“Raw, unflinching, and authentic, Kate McLaughlin’s thoughtful What Unbreakable Looks Like carefully crafts a story exposing the vulnerability of underage trafficked girls and what it takes to begin the process of healing from sexual trauma.”-Christa Desir, author, advocate, and founding member of The Voices and Faces Project Lex was taken-trafficked-and now she’s Poppy. Kept in a hotel with … 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.
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Rating:
Harrowing tale of recovery from being trafficked as a sexual slave.
This was a gritty realistic tale of a girl who was a survivor of human trafficking in the United States, and it was a very interesting book as well as a good story. When I think of human trafficking, I usually picture American girls who are snatched either here or while traveling abroad and immediately sent to another foreign country never to be heard from again. Either that or Eastern European or Asian women who are tricked into coming to the US and told they only have to work off their travel fees but end up working forever.
However, what happens to the girl in this book apparently happens to a lot of young girls in the U.S. Her name was Alexa and she was tricked by a guy named Mitch, a friend of her mothers boyfriend into thinking he was her boyfriend, then after a bit she moved in with him. Her mother was a drunk so she didn’t care when Alexa stopped attending school and moved in with this older guy. Then after a few weeks he tells her that he owes a friend a lot of money and the friend will kill him, but the friend wants her so if she has sex with the friend everything will be ok.
Soon after that, Mitch has her addicted to drugs and is her pimp and moves her into a motel with other girls just like her. Three years later the cops bust into the motel and Alexa, now known as Poppy is free. Her Aunt wants to take her and provide a home for her, but it is hard for her to trust anything. The book is written very well in that it goes from her new life to flashbacks of her old life showing how hard it is to move into a new life after being where she was..
Of course it is hard to trust any man after being used as a sex object by hundreds if not more than a thousand men in those three years, all while under the age of eighteen. Some of them were even cops. She is afraid to even trust her aunt’s husband at first, she was positive he would try to come into her bedroom at night.
It’s understandable really when your father leaves at a young age and your mother never cared about you, then the one person you thought was your Knight in shining armor turns out to be a pimp who sells you to slimy men and beats you if you try to say no. When Lex and the other girls are picked up by the cops, Mitch is not found because he was tipped off by his friends in the police force. So he was still out there and Alexa’s mother was calling her Aunt because her boyfriend, Frank is friends with Mitch and they want her back with Mitch.
It is a tough way back for this girl but a pretty awesome story of recovery and getting to a place where she can accept what happened and be at peace with herself. She has help from a therapist, a cop, a few friends, a puppy and she goes through a few trials before getting on the right path. The book kept my interest throughout the entire length and the characters were well written and fully developed. I liked all of them in this story. The fact that Poppy/Alexa was held less than 30 minutes from her mother’s house was eye opening to me.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
How do I even review this one? For those who don’t know growing up I was molested by three different men in my life. One being a family member and another being my mothers boyfriend. And to this day she denies anything ever happened. At the age of 11. I woke up to a man in his late 30s to early 40s laying naked in my bed. I couldn’t tell you what happens after that because I don’t remember.
This book is about human trafficking and it spoke to me on so many levels. I had to put it down numerous times today because I ended up crying either happy or sad tears.
This book will rip out your heart as you follow Lex and her story. And you will not forget it once you reach the last page and close the book.
Although to my knowledge I have never been raped I can not imagine what it was like for Lex. But my heart goes out to her and others that fill the pages of this story. This is a book that should be in the hands of every teenager.
Welcome all sides to the conversation of #humantraffickingawareness and help put a stop to it! Because it is our children that will pay the price if we do nothing.
