I often find it hard to review books that tackle such intense topics because it's hard to separate the topic and the need for exposure from the writing itself. I think overall it's an important book that will expose many teens to something they had no knowledge of before. The book tries to do a little too much in one sitting, especially with two traumas, but unfortunately I think it's realistic.

I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, St..Martin's Press and NetGalley.com.  Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ms. McLaughlin's debut novel is really nothing short of amazing.  Human trafficking is one of the pressing issues of the day, and while it is a work of fiction; it could very well have been taken from the headlines.  All the characters are all too real. The events that occur are chilling in their nature.  The path to recovery and healing is long and arduous.  A heartbreaking novel that thankfully ends well, it is saddening that there are young women and men who are living in the hell that Poppy lived.  This book is a must read, but there is disturbing content that requires reader discretion: prostitution, drug use, sexual assault, mental and physical abuse.

5 out of 5 stars.  Highly recommended reading.

Another difficult review to write. But for different reasons. How do you rate a book that deals with such a tough topic?
Lex is one of the strongest characters I've come across. Lex has been trafficked and you walk next to her as she learns to heal. You see her thoughts, her actions, her raw emotions. This book does not sugar-coated ANYTHING. It's realistic in it's portrayal of what it's like to be a girl who has been abused for so long and how difficult it is to learn to trust and just be. Lex has an amazing support group though. Her Aunt Krys is an angel, she helps Lex learn that it's okay to be angry and want to lash out but that good people still exist. People who care about you and want to help you heal. While it takes a long time for Lex to learn to trust again, her Aunt Krys and Uncle Jamal are there every step of the way. She also finds 2 friends that help her connect with her life once more. Zack is a boy who shows her that not all men are abusive jerks. He's sweet but isn't just a filler character. He too experienced a horrible trauma and I feel that while Zack was strong he and Lex healed each other in more ways than one. Her friend, Elsa also helped with the healing process. But through all the trials Lex goes through, she learns to become more than a victim, more than a survivor. She becomes an activist. As she's healing, she begins to feel stronger and wants to find a way to help other girls like her. It's an empowering story. And it was incredibly well written.

Unflinching, honest, heartbreaking, gut wrenching. These are just a few adjectives I'd use to describe this book. I've put off reading this for a long time because I was very concerned about how hard this would be to get through. And yes, it was hard in the beginning to get through. But, then things progressed, and it became more of a story about a victim becoming a survivor moving on in her life and putting her past behind her. It was beautiful and sad at the same time. I definitely cried throughout the entire book but not as much as I originally thought. 

The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because I felt like there was too much shoved in to one story. I think it could have focused on one trauma and showed life after, but there were two major traumas and it felt like competing storylines. And it also seemed that every single character had a horrible back story with abuse of some kind. 

Overall, I think the message was delivered well, and it did bring out a ton of emotions in me. I would definitely recommend this book. But, be prepared of the traumas listed, as it could be a trigger for some.

I was definitely nervous to start this book given the difficult subject matter. This was so raw and heartbreaking and difficult to read at times but it was definitely worth it. This book won't be the right one for everyone, But if youre up for it I recommend it for sure. It really seemed realistic with Lex having to go through rehab to try and put her past behind her. I really felt the roller coaster of emotions reading this and look forward to more from Kate McLaughlin. I can see grouping her with one of my favorite authors Ellen Hopkins though the style is very different.

Lex has been through absolute hell. Trusting others has only gotten her deeper into the hell she calls her life. Nothing good has come from having faith and hope. It's only brought her more despair and desperation.

When suddenly life does change for her Lex has a hard time trusting that it will stay that way. She can't help but walk on glass and keep the walls up that have been put into place long ago. But when her past is thrust in front of her it's going to take a new kind of strength not to give in and return to the chains of despair that once encompassed her. 

A heart wrenching and anger inducing story of human trafficking and the after effects that the survivors have to endure. Those poor girls never stop suffering, no matter how brave they appear on the outside.

Did not finish. This novel was not for me. I had a hard time connecting to the story and the characters.

