*DISCLAIMER* READ AT YOUR OWN RISK: This book deals with serious topics and themes of drug use, PTSD, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts.
This book contains realistic depictions of opioid use. Recovered and recovering addicts should proceed with caution.
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The 12 Steps is a gripping Young Adult novel that follows twin brothers Lincoln and Liam as they navigate the weight of trauma, addiction, and family fractures.
Lincoln, a high school senior, is seven months sober and struggling to reconnect with a life that feels just out of reach. He wants to move forward but fears where the future might lead. Liam, also a senior, buries his pain beneath a reckless façade, desperate to outrun the past that haunts him. While one brother fights for control, the other refuses to acknowledge his own unraveling.
When a life-altering incident shakes their already fragile bond, Lincoln and Liam must confront long-buried secrets, painful truths, and the damage that has fractured their family. The 12 Steps is a powerful story of resilience, healing, and the journey toward forgiveness-both of others and of oneself.
"...there were a lot of things I was forced to learn and that made me resent my family for it. One of them is the fact that I learned more about family at rehab than I ever did when I was home."
- Lincoln
"I always had this plan. A plan where I would graduate high school with the highest GPA, get a full-ride baseball scholarship to Stanford University, and then work my way to the major league baseball teams. It was a plan I had made with Lincoln when we were younger. A dream we shared to play baseball together. A dream that died when he overdosed."
- Liam
Everyone in life is dealt a hand of cards. The player can't control if they are dealt a good or bad hand but the player can control the outcome if they play their cards right. A bad hand doesn't automatically mean you lose, it just makes the game harder to play. This story isn't about cards.
Rayland was dealt a bad hand. She always had the support of her loving family until her mother and brother left when she was nine. Her life was never the same. One day, she gets into a car accident which leaves her father dead and her losing most of her memory. She gets placed with her aunt and abusive boyfriend. When her aunt gets married, she finds out she has 6 step-cousins. Will her bad hand be enough to win the game or was she doomed to fail?
Trigger Warning: Includes Self-Harm, Drugs, Abuse, Language, etc
(The self-harm portion of the story is not to the protagonist.)
NOT A STEP BROTHER LOVE STORY
Warning: Somewhat Cliche
Started: 4/1/21
Ended: 9/17/21
Still writing bonus chapters.
Highest Rankings:
#1 in twins
#1 in overprotective
#1 in stepfamily
#4 in olderbrothers
#6 in abuse