Penelope’s/Pen  sister Tabitha  had committed suicide a year ago and Pen’s life has become a mess. Pen is hooked on the now illegal drug Fix which was the same thing her sister had been on. Fix was once an FDA approved drug  as an antidepressant   but was now illegal and very dangerous. Pen does anything she can to not have to deal with her feelings especially about her sister. Pen knows she needs to get away from Fix but it gives you such realistic hallucinations. Pen’s hallucinations seem to control her.  Nate was a man Pen seen when she was high on Fix and she didn’t want to lose Nate he seemed to be the only one who cared about her and her future.  Pen really cares about Nate even if he isn’t real. Fix changes how Pen thinks and feels but there are some really bad side effects also but Pen still keeps going back for more. Since her sister and father death her mother seemed to be gone somewhere else mentally. Rose and Pen have done Fix together for the last year. As Pen thinks about getting off Fix Nate tells Pen he loves her. But Nate really isn’t a hallucination he is a ghost. Walker cares about Pen he just doesn’t know how to break through to her and let her know how he feels about her. Then a girl from school ends up missing after a Fix trip. Pen realizes she could really  be in danger.

I had mixed feelings about this book. Some things i liked and some not so much. I did like reading this for the most part. I liked the plot and how the author portrayed Pen and her addiction. This was mostly about Pen when she was high on Fix and her hallucinations or when she suffered from the side effects. I thought Pen was basically selfish and unreliable but then again that is how addicts really are so that was realistic. This did seem to pop up with no warning. This was a quick read. I liked Nate was a ghost and added a paranormal aspect to this book. But it was hard to know what was real and what wasn’t. I did have some trouble connecting with Pen. I feel Nate stood in between Pen and Walker’s relationship. I would have liked to seen Pen stand up to Rose and her controlling ways. As I said I had mixed feelings on this book.

While Fix Me is well-written and the author has a story-telling style that draws a reader in, I must admit to finding this one a bit perplexing. The story follows Pen Wryter as she deals with her sister's suicide while also struggling with drug abuse. There is also the added element of Pen's visions that may or may not be paranormal. There is some mystery involved with one classmate missing when another disappears and some interesting twists on that angle, but it seemed that the main focus of the story is the drug use by Pen and her friends. Instead of trying to solve the mystery, I found myself trying to decide how much of this tale was a drug addled teenager's ramblings and how much was real. By the time I turned the last page, I was left unsure about the actual focus of this one and while the author does write a compelling story, it ended up being just okay for me.

The description of this book is the initial reason I picked it up. I can relate to wanting to escape from the pain of grief all too well and found myself drawn to read this novel. Fix Me makes for an interesting story about a circle of addicts and a bit of a murder mystery. Lisa Cronkhite does a good job capturing the mind of an addict in the crux of their addiction. She also does a great job capturing and conveying the emotions of the characters. The writing really made the story great.

Right away the book exposes you to the ugly side of addiction. The sickly parlor, jittery nerves and bones protruding from two addicts who can't seem to kick the habit. They're addicted to "Fix" a drug that sounds similar to acid with its hallucinogenic properties. It enhances the five senses and causes the main character to see people who aren't really there.

The relationship between addicts are often complicated and I think that this was portrayed very well. Rose, for example, was clearly lonely and wanted to have friends, but it was clear that her addiction took priority over anything else. I found Fix Me to be a relatively realistic portrayal of addiction, even though "fix" is a made-up drug.

I found the climax to kind of come out of left field and the ending was a bit to "happily ever after "for me. But the harsh reality of addiction is that getting clean is much harder for most, although some get so do get sober abruptly like this novel portrayed. I would definitely read another book by Lisa Cronkhite as she brought these characters and this story to life for me

Amelia has been trash-talking about Milly lately, tormenting her, and all Milly can tie it to, is Matt. Amelia believes she must be jealous of Matt. It all sounds rational except for one major component, Amelia is Milly. Amelia is Milly’s other personality, the negative one, the one who puts hurtful and disappointing images and thoughts into Milly’s head. She started out being an imaginary friend but after the accident, both girls changed and Amelia turned on her. It’s rather creepy at first how some events that are occurring Milly doesn’t remember doing them but she is most likely the culprit, it makes me wonder what actually is going on.   She’s struggling to keep it all together battling with Amelia who’s constantly throwing out cruel thoughts whenever a chance opens up. Milly’s good at ignoring them at first but as the story progresses, Milly’s trying to uncover the truth about her parent’s so Amelia’s constant hammering starts to take its toll on Milly and eventually Milly folds.  