Go Into This One Knowing: Rape, Drug Use, Human Trafficking, Sexual Abuse
I’m not even sure I can’t out into words what I am feeling right now after reading this heartbreaking but enlightening fictional novel on sex trafficking. When are we going to open our eyes and see what is rampantly taking place as far as human trafficking right in front of us, right in our own back yards and communities? Imagine being given up basically by your own mom and her boyfriend to this lifestyle. Imagine being groomed and made to feel loved by a peer and subtlety drawn into something you cannot get out of….not everyone is taken out of the blue. Imagine being given drugs and having everything possible be done to your body without your consent. Imagine being rescued but you are so used to the drugs and being numb to any kind of feeling that part of you wishes to return. Thank God for Lex’s Aunt Krys wanting her and loving her and accepting her for who she was. Most people pulled out of trafficking situations will return without unconditional love and support. Imagine deciding you want something different for your life and trying to return to school where you are bullied and bits think they can make you do things because of what was done to you and people judging you for something you had no control over. I just kept thinking about that quote – be kind for you never know what someone else is going through. Thank goodness for Elsa and Zack who stood up for Lex and we’re her friends unconditionally. I’m so proud of Lez for standing up for herself and telling them things that had been done to her. Imagine trying to even think about having a real relationship with someone when you’ve never known love or even if you’re capable of loving someone else. Imagine understanding all the pain and abuse you have endured at the hands of others and watching them still carrying on doing this to others. I was molested a short time as a child and know all the suffering it has caused in my life. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering those who have been trapped in this have to endure and how much they have to overcome to be able to live a “normal” life and function in society. At least in this book, Lex had the emotional support and unconditional love of a few that enables her to start healing. Many do not have this. In these times, we all want to out in our two cents about masks and our rights and our freedom. Our time and attention is needed on issues like human trafficking so much more. What we think is uncomfortable or hard to endure is nothing compared to what someone stuck in trafficking has to endure every second of their lives.
I received an early copy of this story by St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books. This story touches on sex trafficking and will have you on an emotional journey from being taken, abused, then rescued and having to deal with trauma of all of that and being brought back into regular life. This is not for everyone and if you are sensitive to certain topics, this story could be a trigger for you. But if you can read about these things then I do recommend this book.
Thank you Wednesday Books for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
What Unbreakable Looks Like
By: Kate McLaughlin
“This book contains depictions of human trafficking, sexual assault, and violence. Please proceed with caution if you have been affected by any of these issues.”
REVIEW
“Who the hell wants to take in a seventeen year old who’s been passed around and discarded like loose change?”
Difficult. Uncomfortable. Hellish. I could go on and on describing What Unbreakable Looks Like. Every negative adverb I could think of still would not do justice to this story. It begins with a rescue of our heroine, Lex, and several other girls from a shady hotel. These girls were taken from their families and held here as sexual objects used for making money. Freedom doesn’t feel free to Lex. In the hospital, she actually misses her pimp, Mitch, and debates running back to him. Why?
“Mitch was there for me when no one else was. He took care of me. He sold me. Beat me. Told me I was beautiful and said I was an ugly bitch. He said he loved me. Nobody else has ever said they love me.”
Lex is conditioned to believe lies because it’s all she knows. Where will she go now? Her mother has given up parental rights. Fortunately, Aunt Krys, her mother’s sister, arrives to take Lex home. First, there is a recovery house stay. Lex has zero trust in anyone because it’s not possible that good will find her. In all aspects, Lex fundamentally believes she is unworthy of love, acceptance, family, or second chances. Restructuring her belief system and reprogramming her thought process is going to be a long difficult task. It begins in the recovery house for trafficked girls, where Lex is certain no one understands how she got her.
“Sure I do. You’re here. That means someone took you from your home, put you on your back, and let people rape you for money while they kept you as numb as possible. Am I wrong?”
Lex sees that she is not alone. Good people who aren’t lying do exist. She can have a loving family and a safe home A revelation. Lex lives this scary new life day by day as best she can. She goes to school like a normal girl. Lex never lets her guard down, and trust is a liquid concept, at best.
“…part of me would prefer pain and death over this small shred of hope I’m hanging on to. Pain and death rarely let you down, but hope? Hope’s a heartless bitch.”
It is ironically tragic that something from Lex’s past does, in fact, return briefly. The difference lies in Lex’s growth as a young woman. She is stronger than the girl who left that hotel. This time, she can, she will, help herself and not be a victim. Lex has been dehumanized, and shame followers her like a shadow. But, Lex has unknowingly become part of something much larger than herself, and a new path forward falls at her feet. No spoilers here, so I won’t give details.
“Some people think trafficking means you’re taken far away from your home and your family. It’s not true. The motel Mitch kept us in was only thirty minutes away from Mom’s apartment.”
