Sex, drugs, and a pair of pink boots

Reading the book felt as if I was living the story through the eyes of the characters.

The first character you are introduced to in The Pink Boots is Tayel. He sleeps with girls just because he can. Listening to the girl’s shallow blabber and putting up with lame TV shows in return for mediocre sex suits him fine. He is miserable but he just can't stop, because deep down he knows, the girl who really is worth fighting for is a lot more complicated and he's not sure he's ready.

Jamie has a heart of gold but she just hasn't yet met the manager of the "Good Luck" Department in Life. It seems like all she ever does is give and give and in return life and other people deal her one slap in the face after another. She escaped from various foster homes in her early teens and after a series of disastrous events ends up with Maya, the dead gorgeous but psychotic drug addict. What was once a passionate and intense relationship turns into what can almost be described as a force of habit: an unbalanced structure of dependency. Jamie is about to lose every last ounce of self-respect while Maya freely engages in her weird sexual endeavours. And that’s when Jamie meets Tayel in a park.

Tayel made me laugh out loud several times: he's such a typical guy in a way, so stubborn and set in his opinions. But as you get to know him better, you realize these strong convictions come from a genuine place which he still finds overwhelming. It's the place that keeps him far from letting anyone in to his heart. On the other hand, the sweet bundle of love that is Jamie wants nothing more than to fill that void between them with all that she's worth but her chaotic lifestyle and friends keep getting in the way. When she finally goes off the coke, he decides to go on a bender. Reading the first part of the story was like watching friends of yours doing the mating dance but never quite getting down to the real business, only in The Pink Boots the wait and the characters surrounding it, will leave you wanting more.

The second part of the book blew me away. It’s filled with so much raw emotion. Jamie's anger and pain, her sense of not belonging to anyone and the kind of loneliness no one can really fill. Getting to know her story and then seeing her life spiralling downwards, and watching Tayel through his own struggle, until he finally realises what needs to be done but it is already too late, it made me cry like a little girl. The story reminds me a lot of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream, only that The Pink Boots left me with a lot more memories of laughter. Each character in the book is lovable in their own little way, even Virgine the wannabe "artist", and Maya the lost junkie.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the insight to both the male and female mind and likes it spiced up with a lot of sex, a lot of drugs and quite some rock'n'roll and rave folk.

For more information go to: www.thepinkboots.com