Dean has created an intensely horrifying novel about the trauma of human trafficking.  This book was so well executed that I felt trapped within, unable to put it down in spite of how dark and twisted it was. It was imperative for me to know what happened to Jane, which made me finish the book in one sitting.  

Jane is a victim of human trafficking.  She is imprisoned, tortured, and dominated.  Each day she fights to remember who she was before she was forced to become Jane.  Her emotions are raw and powerful.  With every trauma she encountered, I physically felt her despair and fear as if it were my own.  My chest felt tight.  My stomach turned.  

But it wasn’t all anxiety and terror.  I also felt a deep loathing.  There are few characters I have hated with such vehemence as I did Lenn.  Dean has perfectly crafted Lenn as the most vile and manipulative of creatures.  No amount of hatred felt sufficient for him.  

While incredibly well executed, this book is one of the hardest I’ve read so far this year.  I was drawn in to this suffocating and anxiety causing story even when I didn’t want to be.  And ultimately, given the subject matter, that reveals the adeptness with which Dean has written this book.  It will haunt me for some time to come.  

Many thanks to Will Dean, Atria Books, Emily Bestler Books, and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.