Review Detail

This non-fiction story is like Liam Neeson's film TAKEN but in this case what makes it even more frightening is it's real. Sophie is educated and from a middle class family in the UK. Growing up with an abusive father makes her feel as if she's 'unloveable' and no one will love her. When a so-called best friend asks her to go on a trip to Italy little does she know the nightmare that will take over her life.

First off, this story is graphic in it's portrayal of what Sophie goes through while in Italy. The raw, gritty scenes along with the horror of being betrayed by someone who is supposed to love you make this story very painful at times but I feel the message needs to be out there. It's a myth that young teens/Young Adults want to be out on the streets or that all of them are drug addicts. Sophie's story shows how this can happen to anyone.

What she goes through and why she doesn't just leave also rang very true to me. No one understands how powerful an abuser's brainwashing can be. I know as I'm a survivor of abuse. For a long time, even after I left home, I feared my abuser would carry through with his threats against not only me but others around me. So I could understand very well the fear/terror Sophie must have felt toward her abuser. What she lived through for six months would break most anyone else. I loved the courage it must have taken to write this story. I feel it's a must read. What's frightening is trafficking continues to this day.

There's also comments from her mother and others in the back. Her mother 'sensed' something wasn't right when Sophie just left everything to stay with her abuser in Italy. The mother's sixth sense.

Horrific and painful at times, this true life story of a survivor of trafficking is unforgettable.