detailed account of Beck’s struggle to survive and get out of his coma.

Why you should read it, too...

Anyone who has experienced this kind of trauma will appreciate this book...actually anyone aware of this nightmare in our country should read this book. It’s stark and real and ultimately hopeful.

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it. ( )