Read 'n' Seed 2: First quarter of "Smashed"

The first quarter of Smashed that I read covered pages 1-105. The chapters were First Taste, First Waste, First Offense, and Coma Girl. The overall quarter of the book was called 'Initiation'.

First Taste

This section Koren talked about her friend Natalie and how they first experimented with alcohol together. Natalie's parents were away for the weekend and so her and Koren went in their liquor cabinet. They didn't drink very much; the alcohol just made them sleepy. It was interesting to read this about her looking back on when she was first introduced to alcohol. I think we can all relate to this part quite well, and kind of makes you reflect back upon that time.

First Waste

As she bounces through girlfriends in high school, she meets one called Billie. This part leads up to the first time she gets drunk, and the plan is for Halloween night. It is Koren, Billie and a couple of older boys and Koren ends up doing some things with one of the boys after she gets drunk. This is also a thing for everyone to reflect on, since we all hear that a lot of people's first sexual encounters are alcohol related.

http://antibioticsandalcohol.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/alcohol.jpg

First Offense

I like how this book goes in order of major events in Koren's life in regards to drinking. It puts all other things in her life aside and makes drinking the prime thing with everything else just in addition to that which I think is kind of a neat perspective. Her first offense is on her family's summer trip to the ocean, where she and another of her come-and-go girlfriends sneak out at night and get so drunk they get caught by her parents and have to face consequences, in other words, Koren gets grounded for a very long period of time. It talks more about them getting into their later teenage years and the excessive experimenting with alcohol. 

Coma Girl

This chapter is almost scary to read, because of the brutal honestly of it and how scared it makes you to think we go to a college where tons of kids go out and get this drunk a few nights a week. Koren drinks enough on this particular night where she ends up in the hospital and wakes up having no idea of how she got there. Her parents are not only furious with her, but even some of her friend's parents won't allow their kids to hang out with Koren anymore. Even though this would be a huge red flag for many, Koren seems to head in the direction of a slight depression because of her loss of friends and her reception of yet again, more punishment. To me, this chapter was a huge eye opener. I can't wait to read on.

Throughout these chapters, Koren inserts statistics about teenage drinking and binge drinking. I thought that was kind of cool how she related her own life experiences with current, true statistics.

Terminology

eulogy-   a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired, can also praise a living person or people who are still alive, which normally takes place on special occasions like birthdays etc

unmitigated- being so definitely what is stated as to offer little chance of change or relief

viscously- Having relatively high resistance to flow

I think this book has a lot to offer people our age. It is incredibly eye-opening to read about a girl our age who goes through the same life changes as we do and the same alcohol experimenting that we do, but has the courage to write incredibly honestly about it. She admits early on she never thought she had problems with drinking. She admits she believed the choices she made were ok. I think every single college student can truly relate to that. Even though it is written by a girl, I think boys could benefit from reading this as well. It is a better read than just a factual book of alcohol statistics. She finds great ways to tie in these stats while offering her own personal story of her struggle with alcohol. I am extremely happy with my pick and really excited to keep reading! :)