I’ve always been fascinated by multiple personalities. I liked how the author started this one out being an imaginary friend who turned bad but I think she had that temperament because she was trying to help Milly uncover something. She pushed Milly and helped her, whereas everyone else wanted to hide things from her. This was a fast-paced book with the author keeping the tempo high.

When I first read a description of this book, I was highly intrigued. Books dealing with mental illness of some sort will always have a high place on my to-read list. Also, I admit that cover is wonderful.

Although, I ended up being more disappointed than pleased. From the beginning, I realized this wasn't going to be some greatly written book with wonderful descriptions and whatnot - and I was fine with it. That wasn't what was really bothering me. I was likely to look past it and give this book a higher rating than I did if it weren't for things that started irking me to no end.

First, it was the plot - or lack of it, better to say. At least in the first 60% of a book. I could've easily read this in one day but it dragged to three because I was getting bored and annoyed. All we really get is Milly and Amelia. There are few characters dropping by here and there but mostly, we are inside of Milly's head and all we get to see is her and her other personality. I know it's hard to move the plot around when you're writing in first person, I get that, but it's still possible to have more plot than partying, hot new guy and a fire. I feel as though we didn't get to meet any characters properly by the end of a book and I felt at loss. I'll admit that the other 40% of a book were better and there was something more going on but it couldn't affect my rating any more than this.

Second is a love interest. I felt like a word 'hot' was used hundreds of times in the first part of a book. I get it, he's hot, don't need to point it out every time you see him or talk about him. You're annoying everyone around you, as well as reading. Apart from that, we don't get much of anything else. I'm not even sure what he looks like, except from 'hot'. Moreover, I feel as if the author tried a bit too forcefully to connect Milly and the hot guy before the kiss. Before that, they barely had spoken and then suddenly they're revealing their darkest secrets at the party where music must've been too loud and everyone around them were drunk. It was so unrealistic that I just couldn't buy it.

Then we also have the guy that Amelia is crushing on (Matt? I think? I don't know I forgot?).  We also don't find out anything about him, except that he's a jock or something and he's, of course, wow-shit-damn hot. There could've been two interesting guys. Instead, we have shallow figures of both of them.

Third is slut-shaming and drink-shaming (how else do I call it?). In the first part of a book, I couldn't complain much. After that, there is a party and everything goes to hell. We get Milly complaining about people drinking and getting mad at her best friend for wanting to have sex. Okay, seriously, n o. You don't do that. It's fine, you don't have to drink and you don't have to have sex but don't go telling other people to do the same. There's nothing wrong with drinking occasionally. There is nothing wrong with sex. And, of course, Milly's hot guy is so perfect he doesn't drink either, never did, never will and thinks it's disgusting. I blame Kindle for deleting all my notes because every other sentence was highlighted and had exclamation points in notes to it. And then we have her best friend sleeping with a guy Amelia likes and she becomes this disgusting slut that has to mess with her guy when, in reality, Milly/Amelia didn't have anything to do with him! Okay, Amelia liked him but it wasn't like he was her boyfriend. Of course, she never forgives her best friend and it's the only friendship she ever had, just blown away because of a guy. Wow, really, you're a true friend.

Forth and last, it's the ending. I mean, come on! I was so ridiculous I thought I was reading the wrong book. I understand that the author wanted to make this huge plot twist that no reader would expect but I just couldn't buy it. Maybe it was too big for me. It was just too unrealistic, too ridiculous for me to believe it. Also, the characters' lack of emotion was a problem there too. Milly was getting mad at everything and anything and there was so much info-dumping through the whole book it just wasn't working for me.

I wanted to like this book, I really, really did but I just didn't. I'm not even sure that 2.5 stars is really what I want to rate this but I'll settle on it. Mental illness wasn't too badly explored, and the parts of a plot dealing with it, especially as we were nearing to the end, were good. I just wish that the other things were better.