This story relates the journey of 5 girls (teens) escaping a brothel to be free. I first want to warn readers This is a very dark book, I was surprised because I understood it is classified as YA but just know that from brothels, to slow death by hunger, through memories of countless rapes and tortures, the reader has to face a loooooot of awful situations. The story reminded me of Dread nation, it's action packed and very intense. But it would be a darker version of it: nothing seems to be ever fine, no time / place for joy, hope or love, it can be exhausting. Great, great sisterhood story. Girls rescuing girls, women making a better place for themselves, helping each other, caring for one another... Yes ! Brilliant depiction of what it means to live in an unfair world, what it leads to. The images built on light and darkness, death and life are so significant and rich, it's a pleasure to enjoy their different meanings. The action is set in a world where the poorest don't even own shadows, where their souls linger on earth after death, hungry for a life that has been stolen from them, dangers for everyone who cross their path; a world where everything can be bought, where soulless creatures torture the ones they once loved. It's a fiction world and in many ways it's so actual.