Synopsis
Lex was taken – trafficked - and now she’s Poppy. Kept in a hotel with other girls, her old life is a distant memory. But when the girls are rescued, she doesn’t quite know how to be Lex again. After she moves in with her aunt and uncle, for the first time in a long time, she knows what it is to feel truly safe. Except, she doesn’t trust it. Doesn't trust her new home. Doesn’t trust her new friend. Doesn’t trust her new life. Instead she trusts what she shouldn’t because that's what feels right. She doesn’t deserve good things. But when she is sexually assaulted by her so-called boyfriend and his friends, Lex is forced to reckon with what happened to her and that just because she is used to it, doesn’t mean it is okay. She’s thrust into the limelight and realizes she has the power to help others. But first she’ll have to confront the monsters of her past with the help of her family, friends, and a new love. Kate McLaughlin’s What Unbreakable Looks Like is a gritty, ultimately hopeful novel about human trafficking through the lens of a girl who has escaped the life and learned to trust, not only others, but in herself. My thoguhts: Heart-breaking, raw, emotional, powerful. Some stories are very hard to read, but they are also the ones that can make a difference. The book begins with a police raid of a motel in which a sex-trafficking ring is busted. Alexa (Poppy) is one of the girls drugged and forced in prostitution for months. She is taken to a hospital. Her mother and her boyfriend are friends with Lex's trafficker, so she has no home to go to. Her Aunt Krys would like her to come and live with her, but first Lex is sent to a recovery house where she begins her journey to normality. Lex's friend Jaime (Ivy) chooses to run away and for a long time Lex doesn't know whether Jaime ended up back in the game or found strength to stay away from the only life they have known for such a long time. Lex doesn't trust anyone, she thinks she isn't worthy of love, because she is somehow responsible for what happened to her. It takes a long time for her to be able to see that people may be upset with the situationshe was put throught, not her herself. As a coping mechanism Lex learnt to disassociate and self-harm, and now she finds it difficult to change her whole reference system. Gradually with the help of her new family and her new friends, Lex grows stronger and becomes an advocate for all the girls (and boys) who weren't as lucky as her and who didn't survive. Alexa is an amazing character. Her story is heart-breaking and realistic. It needs to be told and read, because there has to be more awareness of the issue from families, schools, above all teenagers. If this story prevents one person going through Alexa and Jaime's experiences, it has done its job. Thank you to Edelweiss and Wednesday Books fro the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion. Comments are closed.
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