ALL-NIGHT PHARMACY

The unnamed narrator of Madievsky's latest novel has always been drawn to big sister Debbie's exciting, chaotic lifestyle. The night of the narrator's high school graduation, she accompanies Debbie to Salvation, an L.A. bar filled with energy healers, hopeful actors, and misfits. Thus begins her journey into addiction. Moniqua Plante gives the protagonist a strong but detached voice as she falls into a life of pill popping, toxic relationships, and exciting nightlife. When the sisters become estranged and Debbie disappears before they can reconcile, Plante sounds more distant as the novel's narrator battles her need for pills, attempts to get clean, and obsessively tries to find Debbie. Plante's carefully controlled delivery, devoid of emotion, shows the character's struggle to make peace with the present and find her future. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2023]