REVIEW--Trafficked

Happy Monday!  

This weekend the hubby and I went to our Alma Mater's Homecoming game (go ISU Sycamores!).  And of course I wanted to post an OOTD to show how I dress for sporting events.  Here's us before the game started:

Aren't we cute?

And then it rained.  And rained.  And rained some more.  Needless to say, I was NOT going to show you a wet OOTD.  So we went and saw the movie "Gravity" instead.  

But onwards and upwards, right?  Today's post is a review of the book Trafficked by Kim Purcell.  I mostly read this book at night while feeding my newborn son, and I think that added to the intensity of the book.  I think you'll be able to tell pretty quickly that I loved this book!

  

• Realistic fiction
• Standalone novel

Summary from Goodreads:

A 17-year-old Moldovan girl whose parents have been killed is brought to the United States to work as a slave for a family in Los Angeles.

Hannah believes she’s being brought from Moldova to Los Angeles to become a nanny for a Russian family. But her American dream quickly spirals into a nightmare. The Platonovs force Hannah to work sixteen-hour days, won’t let her leave the house, and seem to have a lot of secrets—from Hannah and from each other.

Stranded in a foreign land with false documents, no money, and nobody who can help her, Hannah must find a way to save herself from her new status as a modern-day slave or risk losing the one thing she has left: her life.

The Gist:

Hannah, a Moldovan teenager, has been promised a better life in the United States.  She comes to be a nanny for a Russian family and save up money to send to her grandmother back home.  Hannah also wants to become a doctor and make a better life for herself.

But after entering the country illegally, she learns that she has been sent not as a nanny but as a modern-day slave for the family.  She isn't allowed outside, sleeps in the family's basement, and works constantly for no money.  She is utterly helpless with no possibility of escape.

What I Loved:

• This book is horrifying and heart-wrenching, exactly what it is supposed to be.  I was engrossed from the beginning.  I expected it to be sex trafficking and it wasn't...it was modern-day slave trafficking which is TOO common for our modern society!
• A very realistic telling of the story.  Probably because Purcell is a former journalist (which totally works in our favor with this).
• Such an intense look at how words and fear themselves can be the weapons.  Hannah was terrified to try to escape because of the words used against her...reminds us how powerful words really are.
• A very intense ending (ok, I know I've said "intense" like three times now...).

What I Didn't Love:

• I would have liked to see more resolution with the Platonovs at the end.  We "hear" what's going to happen but don't actually see it.

No favorite quote on this one...bummer.

 

Wednesday I'll be back with some fashion finds based off the Platonov family!  Now go and read Trafficked!