Emotive, confronting and dramatic, FACING DEMONS, a novel by Ashley Sanders will have you hooked from page one and take you on an adventure while unconvering many issues adolescents often struggle to deal with.

Facing Demons follows the incredible journeys of four young individuals as they tackle their many and diverse problems whilst at the Anchor Beach Rehabilitation Clinic. The facilitator, Blake Solomon has succeeded in his own battle with cancer and feels obliged to pass on this second chance to those less fortunate.

The first person views of each of the four main characters - Felicity, Jason, Matthew and Rebecca - gives vital insight into their developing minds and conflicting ideals. One by one they are each able to tell their heart-wrenching stories of lives tainted by drugs, alcohol, self-harm, abuse, gangs, child prostitution and homelessness. Reaching beyond the depths of despair, where all hope seems lost, the four teenagers find ways to face their demons.

REVIEW

When I received “Facing Demons,” I was quite excited to read it. I have always been pretty interested in reading about people who have had to go to rehab and the stories behind them. Normally, you just hear about them as a statistic, but behind every number and every statistic, there is a real person and a real story. Although the first three or four pages seemed a little preachy, in the “don’t do drugs” sense, as soon as I got past the first few pages, and really got into the book, I was hooked! I was not able to put this book down (technically speaking, I was not able to put my i-pod touch down, since I was I was reading the e-book version)!

This book begins with a prologue, in which Blake Solomon, the man who runs the Anchor Beach Rehab clinic, is in the hospital with a boy from the clinic who doesn’t seem like he’s going to make it. Blake seems rather distraught, and in his mind, is transported to a different time and place in that hospital. That hospital is the place where Blake was cured of his cancer! The rest of the book is devoted to telling the stories of four of the residents of the Anchor Beach Rehab clinic. It talks about their issues with drugs, alcohol, child prostitution, self harm, gangs and other issues that many teenagers have to deal with.

This book was absolutely amazing. I definitely read it twice before I started writing this review! With every page I read, and every detail into someone’s story, I became more and more hooked on this book. I feel like anybody who reads it will be in the same boat as I was!

One thing that I really liked about “Facing Demons” was the dedication that the author made at the beginning of it. This book is dedicated to “those who deserve a second chance.” I feel like that dedication was a perfect beginning to this book because all of the characters made a mistake and deserved the second chance that they were given.

Reviewed by: Avni Gupta, Reader Views
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