*** (3 stars) Agree with increasing awareness but not how the message was delivered

I understand the author is trying to raise awareness of the issue of human trafficking, but I don’t agree with the way she went about it. Yes, I agree it is important to share the message that this can and does happen, but it should not be romanticized.

I had issues with the contradictions in the personality of Jolene. She often seemed to have multiple personalities. She alternated between being broken, fearful, and crying, and being strong and feisty. She avoided and feared being touched, and then she craved being touched. A vicious, brutal man, who abused her in many ways, held Jolene in captivity for ten years, and she finally escaped. As someone who has been abused, I don’t find it believable that a woman who lived through this would jump into bed with the first man who came along and said a kind word to her.

The man Jolene jumps into bed with? Her psychiatrist, Cameron. It is unethical, wrong, and unprofessional for a psychiatrist to get involved with a patient. He should know better than to get involved with a patient, especially one who has been through a severe trauma and has so many issues. I had many issues with this relationship in the story. I would certainly hope that my son’s psychiatrists and therapists never take advantage of his emotional and mental state in the way that Cameron took advantage of Jolene.

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