Neal and Jarrod Shusterman‘s YA fantasy is a sadly misfiring affair that aims to convey how “insidious, seductive and dangerous” these drugs can be but is hampered by world building that doesn‘t quite click, a competition that fails to convince and inconsistent messaging on whether drugs have an inherent morality of their own or are merely tools that humans need to beware resulting in a stilted read with a “abuse of drugs is bad, mmkay?‘ vibe.