This was one of the hardest books I have ever read. What Unbreakable Looks Like explored heartbreak, abuse, violence and most importantly, hope. 
I was on the edge of my seat whilst reading this and my heart ached for Lex and her struggles. Human trafficking is a very difficult subject to write about and I felt that McLaughlin handled it well. I recommend if you are looking for a dark yet hopeful book that will tug on your heartstrings.

<i>What Unbreakable Looks Like</I> by Kate McLaughlin is the story of Lex, a girl who was trafficked, after she's been rescued and given another chance. Lex is taken in by her aunt and uncle, who's love is unconditional love, and a cast of friends who genuinely care about her regardless of her past. However, her new found stability and emotional wellbeing are put to the test when her so-called boyfriend and his friends sexually assault her. I was provided an ARC by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

McLaughlin gives varying points of view on the recovery process. The girls who run back to their abuser, the girls who don't take recovery seriously, and the girls who do take it seriously as they learn to live again. Lex herself is the latter, scared and uncertain, but it's clear all along she doesn't want to end up where she started. While Lex's friend from the trafficking situation, Ivy, runs back into the life and Lex is left worrying about her.

As we get to see things from Lex's point of view, we get to feel and understand the struggles she's going through. First to adjust to a life where everything isn't controlled by someone else, and then to the expectations of non-abusers. Lex stumbles, she isn't perfect, but she also keeps trying, and it's clear that this is possible with the support system she gains from her family and friends.

We're following the success story, the survival story. However, darker and in the background is the failure story, the pain story, the lost girls of this world story in fellow victim Ivy. Ivy only wants to go back, she wants what she knows and what 'feels' stable to an unstable life. She also doesn't have the stable family life that Lex is given to help her through the process.

McLaughlin handles the topic with sensitivity and care. While it is a rose-colored glasses story, McLaughlin evokes emotion and care throughout. <i>What Unbreakable Looks Like</I> is an incredible debut novel and I look forward to seeing McLaughlin's future additions to the Teen and YA community.

Wow.  This book was a hard-hitter.  I honestly wasn't expecting something this raw and gritty considering it was pinned as a YA novel.  Believe me, I know that YA novels can be hard-hitting.  I've read quite a few.  I knew that this book was about human trafficking when I read the description.  But, man, this one threw me for a loop.  In a good way.  I can't say I liked this book.  It feels weird to say that about a book that discusses a dark, terrifyingly real topic.  But, I can say that this was a good book in the sense that it felt real.  I listened to the audiobook version of this book which had a great narrator by the way.  

Sometimes I read contemporary YA stories and while the characters are set in current times and are experiencing real topics that life throws at us, I still feel like they're on a stage or a television screen while I watch.  It's a story about life, but there is still that thin threshold that the characters still haven't quite stepped over into my reality.  Even from the beginning of this story, these characters had pole vaulted over that threshold into my reality.  The author did a great job of writing these characters in a way that felt just right.  They weren't sugar coated and unrealistic, but they weren't so over saturated with their history that you couldn't connect with them on a seemingly personal level.  

Our main character, Lex, is rescued by police from a trafficking ring run out of a shabby hotel.  Adopted by her aunt and uncle, she has to not only navigate this new life but also deal with her past trauma and how she and others around her will cope with it going forward.  The struggles Lex faced were both large dramatic events and smaller daily setbacks.  However, I liked that it showed how Lex's traumatic past affected all aspects of her life and did so in subtle and surprising ways.  Ways which many readers probably wouldn't think about.  I will say that in regards to the realism of this story, I think this story wrapped up the criminals in this case a little too neatly.  I'm not saying the justice system and the powers that be wouldn't prevail in arresting her pimp and the boys that assaulted her, but the cases were closed a little too smoothly for how I feel it would happen in real life. I know that for the purposes of furthering the story in a timely manner and growing Lex's character it couldn't be an in-depth debriefing of the cases step-by-step, but I will say that it was one aspect of the story that I did feel was more fictional for the purpose of the plot to me.

