I loved Bright Burning Things by this author so I was happy to read another one of her works. This book is gritty just like her others. Heartbreaking yet simultaneously beautiful, this story of damaged young people might be hard for some to read.

Thrown together by a harrowing twist of fate, two girls find hope and redemption in friendship in this award-winning, emotional gut punch of a novel from the author of Bright Burning Things. Heartbreaking and breathtakingly beautiful, Cloud Girls exposes the failings of polite society and the cruelty that exists beneath its surface, yet reminds us that goodness and love can flourish in the darkest times.

Worded as pretty as a fairy tale in terms of foliage, head-butting siblings, and wistful sayings. Though the fam is full of teenagers they constantly call each other weird things like “yoke,” “castrated bull,” “chickenhearted,” just a bunch of dated clunky phrases that make it seem like a weird alt reality. It’s hard to pinpoint the setting/era, but I don’t like it. Seems kinda old southern American but the description says Russian despite the swampy settings and later the mention of quid?

I guess the diction sounds too tween goofy in dialogue, yet unnaturally astute or overdone out of it, although serious things are going on. The writer has talent and I love the subject matter of broken home girls but this is not the style I like. It’s too hard to tell what’s going on with too many characters, airy poetic images rather than concrete happenings, and a context we’re just thrown into.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this book. I loved the premise, but it didn’t work for me. I skimmed through it. I know others will love it though!

A devastating but important story and the writing here is certainly beautiful and masterful. Yet, it was not for me and I could not connect. I felt lost through most of the story and l, for me, it never really quite came together. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

Excellent Book, but Emotionally Devastating. It is the heartbreaking story of two girls from very different backgrounds who end up being sex trafficked. Even though the material is sad, I am so glad I read this book. Lisa Harding is a wonderful author who made me more determined to become actively involved in making sure this stops happening to any girl or woman, ever. I gave it 4 Stars only because I wish the connection between Nico and Sammy was made sooner and more of the story focused on Sammy. This is a minor complaint though. Overall, I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley, LisaHarding, and HarperVia for granting me a copy of this book. I always leave reviews of books I read.

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

This was a very tough book to get through. It was heartbreaking from the beginning to the end. The story of two girls from very different backgrounds and the horrors that they go through as they are sex trafficked. I wanted to put the book down so many times, but kept reading to find out what happened. I cried and was angry but had to keep going.

This book is not for everyone - its raw and can be triggering for people. I'm glad I stuck with it.

Cloud Girls by Lisa Harding. Thanks to @harpervia for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Two girls find themselves in a suburban brothel in Dublin, Ireland with each other for support. Niko is from Romania, sold by her father who thinks she is finding a wealthy international husband. Sammy ran away from an abusive home life to make her own way in the world.

This is a really heartbreaking read and difficult at times but important. We can’t turn a blind eye to these events that occur. I think it’s important to highlight truth in fiction. I loved how both girls came from entirely different backgrounds and situations. It shows how kids enter into sex trafficking in different ways and from different countries. Their friendship helped highlight their strength. The ending was sad but hopeful as well, just like life.

“These girls: they come and they go and no one is stopping them, someone is selling them. Their parents, siblings, aunties, uncles, grandparents, boyfriends, friends. What happens to these girls - us - when they are used up?”

What a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking story. Definitely a reminder and eye opener to a reality that is happening right in our backyards.

Thank you HarperVia and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Thank you so much to #Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
There are some major trigger warnings here for sex trafficking, and child abuse etc. Its not graphic but there are some implied situations and this is a case of where my thoughts were so much worse than what could have been written.

Ok so now that, that is out of the way for me this was a tough read...I don't want to say brutal because it really wasn't a brutal book but it will 100% leave an impression on you. I mean, a lasting impression.
While this is not the same exact story as "The Sound of Freedom" it carries the same message in a way. It gives these victims a voice which is very much needed.

3.5 A tale told from the viewpoints of two very different young women, who find themselves thrust together in the world of human trafficking. Gritty and sad.

I could not get into this book & made the decision to DNF at 20%. The issue for me was not the subject matter, it was the writing itself.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The story takes us into the grim world of sex trafficking, shedding light on the harsh reality faced by two girls from different corners of the world.

Nicoleta, a 12-year-old girl hailing from a quaint Moldovan village, embodies a carefree spirit, cherishing moments of joy while playing with her dog and exploring the world by climbing trees. However, her life takes a distressing turn when, upon reaching puberty, her impoverished father decides to arrange her marriage.

In contrast, Samantha, aged 15, endures neglect, grappling with an alcoholic mother and an absent father who fails to protect her when she needs it most.

