What do you do when someone you love has an addiction? Do you let them be, make them stop cold turkey, or take them to rehab for professional help? Does your loved one even want to be helped? In Out of Reach, it is up to Rachel to help her brother, whether she likes it or not.

Rachel is used to being known as “Micah’s little sister,” a title met with scowls or smiles from the teachers. Rachel and Micah bond over lying to their parents and watching each other’s back. But her brother has a secret that even Rachel feels bad keeping: he has started using meth. When his addiction gets really bad, their parents send him to rehab.

Then Micah runs away. With her brother missing and her relationship with her boyfriend breaking up, Rachel’s life is going downhill. When she gets an anonymous e-mail saying that Micah is in trouble, she decides to search for him with Tyler, his best friend. This whole book takes place during the day and a half Rachel and Tyler are trying to find Micah.

Out of Reach is Carrie Arcos’s debut novel and was a finalist for the National Book Award. I personally did not find it very exciting. Rachel as a character is not interesting. The sad, unfinished ending did not make me happy either. Arcos left so many loose ends that it makes it feel like there may be a sequel coming. This is not a bad book, but I would not read it again.