Ok so first things first, this isn’t an easy read and please check all the TWs before going in, because I don’t really have any triggers but still found this quite hard going! This isn’t the kind of read you go into hoping for happy endings and rainbows, but if you can handle the harrowing nature of it, then it really is quite remarkable - especially when you realise this was written when the author was just 17!
I found the first half a little slower as the scene really gets set - we meet Kiara, a 17 year old girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, who ends up working in prostitution in order to keep a roof over her and her brother’s heads, as well as the young boy next door who she looks after when his drug addict mum doesn’t. The first part is unrelentingly heartbreaking as we watch her start to sell her body for sex and all the danger and misery that entails.
But whilst the second half is still pretty harrowing, it also gets quite exciting and harder to put down as Kiara becomes involved in something much bigger than she ever intended to - something which puts her and everyone she loves at risk. I won’t give too much away, but it begins more of a crime novel at this point and that’s when I really got hooked!
This is brilliant, eye-opening, gritty and honest storytelling and I was devastated to see it was based on a true case (and no doubt hundreds more which are never reported). It’s amazing to see voices which are usually on the periphery of stories right at the heart of this one and the impact is just so powerful.
I found the first half a little slower as the scene really gets set - we meet Kiara, a 17 year old girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, who ends up working in prostitution in order to keep a roof over her and her brother’s heads, as well as the young boy next door who she looks after when his drug addict mum doesn’t. The first part is unrelentingly heartbreaking as we watch her start to sell her body for sex and all the danger and misery that entails.
But whilst the second half is still pretty harrowing, it also gets quite exciting and harder to put down as Kiara becomes involved in something much bigger than she ever intended to - something which puts her and everyone she loves at risk. I won’t give too much away, but it begins more of a crime novel at this point and that’s when I really got hooked!
This is brilliant, eye-opening, gritty and honest storytelling and I was devastated to see it was based on a true case (and no doubt hundreds more which are never reported). It’s amazing to see voices which are usually on the periphery of stories right at the heart of this one and the impact is just so powerful.