This was a heartbreaking and painful novel to read, but it handled the topics that it set out to discuss well, without trying to tack on a suddenly happy ending that would ring false.

There's a lot going on in this book, but unlike many novels, it can actually bear the weight of all the issues it tries to discuss. Everything is given it's space, especially Lex's healing process from trafficking and parental abuse/neglect. This book is largely about Lex slowly learning that she deserves good things, and what happened to her is not her fault. There's no magic hand-waving, and suddenly she's a happy teenager, and that's what I appreciated a lot about this book. It dives deep into the process of healing from such a massive trauma, and doesn't make it appear as a speedy process with a guaranteed happy ending. We meet plenty of side characters that suffered from similar things who have much different outcomes from Lex, and this book examines why that is, and what support systems help with healing. And somehow, it does all of this without any victim blaming (the girls that are drawn back into the life they were saved from aren't blamed for it, the book instead tries to rationalize with the reader why they might have made those decisions, and that ultimately it's the fault of their abusers) and girl hate (Lex doesn't hate the girls that haven't gone through her same pain, and a friend character is good at reminding Lex that everyone has their hardships that affect them, even if they aren't technically as bad as her's).

I also liked how this book tackled romance alongside this healing process, both by viewing the negative relationship Lex found herself in after being saved and by looking at a healthy relationship she finds after, and how her experiences shaped her actions and thoughts during both of these relationships. It also focuses a lot on disassociation as a way of not feeling, and how this impacts Lex's approach to relationships, from platonic to familial to romantic. It's all handled really well, and it serves to show Lex's growth in small steps instead of large bounds, a more realistic path of healing than some other books show.

Overall, I can't necessarily say I enjoyed this book, but I thought it handled the tough subjects very well, and I liked seeing how Lex grew as a character, and seeing the path of healing she started in this book.