I finished this book today, after taking just two days to read it, and I was quite impressed with it. Although it was a little slow at the beginning, it picked up pace, and kept me reading until the very last page. All of the characters are well formed and realistic (although Joe's dad does seem somewhat one-dimensional), and I felt myself liking Joe and Candy immediately, as well as Gina and Mike. I also thought it did a good job of portraying the reality of drugs and prostitution. As other reviewers have mentioned, I was a little disappointed by the ending. I felt that after so much build up and excitement, the author could have made the ending a little longer. I would have liked more conversation between Joe and Candy during the final scene, as well as a confrontation between Joe and his mom, who is mentioned several times throughout the story but never shown. But despite the abrupt ending I found the book quite enjoyable, and think that Kevin Brooks did a good job of painting a vivid picture and of not creating the typical teen romance novel that seems to populate the young adult shelves.

When I first picked this book up at the store, the summary on the back convinced me to buy it. When I first started reading it, however, it seemed to drag on a bit in the first few chapters, so for a while I stopped reading it and put it back on the shelf. I just picked it up the other day and started re-reading it and I was suprised by how the book finally picked up the pace and how I could not put it down. I read it in only two days. I'm not going to recap the events of this book because many others have already done that, but I will say that this book was definately worth the read. I loved everything about it, the characters, and how well they were described through the narrators eyes, how realistic everything seemed...the ending did live me hanging just a bit, but it does leave room for you to decide for yourself what may have happened to the characters.

Candy is a terrific book. It's about trust, addiction, friendship, love, and adventure. Joe is walking from a doctor's apointment when he meets a girl name candy, right then Joe see's something in her. It's almost like he becomes obsessed because he cant stop thinking about her, but what he doesnt know about her is she is a very confusing, and complicated girl. They get to know eachother and become friends. Joe wants it to be more, but Candy has a very dangerous boyfriend. So dangerous that he beats Candy. He forbids them to see eachother (Joe and Candy). This book will keep you on your toes, you wont want to put it down.

Kevin Brooks is one of the most underrated teen authors and Candy is my favorite of his books. Candy is one of those books that is hard to put down, and can even interest young people who don't like to read because it's about a "bad" subject and has a very exciting storyline. This story is definately for teenagers, and possibly older ones because it gets so in depth into drugs and prostitution, not for kids under 15. Lots of passion, suspense, vulgarity, surprises, and raw life and emotion rests within the pages of this book. Haven't met a person who read it that didn't like it.

This is my first review. I usually dont care to write these but i just finished this book and let me tell you i was not impressed. First of all i was bored the whole time. The only reason i finished it was because i have this thing about having to finish ever book i start. but the whole thing was stupid and boring. the ending was okay but even then i was only into it for about 5 pages then i was bored again. and the ending. wtf. it sucked super bad. no one read this book. trust me i am saving your time.