Although considered a young adult novel, You Can’t Take the Truth challenges readers 18+ to examine their own relationship with reality.
How often have we all been reticent to awaken from a wonderful dream, or on the last day of a terrific holiday felt reluctant to return to work the next day, to reality?
In a dystopian future, a revolutionary drug known as “The Truth” is developed to help people with terminal illnesses or heart-breaking disabilities cope with an alternate reality more pleasant than their waking lives by taking a Truth pill before they go to sleep. All is possible in the dreamworld — the cancer patient is cured, the paraplegic can walk again, the mother who has lost a child, is reunited.
Soon, the developers recognize the commerical potential of this drug and make it available to everyone. Users can fully immerse themselves in their ideal realities—escaping the harshness of the everyday world to live out their unfulfilled dreams.
It doesn’t take long for the majority of the population to become addicted and society begins to unravel, leading to moral decay, fractured relationships, and a collapse of the real world.
Florence, a young seventeen year old, recognizes the danger but keeps quiet about her convictions. When she meets an incredible young man, Dey, she is relieved to learn she is not alone. But when they decide to take action and sabotage the plant that manufactures the drug—that’s when the trouble starts and both their young lives are upended.
This thought-provoking novel encourages readers to reflect on their connection to reality, making it a captivating addition to philosophical fiction.