"The human body's a resilient thing. It heals with very little memory of what's been done to it...The mind that gets twisted and broken."

(a note here: I really want to put a comma after mind in that quote, so I do hope that gets fixed in editing)

Poppy was once known as Lex, and her childhood was less than ideal. So when she's wooed by Mitch, a friend of her mother's boyfriend, it's with stars in her eyes that she follows him and finds herself trafficked and addicted to drugs. The life is horrible and it all seems hopeless, so when she finds herself rescued, it is her aunt who is waiting there, only Lex doesn't know how she could go back to a "normal" life. She distrusts everyone, especially men, and she doesn't trust her aunt's husband at all. So it's going to take a lot of support and care to find who she can be now that she's out of that life.

I think Lex was one of the lucky ones because she had such an excellent support system. She had an understanding aunt and uncle, who would do anything to give her a future, and she had friends that understood her, to a degree and looked past what she thought of herself, to see the good in her. I think the bullying that she went through at school is sadly not unexpected. People mock what they don't understand and kids can be so cruel.

The story could use a little bit of editing in a few areas, but outside of that, this was a compelling read. It's relevant to our society today because trafficking is such a problem, and there are so many means in which people make it happen. The writing was easy to understand, the subject matter a tough one. Watching Lex finds her strength was uplifting, and the fact that she went on to help others was incredibly brave.

What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin is a raw and uncensored look at the world of sex trafficking, and the fictitious account of a teenage girl who has been to hell and back, but somehow manages to come out on the other side. This was a difficult read due to the graphic nature of the subject matter, yet the author adeptly manages to create an empathetic figure in Lex, while at the same time shining a light on the realities, and sheer brutality, of human trafficking.

This is a novel that is geared toward a young adult audience, and I believe that it will really strike a chord due to the honest, straightforward voice that is put forth by protagonist Lex, aka Poppy. When Lex is recruited into a local sex ring by her mother's boyfriend, she is subjected to the very worst of humanity, yet she is somehow able, through an abundance of love, support, and therapy, to see her way to the possibility of a better future.

This is a novel that will linger in my consciousness for a long time to come.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin is an incredibly raw read about a young lady who was formally trafficked trying to assimilate back into the “normal” world of being a teenager. The book is definitely an eye-opener, showing how victims are manipulated into becoming trapped in the horrible world of sex trafficking which has become all too common place. Lexi, or Poppy as she is known in the trafficking world, has been through it all, yet when the police raid the hotel where she has been held captive and sets her free, she still wants to go back just like the rest of the girls. Where her story differs is that she has a family member who takes her in and loves her for who she is. She soon has a support system in the way of friends; however, not everything is perfect. She still has desires to go back, classmates find out her past, people assume the worst about her, and, quite frankly, people are cruel. Lexi goes from being a victim to a survivor to an activist. A harsh and beautiful story, readers will be left wanting to take action.
Considering the subject matter, readers shouldn’t be surprised at the language and raw descriptions used.
#NetGalley Publish Date: June 23, 2020. #whatunbreakablelookslike #KateMclaughlin

I loved this story. In fact, I read it in one day! Lex, the main character, took me through all the emotions. One moment I'm angry at her situation, the next I'm crying for her pain. Most of all, I love how she answers people's questions truthfully in her head then says what she thinks they want her to say.

I've seen a few people comment on how the book jumps around, and it does, sort of. I think the way the ARC is formatted is to blame for the shock between scenes. I'm sure the final structure will have indications that a new scene is starting. The ARC does have indentation markers, but they're kind of hard to see. Thank you for letting me read!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing.

I received a copy of Kate McLaughlin’s What Unbreakable Looks Like in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Netgalley + St Martin's Press!

*This YA novel included a warning at the start that it contains graphic content. If sexual abuse / trafficking are topics you do not want to read about, this is not the book for you.

"What Unbreakable Looks Like" is the story of a sex-trafficking survivor - a teenage girl living in Connecticut named Alexa - and how she rebuilds her life the year following her escape from abuse.

I think overall this story is incredibly important for teenagers to read - and I appreciated it as an adult. It lacks a little bit of depth into the overall psyche of the main character, but because it is a YA story, I think it worked. While reading, I couldn't help but compare this to "A Little Life," because it also deals with sexual trauma and sex trafficking. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the two couldn't be more different. "What Unbreakable Looks Like" reads the way I would imagine a teenager would think - it's blunt and matter of fact more so than the literary eloquence of "A Little Life." Both work, but "A Little Life" was far more gut wrenching.

