Book Review - Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson

Placebo Junkies by J.C. Carleson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis: Meet Audie: Professional lab rat. Guinea pig. Serial human test subject. For Audie and her friends, “volunteering” for pharmaceutical drug trials means a quick fix and easy cash.
Sure, there’s the occasional nasty side effect, but Audie’s got things under control. If Monday’s pill causes a rash, Tuesday’s ointment usually clears it right up. Wednesday’s injection soothes the sting from Tuesday’s “cure,” and Thursday’s procedure makes her forget all about Wednesday’s headache. By the time Friday rolls around, there’s plenty of cash in hand and perhaps even a slot in a government-funded psilocybin study, because WEEKEND!

But the best fix of all is her boyfriend, Dylan, whose terminal illness just makes them even more compatible. He’s turning eighteen soon, so Audie is saving up to make it an unforgettable birthday. That means more drug trials than ever before, but Dylan is worth it.
No pain, no gain, Audie tells herself as the pills wear away at her body and mind. No pain, no gain, she repeats as her grip on reality starts to slide….

Raw and irreverent, Placebo Junkies will captivate readers until the very end, when author J. C. Carleson leans in for a final twist of the knife.


Favorite Book Quote: "Don't fool yourself into thinking you're part of a research team-- you're renting out your body the same way a back-alley hooker rents out her snatch."

My Thoughts: The story took off full speed at the beginning and it was one of those stories that made me think. I'd never really given much thought to volunteering for drug trials and things of the such but ya know somebody really does have to do those things right? How else would we get the next big antidote and so on?

Audie our main character is a professional guinea pig and she wants to make some fast cash to take her sickly boyfriend on a trip so she jumps from research team to team to team putting herself on the brink of meltdown and maybe death to achieve her goal and I really have some mixed feelings about her so called boyfriend and whether he's worth her doing all this to herself over. To be quite honest I never really formed a good feeling about.

Parts of the story made me laugh, some caused a few sniffles, and even a bit of anger. It's a story worth reading and really makes me think about every pill I pop in my mouth now, whether it be Tylenol or whatever.


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