This is a heatbreaking yet hopeful story.  Seeing the numbness and resignation that Lex sees as safety and has to work through with the support of family, friends, and therapy is heartbreaking.  Seeing Lex break out of her shell and slowly but surely start accepting that she deserves better leaves you hopeful.  Her life won't be perfect.  She will still have setbacks and struggles.  But, she's building a good foundation and she's got a good support system to catch her when she falls.  As the story shows in other supporting characters, not everyone has that.

Ultimately, a searingly painful story.  Not for the faint of heart.  When the book description mentions sex trafficking, sexual assault, trauma, and other triggering topics, it truly is going to delve into these topics in the novel.  This isn't one of those books that mentions it as clickbait then proceeds to drop it a glance as a one chapter backstory whilst focusing on the romance between the main character and angsty side character.  This is wholeheartedly a what-you-see-is-what-you-get story.  It's not pretty or nice.  It's gritty, unsettling, blunt.    I know this isn't a non-fiction breakdown, a memoir, or a documentary.  But, if you want a book that grabs your attention on a topic that's hard to handle and even gives you just a little more perspective and awareness that you didn't have before, I'd say that's a book worth taking a risk on.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.  Unflinchingly blunt, heartbreakingly honest, and powerfully hopeful.  

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an eGalley of this book.

This was difficult to read but i pushed through. Kate McLaughlin’s What Unbreakable Looks Like is a about human trafficking told by a girl who has escaped this heartbreaking  situation'  and learns  to trust, not only others, but  herself..  Lex our main character has endured so much negativity and trauma. Being a sexual assault survivor myself , it was extremely though to read but i connected with her and i can't imagine being human trafficked.  McLaughlin’s writing was strong which was needed for Lex's voice. These stories are needed

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 think the author was able to take this tough topic and make it into something that was really well done. The characters were great and I really felt bad for Lex.

Super important book, and the plot was executed well. The plot was interesting, however, there was some content that I did not expect in the book. Overall though, I'd recommend for anyone looking for a strong narrative.

This was a very hard, challenging read for me due to the content. However, I am glad I read it because it is an important issue that happens every day in the world that I believe more authors need to write about. It really opened my eyes to more of what the trafficked victims go through in the aftermath. How they are judged by others, how they feel, how they think, etc. I would love to read more of this author's work in the future and know she would be an auto-buy for me.

Disclaimer and content warnings: Please note that this book deals with very, very heavy topics - such as sex trafficking of minors, drug abuse, sometimes graphic depictions of rape, suicide/suicidal ideations, mental illness and trauma.

What Unbreakable Looks Like is a difficult book to review for numerous reasons: for one, I think it's a valuable story that looks the deepest recesses of human depravity in the eye and tackles them head-on. I haven't read a YA with a protagonist who has been trafficked, and unfortunately, that's a reality for too many girls and stories like these need to be told for them. I think Lex was a complicated and layered protagonist; she felt real and her constant push and pull between wanting to settle back into society versus not feeling worthy made for a compelling, albeit heartbreaking, narrative.

However, I really do need to point out the various offhand comments about race that were in there for no reason and made me quite uncomfortable. For example, 16% through, there's a scene where the protagonist gets in a verbal argument with a Black girl and thinks, "... she seems to think that White girls and Brown girls aren't supposed to like each other. I guess no one ever taught her that we're all the same with our faces pressed into a pillow..." It just made me go "???" because it felt like such an unnecessary comment that didn't need to be there, and I'm sure no one needs to be told at this point that no, white folks and people of color will never be "the same" even if contexts are similar.

There's also moments throughout where she slips into AAVE when she's trying to "talk street" (actual quote) and she completely slips out of it other times. It made me uncomfortable, to say the last. The n-word is also dropped in the book; it's a Black character saying it, telling a story of the racism his aunt faced, but a) the author is not Black and shouldn't be using that word in ANY context, and b) it was, again, so unnecessary. The book has nothing to do with race. The main character has nothing to do with racial struggle, so why is this book chock-full of off-hand comments?

This book, despite having certain positives, ultimately fell flat and the various things I mentioned above really soured the experience for me.