Overall: I flew through this book and would recommend this read to both young adults and adults.

I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I was not able to finish this book as the subject matter hits too close to home. This is something that needs to be discussed so others can be informed of what really goes on in sex trafficking, the manipulations, the beatings. You must be in the mindset to read this book. I will try to pick it back up when I am in a stronger frame of mind, but for now I give it 1 star.

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher WednesdayBooks,, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own

Kate McLaughlin’s What Unbreakable Looks Like, is a dramatic, raw in your face fictional account of human trafficking. Alexa, is a innocent 16 year old, with red hair and blued girl, who’s home life is dysfunctional. Living with an alcoholic mother and her mothers boyfriend, has made her an easy target. Vulnerable and looking for attention, she attracts a guy who zones in on her. He brings her gifts and feeds into self esteem by complimenting her. All the while he is actually grooming her, and when she realizes what has happened, she is trapped, and the nightmare has begun.

Given the name Poppy, she is slowly losing her self with the beatings, drugs and abuse. She is mentally and emotionally In constant survival mode, that when she is finally rescued from this horrific vile world. She doesn’t know how to acclimate herself into a normal functioning environment. Her aunt takes her in, and shows her real love, and Lex is able to start the long journey on the road to finding herself once more.
This exceptional riveting storyline captures Lex’s horrific experience, and it shows you how vulnerable young people are to this incredible growing problem. The author gives a compelling voice to the survivors and anyone who is fighting this ongoing worldwide growing epidemic.

This compelling book will blow you away, an emotional, gut wrenching.
The characters are fleshed out and well developed. The blurred hidden world of how young people lured into a nightmarish existence is depicted through the pages of the authors descriptive writing. The plot line was seamless, from start to finish.
Lex’s story is heartbreaking and, thought provoking, of one girl’s voice recovering from the hells of what it’s like to be trafficked. To realizing her own inner strengths, and to come to realization that she’s is unbreakable.

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I was asked to review this book and was given a free ARC from NetGalley.

This book is about a girl rescued from trafficking and sex work and how she rebuilds herself afterward. I have a lot of good things to say about this book. Honestly, some of it was difficult to read, but it’s a very difficult, hard-to-digest topic. Parts of this book are fairly graphic, but also represents the stories of those who have been trafficked quite well (based on some of the stories I have read and heard—but obviously every experience will be different). I think it’s an important topic that doesn’t get a lot of attention because it makes people uncomfortable.

While I’m all for a happy ending, I feel like this all ended a little too neatly though. I feel the author did an alright job depicting the ups and downs someone may experience when recovering from an incredibly traumatic experience. Until you near the end of the book and the author seemed to feel the need to tie everything up in a neat little bow. So I would like to include in my review a disclaimer that recovery (from trauma, from addiction, from mental health problems, etc) is not linear. Things don’t start out shitty then keep getting better until everything is perfect. Recovery is messy, and complicated, and sometimes it feels like you’re going way backwards. I get that this is a story, and recovery from a complex trauma, like trafficking, is hard to depict. I applaud the author for doing it as well as they did

*I WAS PROVIDED AN e-ARC THROUGH NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOESN'T AFFECT MY OPINION*

I made it through about 7% of this book before I started getting bored.

Firstly, I want to take a moment to point out the pacing of this novel. It's all over the place. And when I say that, I *mean* it. This book started out quick, and it continued on quick. Half of what occurred in the first few chapters didn't even make sense with the pacing that was used, and it really threw me off.

Another thing that really irked me was the writing style. I felt that the style in which the author used was very immature, and it didn't do any good to help the story whatsoever. It almost felt as if someone decided to take a really heavy topic and throw it together in the shortest amount of time they could.

Don't get me wrong, I was really excited for this book. I want this topic to become a bigger focus in YA books, and I want to see audiences enjoy them. But this book is not what will do that. I feel this book needs a lot more time before publishing and a major shift in writing style.

For that, I've rated it 1 star.

I was very excited to read this book. One of the topics for my high school students to research for our major paper is human trafficking in the US. I feel that it is an issue that is not discussed enough, so I am very excited that this novel has been written and is coming out. I will definitely have one in my classroom.

The main character, Alexa (Poppy) is not kidnapped overseas, and is not a run away. She is a young lady of an alcoholic and negligent parent whose boyfriend sells her into human trafficking. When the house is raided, Alexa finds herself in a hospital with her aunt waiting to take her home. The novel follows her recovery and her journey back to "normal" teenage life, but some of her past follows her, somewhat literally. It is a funny and poignant story that I think readers of all ages will enjoy, as well as bringing light to an important issue.

