Love and Kisses from My Padded Cell” by Ellie Katz is a collection of ten stories of addiction by both men and women and their struggles to overcome this debilitating disease. What is different about these stories is the seeming absence of the rehab counselor. They do come into play towards the end of each of the stories, but only as the addict realizes that they are needed. The addict is the one who reaches out and makes the decision to speak to the counselor or go to treatment, which makes them very heroic in that respect and villainous because of their previous actions. The addicts stories are heartbreaking, true to life and at times very funny, but nothing that you would ever want live through yourself. The stories are very hopeful because all of these addicts are in recovery. They have all gone through series of clean time and fallen off the wagon, but this particular treatment seems to have stuck, which seems to be the more self-directed method. This gives hope to people struggling in the same position with the same addiction problem even though it stems from different issues. This was a good book for both addicts and caregivers alike.

This was a very quick read, being only 230 pages, and also an enjoyable one. An account of people lives and how various events and circumstances lead them to addiction. This book doesn't just focus on drug addictions, but also on those of gambling and the need for attention.

We are given the life story of a selection of people. Their childhoods, which were normally not ideal whether due to abuse, poverty or something else, through to abusive of negative relationships, both romantic and otherwise, and then through to their struggle with "sobriety" and how they've dealt with the 12 Step Programme. There are some fresh successes, some who have failed and have come back again, and also some who have managed to stay "sober" and have decided to work with other addicts and help them to improve their lives.

It's a very candid look at these peoples lives, and it very much made me feel connected with these individuals and feel more for their situation. All too often addicts are stigmatised within our society, but this stigma can prevent them from reaching the help that they need and deserve. Books like this one can help break down the walls of that stigma and in turn allow more people to recover and become active members of society. 

I gave this book 3/5 stars, thank you to NetGalley for an ecopy of this book in return for an unbaised review.

Addiction has become a very politicized concept now with addicts frequently seen as near demons. These 10 cases bring some needed nuance into the topic area. There are many kinds of addiction and there are many individual stories of addicts. We need to begin to bring both logic, common sense and compassion into the discussion. Until we do that we won't see any progress into the problem. This book does a wonderful job of beginning the task at hand.. I thoroughly applaud the author and publisher for bringing this forward in a more enlightened way than usual.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'Love and kisses from my padded cell'. The book gave an interesting insight into the background of the author's clients. One can't help feel absolute sympathy for them and wonder how different their lives could have been if they each had a happier, safer childhood.

I didn't enjoy the author's style though and found it difficult when paragraphs switched between the voices of the clients telling their history and then the author continuing on with the history but in the third person.

I really enjoyed this book which was told from people who experienced some from of habit/addiction. Very eye-opening to what can drive a person to pick up a bad habit and what it can do to one's self-esteem. Society is quick to judge why people may do certain things, this book tells you why the subjects did it. Everyone should read this book and maybe compassion can come back into society as we know it. Outstanding read. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.