A LaLa Land Addiction

September 1, 2016
Best-selling street-lit star Antoinette continues the story she began in Luxe (2015) with Bleu, who has left college in California and become addicted to drugs. Her wealthy drug-lord boyfriend, Iman, is stunned to see the horrific effects of the product he pushes and places her in a posh rehab. Then an exciting business offer arrives, with a promise to reconnect with his wife. Bleu escapes from rehab and tries, unsuccessfully, to get by as Iman's mistress. She is then called back to Flint, Michigan, to help the police in an old case, only to end up barely surviving between drug highs until her best friend in Flint, Noah, who is building his own empire with the help of his criminal boss father, finds Bleu in an abandoned building. More plot twists in this gritty melodrama involve Bleu's former-addict mother, pregnancy, and the resolve to live better, healthier, more positive lives. Though the plot follows some predictable paths, Antoinette, as always, draws in readers with the compelling themes of making mistakes and finding retribution.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)