I knew that this book would be talking about a hard subject. I didn't know how much it would affect me until I started reading. I would be lying if I said I didn't cry a couple times. It may also have to do with being a mother to a daughter. It's something I never want to have happen to her. I only had one issue with this book overall which made it hard to understand at times but it didn't effect the overall message.

Lex has to come to terms with a lot of things. She has been rescued from the trafficking life but what happens after that? It is all she has known for years. I think the author did a good job of showing the mindset of these young girls and how their pimps pull them in by pretending to love them and give them gifts. They condition these girls to believe that they need them and by that time it is hard for this girls to walk away. There are times that when the girls do get rescued they still run back. It's just heartbreaking.

Even though she is having a hard time adjusting and trusting others, like her aunt and uncle, she tries to be strong and they continue to support her and love her. Lex also makes a couple friends along the way and they never treat her any less. Although she has a great support system, her old life still haunts her. It also plays a role in a relationship where her "boyfriend" continues to take advantage of her. Seriously, I just wanted to punch him so hard.

The thing is, although for the most part everything works out in the end for her it didn't for other girls she knew. I also felt that the bad guys getting what they deserve doesn't always happen in real life either. We see it on the news, people buying their way out of jail. It's hard to be optimistic. Although I think her intentions for writing this is to shed light on this topic but maybe it is also here to give hope.

My one complaint is that the timeline in chapters would switch making it hard to follow. I had to reread a bit each time to understand the jump.

I have never been in this situation and I hope it never happens, especially for my daughter, but I'd like to think that the author did a good job with such a tough subject.

Overall, this book was good but it will not be for everyone. You definitely need to be in a good mindset and even if you are, prepare to have a gut-wrenching feeling while reading.

Her name was Alexa. She was a blue eyed red hair barely sixteen year old virgin. She was surrounded by her alcoholic mother and boyfriend. She was befriended by their friend, Mitch, who visited bearing gifts and flattering compliments. She was shown attention and what she perceived as love. She was manipulated and lied to. She was trapped. She was trafficked. She became known as Poppy and entered a world where sex, drugs, beatings, and abuse were everyday occurrences. But then one day, Poppy was rescued first by the police and then by her aunt who gave her a home and unconditional love. The journey was not easy, but Lex ultimately proved to be unbreakable.

This is the type of book that should be read and discussed in high school classrooms. It’s message and inspiration is based on much research and the documentary I Am Jane Doe by Mary Mazzio. Kate McLaughlin’s story gives voice to all those fighting against human trafficking, to those survivors that were brought home and those that unfortunately never made it home.

What a beautiful story of resilience and recovery! Alexa is a wonderfully written, fully-fleshed protagonist surrounded by lovable characters who make up her support system. The story is well-paced and is perfectly woven with flashbacks of Alexa's time at the motel. TW for sexual assault, self-harm/suicide, and addiction.

Huge thanks to Alexis at St. Martin's for inviting me to read this title via NetGalley!

I really enjoyed this story. It touches topics that I feel like we don't talk about enough. Though I would say that it felt like there wasn't really a build up.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book that I was given in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was a gut punch. Hard to read, brutal, the kind of book that makes the mother in me want to hold my kids, the woman in me be a warrior, the teacher in me make sure everyone reads this story. It is incredibly well written and the character of Lex is horribly, painfully authentic. I can't speak on the authenticity of the trafficking angle and Im so, so glad of that, but I am grateful for the lessons I learned from this book.

This book! Wow. I was so drawn to the characters and storyline. I’m so impressed. This is my first book by this author and it will not be the last.

I’ve just finished reading “What Unbreakable Love Looks Like” and I’m absolutely stunned. It was so heartbreaking and beautiful and unexpected.

Oh my dear. Lex, how I wished I could have given her a hug or a voice of support as well. Though I know I can do that for someone in my life, in reality.

The way this book was written was done so, so very beautifully and eloquently.

The only challenges I had with it was that there was no clear distinction between time jumps, and the ending — while absolutely lovely — is a bit anticlimactic and unrealistic as well.

Altogether I definitely recommend this book.

I finished this book in a few hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the journey and development we see in Alexa. I think that there were a few moments in the book where I felt it was a bit unrealistic and some of the transitions were pretty sudden between flashbacks and present day. However, I still enjoyed the book and think that fans of books like Jane Anonymous and other YA thrillers will like this one too.

Wow this story grabs hold and doesn't let go until the last page. Alexa was trafficked by someone she knew. I felt like I knew Alexa and was there with her the entire time