I really wanted to give Searching For Pilar 5* but there were a few things in this story that made me stop at 4*.
This story is about young girls being kidnapped and put in the sex trafficking trade. It is about their struggles, how they soon came to see themselves and what happens to them if or when they are rescued.
This is such a heartbreaking subject and I love that authors are writing about it. I have read about this same topic in Paige Dearth's books (who actually lived in this abusive world although her books are fictional) which is why this story stopped at 4*.
I think Ms. Holmes wrote a great story and did a lot of research to make sure she captured the real struggles of this topic. I loved that she used English as well as Spanish as well.

Not sure what to say about this book, other than it was an excellent read and found it hard to put down until i had finished. Sadly sex/human trafficking is not just happening in the US, but in other parts of the World including the UK. Although this was the work of fiction, one could tell that the author had put a lot of work into research.

I wouldn't say that this novel is suitable for all due to the topic, but i do highly recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Searching for Pilar is definitely a dark book and won't be for everyone. It involves the search for a human trafficking victim by the name of Pilar. Her brother, Diego, is attempting to find her and we switch between his point of view and Pilar's. It's a pretty solidly done story.

I did not care for this book. I know it was probably presenting the situation in a fair and likely truthful way, I was so depressed after reading it. Just a horrible subject.

An amazing novel for a first time author. The characters are well developed and it is obvious there has been a lot of research. A young family in a small town in Mexico, San Jose, became impoverished after the husband lost his job, became depressed, and started drinking. Pilar, his wife and main character decided to apply for a well paying job in Mexico City to help out. A visitor had come to her place of work, gave her a card and told her she could make lots more money there. Leaving her husband and baby, she begged for a ride from her brother Diego, who went to Mexico City on business for his father once a week, for a ride to go for an interview. She made him promise to keep it a secret, and didn't tell him exactly what she was up to or where she was going. She gave the excuse that she wanted to go shopping for a surprise gift for her husband. Nothing could have prepared her for the nightmare ahead. A difficult book to read due to the topic, ie: sex trafficking in Mexico and the States. But I couldn't put it down, I had to find out what happened. This book maybe fictional but I highly recommend reading it, so we all become aware of the dangers for young girls and women in our society.

Searching for Pilar is the story of a young woman who is kidnapped and then sex trafficked. Her brother, Diego, who feels responsible for her disappearance, devotes himself to finding her. The story switches between Pilar's story of captivity and the story of Diego's search for his sister.

Overall, the story kept me interested all the way to the end and was "enjoyable" given the subject matter. I enjoyed the early chapters of the book learning a little about the Mexican culture and the various struggles. The author did a good job of capturing the voice of the characters. At first the writing and dialogue may seem off or elementary in a way, but I thought this gave the book a very real feel of someone for whom English is a second language. It read like a story that may have been written in Spanish and then translated into English...in a good way.

I did have a hard time deciding how to rate this book. Ideally I would have given it 3.5 stars since it was a good solid read, but with a couple of things I did not like. The writing/editing of the book is pretty well done for about the first half of the book and then it gets a little sloppy. Not enough to significantly impact the readability of the book, but enough to be noticeable. For example, there is a dinner scene where on one page it mentions that one of the characters is eating pecan pie and then the very next page, dessert (pecan pie) is brought to the table to be served to everyone. So either this was a missed edit, or one character started his dessert early. There was another instance later in the book where the wrong name was used (e.g. Pilar and Rosa, should have read Pilar and Josefina). But, again these errors did not keep the book from being enjoyable, but they were noticed and felt like the editor got tired halfway through. Also, I thought the romance subplot in the book was not necessary. It felt like an afterthought and like it was put in to try to have a happily ever after ending. In my opinion it had little development other than physical attraction.

The last thing I think worth noting is that the book is definitely more of a fictional novel with a sex trafficking plot. Anyone thinking of reading the book should be aware that while this book will make you aware that sex trafficking is a real issue, it but does not read like an expose on sex trafficking. For example, while I know that sex trafficking is an issue, the book read like any other, good/solid, crime mystery (girl gets abducted...will her family be able to find her in time). I don't think that this is a flaw or issue, since the story was enjoyable, but for someone looking for a heavy look into sex trafficking, this isn't it.

Good solid read. Held my interest,

Searching for Pilar Patricia Hunt Holmes

Wow, what a story.

The book starts with Pilar (19) happily married to Alejandro and looking after their 9 month old daughter. Life in San Jose is perfect for the young, happily married mother.

Then her husband loses his job and struggles to find work. Answering an advert for a well paid clerical job Pilar goes to Mexico City for an interview.

That’s when things go badly wrong. Kidnapped and forced into the sex trade Pilar fights for survival, and not just hers, she takes the young girls kidnapped with her under her protection and swears to get them through the ordeal alive.

Meanwhile the one member of her family who knew where she was going is riddled with guilt. Diego, her brother, gave her a lift and left her in the city to go and watch a football team train. When he returned to pick her up she wasn’t there.

The story splits between Pilar’s captivity and Diego’s attempts to find his sister.

Pilar’s story is horrific, but must be reminiscent of so many poor people.

Diego’s story is a tale of love, dedication, and determination.

No spoilers so I’m not going to say how this ends.

This is a great story and I really enjoyed it. I have seen some other reviews which have mentioned the fact that it includes the rape of two young girls, and sexual violence to the main character aged 19 when we first meet her. Yes, these small paragraphs are in the book, but they are written in a way that is not overly graphic or shocking. Yes, it is a horrific subject, but it is dealt with well by Patricia Hunt Holmes, and in my opinion the story needs this to reflect the true horrors of the people smuggling and sex trade, that unfortunately exists across the globe.

Well done Patricia for using this book to bring it into the spotlight.

Pages: 322
Publishers: River Grove Books
Available on Amazon

The writing in this book will appeal to many readers and not overpower the story. This is a difficult read for sure, but I think this is an important topic, particularity for young girls. As the main incident happened in another country, I think it is still a valuable conversation topic for young women and men as to the dangers that exists. There should be a content warning and many may choose to opt out of reading, but I think the story is important.

Overall rating 4.25 stars
5 stars for most of the story, 3 stars for the rest.

This is a difficult book to rate. I found the beginning somewhat hard to get through, despite knowing it was going to be a dark read.

**The following could be seen as a potential spoiler so consider yourself warned, but I feel readers need to be aware this story contains on page rape of minors (13 & 14), not a lot but enough to disturb sensitive readers.**

With that said, I found the story hard put down - until around the 80% mark. After that, I found a few things hard to buy. I can't say what without spoiling the outcome, which I'm reluctant to do.

If you don't mind dark content, and want an insight into human trafficking and the devastating effect it has on not only the victims but their families as well, you can't go wrong by picking up a copy of "Searching for Pilar."

Copy obtained as Read Now, via NetGalley