What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin

Be aware, this book contains, at various levels of explicitness, child prostitution, murder and suicide, rape and drug abuse, and cursing.

Lex was taken – trafficked - and now she’s Poppy. 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.

What to say about this book? I can't say I enjoyed it, exactly, although the language is beautiful and watching Lex rediscover herself was immensely satisfying. It's just the subject matter is difficult to get through...but so necessary and important, and I'm really glad I kept reading. As Lex says at one point, I had assumed that trafficked girls were moved countries away. To think that they might be so close to home is heartbreaking.

I'd absolutely love to see people reading this. We need people to be aware before things can change. So all I can say is, while it's not an easy read, it's absolutely worth it, and I hope it sells really well.