The Memory Hit by Carla Spradbery

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 352

Publisher: Hodder's Children's Books

Released: 4th of June 2015 

On New Year's Eve, Jess's life is unrecognizable: her best friend is in the hospital, her boyfriend is a cheater. A drug-dealing cheater it would seem, after finding a stash of Nostalgex in his bag.

Nostalgex: a drug that stimulates memory. In small doses, a person can remember the order of a deck of cards, or an entire revision guide read the day before an exam. In larger doses it allows the user detailed access to their past, almost like watching a DVD with the ability to pause a moment in time, to focus on previously unnoticed details and to see everything they've ever experienced with fresh eyes. As Leon, the local dealer, says 'it's like life, only better.' What he fails to mention is that most memories are clouded by emotions. Even the most vivid memories can look very different when visited.

Across town Sam Cooper is in trouble. Again. This time, gagged and bound in the boot of a car. Getting on the wrong side of a drug dealer is never a good idea, but if he doesn't make enough money to feed and clothe his sister, who will?

On New Year's Day, Jess and Cooper's worlds collide. They must put behind their differences and work together to look into their pasts to uncover a series of events that will lead them to know what really happened on that fateful New Year's Eve. But what they find is that everything they had once believed to be true, turns out to be a lie ...

What I Have To Say 

I have to admit, I thought this would be more like Sleepless by Lou Morgan. Or at least more like the 100 Society. Because I really enjoyed the speed and this was a lot more flat. I didn't really get absorbed into the mystery and tension in the way I would have liked. 

Also the characters felt a little bland. Apart from the good portrayal of the abuse, I didn't really feel any connection to the characters. Hannah and Jess felt a bit too everyday as there wasn't really that many details about their everyday lives. 

It wasn't a bad book, I just didn't get into it enough I think. And I felt the conclusion came a little out of nowhere.