Jade Sharma (–2019)

I have to admit that when I started reading Problems by Jade Sharma, I almost immediately put it down. My sister a few months ago died of a heroine overdose and my mother has MS. Within the opening pages, Maya describes her heroine addiction and how her mother has MS. It was a difficult opening for me. I kept going though and was glad.

Within the book, we are introduced to Maya who had a heroine and pill addiction. She is married to Peter, but cheating on him with her college professor. Maya's life is unraveling.

After a trip to Peter's home during the holiday season, Maya recognizes how much her life is a mess, how much the rest of the world doesn't seem to care about her, and how she must now face the world alone. Peter leaves her, the professor dumps her, and she is laid off. Maya now must make some choices in her life about where to go.

It is almost too easy to write- this is not a book for everybody. I even wondered, while reading it, if it was a book for me. Maya is funny and sarcastic, but isn't very likable and is barely redeemable. She is a junkie, a cheater, and pretty much only thinks about herself, but also recognizes she has flaws and is at times unlikable. She recognizes this within herself, so it is difficult to put her down further.

Maya won me with her inner monolog and her outlook on life. As stated earlier, she is funny and I was roaring internally throughout the whole scene where she visits Peter's parents. She is trapped in her own personal hell as she is with people she doesn't like and who don't like her, she can't smoke, and she is trying to detox (unsuccessfully). She hates Peter's sisters, except she realizes there is a dark edge to some of them. Maya's monolog throughout this time was pretty funny.

Sharma's writing was a back and forth for me. She wrote well, but there are just passages that are really too crude, even for Maya. Maya is a cheeky and horny minx and really likes sex, but sometimes the way Sharma writes about it, it seemed about the level of a 5th grader writing about sex. She does this a few times, where Maya will have a witty outlook or a really deep one, but then revert back to this 5th grader. It was a difficult read for that reason, at least for me.

So should you read it? Tough one. If sex (and there is a LOT of it), drugs (lots of drugs, but not as descriptive as the sex scenes), and a messed up life is your cup of tea- absolutely. If not, you probably want to avoid this one.

I gave this one 3.5 stars. I just wish the language didn't slip here and there.… (altro)