When I think about this, it is deeply disturbing. Any one of us could drive by a trafficking house and never know. Growing up I lived with my family of four across the street from a lovely family of five in a typical neighborhood. The girl across the street and I were friends in the same grade. I went to sleepovers. I was 13. One day, this family was just gone. A few months later, we learned that my friend was, in fact, being molested by her father. For years. Across the street. They were now on the run, but that’s another story. Sexual trafficking is not an abstract idea of girls locked in a shipping container anymore. The horrors are closer than that.
This book was beyond difficult to read, but it was important to me that I read it. As others have said, it’s raw, unflinching, shocking and unapologetic about sexual trafficking. This book looks you straight in the eye and tells you things you’d rather not know. I understand that many people cannot or should not read What Unbreakable Looks Like. If you can and are willing, I recommend it for the sake of awareness and meaningful dialogue.
Wow! I don’t know what I was expecting from What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin but it was so much more than I ever could have imagined.
For a debut young adult novel What Unbreakable Looks Like sure hit me hard. I was laughing and had tears in my eyes throughout the entire book and it was a real work of art. I don’t think human trafficking gets talked about in books enough as it is but having a survivor story is just even better. This book is raw and emotional and will make your heart hurt, but it was also hopeful and helps you believe in healing. There are a lot of strong messages in here and I thought the way McLaughlin approached them was both straightforward and realistic.
I think the story told in this novel is incredibly important, and it was definitely a quick read. I may be a 34-year-old woman, but I thought Lex was still very relatable and it was easy to form a connection to her. Even if you aren’t a huge fan of YA I would still recommend checking out What Unbreakable Looks Like if you are up for a dark, gritty book that speaks up about something that isn’t talked about enough.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
Can she become Lex again?
What Unbreakable Looks Like is one of the hardest books I’ve read in a while because it is about how Lex is trafficked, renamed Poppy and finally rescued. Lex moves in with her aunt and uncle and slowly comes to terms that she is no longer a victim but someone that can stand up for herself but there will be many bumps in the road getting there.
What Unbreakable Looks Like is Kate McLaughlin’s first book but it is an unflinching telling of Lex’s story that is harsh and realistic and it needs to be told.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins press and the Author Kate McLaughlin for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A story about the horrendous and current all to real thing know as human trafficking and all that goes with it.
A most poignant and powerful view is told in this book and should be read with caution. I experienced many emotions reading it.
The Author has written about this in a very tastefully and sensitive manner.
We can only hope this revolting and repulsive phenomenon comes to an end sometime soon.
5 Stars
What an amazing book! It was a little uncomfortable to read sometimes but that is one of the reasons it is such a great book. It also made me want to cry sometimes. I loved everything about this book. The plot was great, the characters were great, and you get enough of a resolution without everything being wrapped up in a neat little bow.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my free copy.
“The human body’s a resilient thing. It heals with very little memory of what’s been done to it…The mind that gets twisted and broken.”
(a note here: I really want to put a comma after mind in that quote, so I do hope that gets fixed in editing)
Poppy was once known as Lex, and her childhood was less than ideal. So when she’s wooed by Mitch, a friend of her mother’s boyfriend, it’s with stars in her eyes that she follows him and finds herself trafficked and addicted to drugs. The life is horrible and it all seems hopeless, so when she finds herself rescued, it is her aunt who is waiting there, only Lex doesn’t know how she could go back to a “normal” life. She distrusts everyone, especially men, and she doesn’t trust her aunt’s husband at all. So it’s going to take a lot of support and care to find who she can be now that she’s out of that life.
I think Lex was one of the lucky ones because she had such an excellent support system. She had an understanding aunt and uncle, who would do anything to give her a future, and she had friends that understood her, to a degree and looked past what she thought of herself, to see the good in her. I think the bullying that she went through at school is sadly not unexpected. People mock what they don’t understand and kids can be so cruel.
The story could use a little bit of editing in a few areas, but outside of that, this was a compelling read. It’s relevant to our society today because trafficking is such a problem, and there are so many means in which people make it happen. The writing was easy to understand, the subject matter a tough one. Watching Lex finds her strength was uplifting, and the fact that she went on to help others was incredibly brave.