I don't really know that I can review this book the way it deserves? It's an important book but definitely a difficult read. I recommend it if you can handle the subject matter because it’s real life and these awful events happen despite not happening to us or people we know. What a nightmare for the victims that live this every single day, I appreciate being educated through literature on such a delicate subject matter. Thank you to the author for taking on this burden and NetGalley for the eARC.

RATING: 4 STARS
2020; St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books

I picked up What Unbreakable Looks Like a few times, and just could not get beyond the first few pages. For me it was the unknown that kept me from flipping to the next page. It opens up with "Poppy" in hotel room with other teen girls, waiting for the next John to come in and violate them. As it seemed to start right at the climax I wasn't sure if I had enough strength to attempt this novel written for young adults. I read Gossip Girl while I worked at the bookstore and it was worlds away from Sweet Valley High that I read as a preteen. I am aware that books geared towards teens are more sexual, but I am not sure if parents are aware of that. This is a novel that doesn't use sex as a way to be more mature or use it to sell books. I do think that this is a great book for teens to read with their parents as it has an important topic that is very prevalent nowadays of human trafficking. 

Finally one night as I sat down with this novel again, I told myself I had to read this story. While it is fiction, it highlights one girl's experience with human trafficking. It is something that we should all be learning more about to do our part to see this get eradicated. Not a spoiler alert, but something that may make it easier to get past the first several pages, Poppy, whose real name is Lex (Alexa( is rescued by the police early on. Usually in true crime shows/docs we forward after the rescue to see how they are doing now. What we don't realize is that getting rescued isn't the part where things get easier. This is when they have to fight for a new life. After Lex is treated for physical symptoms in the hospital she is taken to a recovery/rehab centre that specializes in girls who have been in similar situations. They are being treated for addictions, mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, suicidal ideations, etc. They are also treated like humans again. They are provided with little care packages that are their own. They also get tested for STI (and in most cases treated if possible). Another issue is just being able to sleep and to feel safe again. Women are seen as property and financial revenue for the pimps, so they will try to get them back into the life. With all the grooming since they met some want to go back. (There are also young girls who are "recruiters" for the pimps. They go out and look for the young girls and talk them into meeting the pimp.) In some cases girls left their families as their situation home seemed worse. If still underage, where do these girls go. 

For Lex, she has her aunt (mother's younger sister) and uncle who take her in. They are well off, so she does have some advantages there. She meets two teens with their own demons who help her be a teen again, and also put her trust in others. She goes to school, therapy and tries to live a normal life. Unfortunately, her mother and her mother's boyfriend aided in Lex being groomed by her pimp in the first place. Her mother's boyfriend helped his friend (another grown man) befriend Lex and make her think this man is her boyfriend. When Lex is rescued her mom and her boyfriend try to get her back into the life again. Lex also has to deal with dating, how to be around men, and peers. It is a lot that she deals with in a very short period of time.

McLaughin does a great job in balancing the book with heavy issues. As we learn about what is happening under our noses, we also fall for Lex as a character. We get invested in seeing where her story goes, and for me hoping that good things come her way. It is beautifully written and engaging, so I hope that people at least try this book as I think it is an important piece of literature. I know if I was a teen this is the kind of book I would have preferred to learn in school, as there is so much that can educate the kids that are targeted.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

I had to sit with this one a bit after finishing. This book was raw, emotional, heartbreaking, enraging, and powerful. Due to the subject matter, it was hard to read at times. The author made the character come alive through her words and tell a gut wrenching story. 
My only criticism of the book is around its use of AAVE and tired stereotypes to portray someone as “hard” or “rough”.

Let's begin with the trigger warnings: sex trafficking, rape, sexual assault, child abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse, self harm, slut shaming.


Now that you're informed about the trigger warnings, I can tell you about how unbelievably raw this book is. It's impactful, it's tough, it's emotional, it's gut wrenching, it's entrance into the world of human trafficking. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, but I was told that it would be right up my alley by the publisher given that I'd read two of their other most recent gritty novels, Sadie and Foul Is Fair. It did not disappoint.


