Review of Ghostoke
Ghostoke
By Summer ‘Snail’ Washko
Searching for the one who can ease my pain and cure my insanity, I have come to realize that it is I who must gather the sand to smother the chastising embers before they cause my heart to plummet into a disastrous destruction. - Summer ‘Snail’ Washko
This memoir grabs you from the first page, and doesn’t let go. It’s like a fever dream—a chaotic, raw, and brutally honest ride through the author’s teen and early adult life. If Charles Bukowski and Sylvia Plath had a baby who then ate acid and smoked spice, this memoir would be the wild, jagged result. The prose is as fierce and unrestrained as Bukowski's, with that raw, gritty edge that doesn't shy away from life's darkest corners—sex, drugs, pain, and the inevitable self-destruction. But it also carries a haunting, introspective quality akin to Plath, revealing the inner turmoil and emotional wreckage that fuels the chaos. The author doesn't hold back, detailing the harrowing spiral of addiction and the devastating effects it has on teens with a brutal honesty that stings like a bad trip. It’s as much a psychological unraveling as it is a physical one, with moments that are as beautiful as they are terrifying. This book captures the madness of youth, the lure of escape, and the inevitable crash, all served up in a feverish, acid-drenched love story that will stick with you long after the last page. It’s chaotic, it’s painful, and it’s damn real.
It’s a poetic love story like no other, unafraid to dive into the chaos, exploring how drugs and passion can twist and transform the heart. This book pulls you in with its raw energy and doesn’t let you go, even when the acid wears off.
Review by Ashton Loren Ryan
Publisher : Independently published (March 26, 2019)
Language : English
Paperback : 344 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1791810498