Lex, aka Poppy, was lured by a man that her mother's boyfriend knew. He spent time at their place, made her feel special and let her fall for him. Then one day things changed and he wasn't her boyfriend anymore, but her pimp. The story flips back and forth between current day and flashbacks to her life as Poppy. 


It was so disheartening to see Lex flip flop between wanting to trust the adults in her life now and just wanting to walk away and back into the life of a sex worker. It tugged at my heart each time she started to think she wasn't worth fighting for. 


As you read and learn more about what it was like to live that life, how taking drugs numbed the pain (both physical and emotional) and how conditioned the girls became. How they are almost brainwashed into thinking no one would ever want them now and that if they tried to go home they'd be turned out or abandoned. I hated how her pimp renamed them all flower names so they'd start losing their identities sooner.


Another hard thing was watching Lex learn to trust others and even herself. She had to unlearn all of the bad and figure out what was worth fighting for. Her story is intense and terrifying at times. It makes me realize just how lucky I was to grow up the way I did and how I want to ensure my daughter is raised. How I want her to know she is loved and wanted and that she can talk to me anytime about anything. It takes a lot for Lex to trust her Aunt and let down her guards.


When she finally makes some new friends and begins to start school, she feels almost herself again. She meets a boy, but not too long into dating do things take a turn and she's forced into the spotlight with everyone knowing her business. Should she run away and go back to her previous life or stand up and fight for herself and the other girls left behind?


Another scary situation that I did not realize might even happen once out of the life was her pimp trying to track her down to bring her back to his fold. That if the girl was popular enough, they would do almost anything to trick her back into her previous life. These scenes were making me anxious and angry. 


I feel like Lex was one of the lucky ones who had someone out there that cared enough about her to give her a chance and a safe place to start over. Who wanted to fight along side her and for her. Who encouraged her to work as slow as necessary to recover. Who helped create a support network so that she always had someone to turn to. Who supported her decisions and helped her focus on what she could do going forward instead of always looking back.


I think the main themes are learning to trust again, hope, and education on such a difficult topic that needs to be spoken about more. I knew about human traffickers and assumed how shitty the life would be, but not until I read this book did I realize just how horrible the entire series of events would be and how hard it would be to rehabilitate those who were turned into sex workers. Not only would they have trust issues, but they would need rehab due to addictions and psychiatrists for issues with anxiety/PTSD and the like. So much trauma. So much hurt. So much taken away. And not enough done to fight against it.


I always love reading books that discuss such difficult topics because I rarely see them done so wonderfully. This was a well written story that helped open my eyes to this disgusting subculture. I hope if you enjoy reading gritty, raw and powerful stories that you'll give this one a chance.

EDIT: I wrote this review weeks before it was ready to post for blog tour and now that I've thought on it more, I have a few more things to add.

1) I think the timeline might not be as realistic as it would be for someone to be "saved" from the life and try to settle into a new normal. But I do understand that the book is only so long and what the author was most likely trying to convey that it was possible. It just might have needed to span over more time than the few short months that it seems to. Though this did not hit me right after reading it as I was caught up in the moment and dialogue of the story. 

2) I've read a lot of comments from other readers about the language used in the book and terminology that the girls used. I didn't read too far into how the girls talk to one another while in the life, so I want to make it clear that I enjoyed the book for the glimpse that it was. I do not always sit and pick apart a book for every tiny detail, so yes, while some my not find certain aspects or wording accurate, I just read the book to let myself fall into world it describes. So even if the words were not 100% how they would talk, to me it's more the atmosphere, the feeling the story evokes, the topic that gets people talking about and becoming more aware of. If a book can get people talking and can make people start fighting for something or against something then it's done it's job. This book made me more aware of how easy girls can fall prey to this. And it was impactful to me for this reason. It also gave me hope that many can get help and move on. That they can speak out and help others. Eventually.

3) Not everything has to be taking to heart. Not very detail has to be perfect to get a point across. I still truly enjoyed this book and what it brought to my attention. 

So there you have it. My initial thoughts and my follow up.