“Cloud Girls” employs a dual narrative, alternating between Sammy and Nico’s perspectives. Eventually, their paths converge in the story when both find themselves ensnared in a suburban brothel.

This poignant novel unveils the grim realities of child sex trafficking, offering an unflinching portrayal of its brutality. Although heart-wrenching and challenging to read, it carries profound significance as it addresses an essential and urgent story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tough book to get into, but so worth it. The depth of characters was amazing. I wasn't sure about this book at first, but really enjoyed it.

this was a devastating read. i don't think it's the type of book i'm even qualified to review. while gutwrenching, harding's narrative is so beautiful and sheds light on an important and imperative topic. i do wish that the plot points were balanced a bit better across the pages—i feel like some parts were dwelled on for too long and some for too short.

Difficult, beautifully written and important book about human trafficking. It is very much not easy to read because of the subject matter. Nico and Sammy make the story shine even when much of the story is ugly. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making it available.

I found this really hard to get into — the dynamic between main characters reminds me of so many others I have already read, and I just can't get in the mood to go through with it again.

Cloud Girls

“What I do to the clouds I’d what these men do to us: create things in the air that do not exist.”


Well this was an absolute delight and whirlwind of a story. I went in ~blind~ captured by the title and cover and spelled reviews.

Harding captures such genuine portrayal of 2 woman in sex trafficking. This is NOT for the light heart my friends. Nico and Sammy were 3rd dimensional and I still think about these characters!!!

Obviously, like any amazing storyline from two perspectives, the young girls lives cross paths. An unforgettable story, that will leave you saying “WOW THIS IS AMAZING,” but not actually feeling like this was amazing based on the very sad story line.

Really necessary and beautifully written. An author to keep on your radar!

5⭐️

First published in Ireland in 2017; published by HarperVia on April 25, 2023

Cloud Girls is an account of sex trafficking told from the perspectives of two girls. It’s the kind of book that is likely intended to call attention to a social problem. While the novel might raise a reader’s awareness, it falls short of telling a compelling story.

Nicoleta Zanesti is from Moldova. Nico’s father sells her at the age of twelve, as soon as she has her first period. Her parents tell her that they have found her a husband, a wealthy man who will give her everything she wants, but it seems likely that her father knows (and her mother fears) the truth. Nico’s mother makes a timid show of resistance but she has been trained to defer to her husband. Her younger brother is too small to protect his sister.

Nico is the best student in her class, but the transfer of her ownership from father to “future husband” must be kept from school authorities who might interfere. Nico begins to suspect that she has been deceived when she learns that the man she expects to marry already has a wife. When the van in which she is riding picks up more girls, she realizes that marriage is not in the cards.

Samantha Harvey lives in Ireland. At fifteen, Sammy is sexually experienced, having been pimped out by her boyfriend to his friends. Sammy’s mother is a lush. To avoid returning home and to keep her friend Lucy out of trouble when they stay out all night, Sammy injures herself with a bottle to simulate a sexual assault. When the plan does not work as she expected, she flees from home and turns to alcohol and prostitution.

Eventually a woman in a brothel gives Sammy a phone number and she joins a prostitution ring with the expectation of being paid. Instead, she finds herself in a group of trafficked girls. Sammy is given drugs and condoms that men won’t wear and promises of eventual compensation, but she isn’t given freedom.

As a young virgin, Nico is viewed as a valuable commodity. She’s sold on to the Irish prostitution ring, a transaction that is only explained in the broadest terms. I suppose that makes sense since Nico is telling the story from her perspective and isn’t privy to how or why she’s destined to work in Ireland. In any event, Nico is put to work with Sammy and a few other girls. When Nico tries to run — not to escape, but just for the joy of running — the girls learn that leaving is not an option.

The plot follows an expected arc, taking the reader through a sanitized version of the lives of girls who are forced to have sex. The novel’s descriptions of sexual abuse are not graphic, but Lisa Harding makes clear that the girls are the victims of the men who use and abuse them in varying ways. Perhaps the censored portrayal of sexual encounters with children is an act of mercy or a sensible way to avoid any hint of prurience, but it also detracts from the story’s power. It may be for that reason that the narrative often comes across as a story that has been imagined rather than one that has been lived. The story’s conclusion splits the difference between an ending that is relatively comforting and one that is unresolved.

Sammy is surprised when she recognizes a couple of respected family men from Dublin at one of the gatherings where she is offered as entertainment. Much of the book consists of Sammy and Nico being disappointed that men do not live up to their expectations of decency. To some extent, this is a novel of innocence shattered.

Harding explains that the story is based on firsthand accounts of trafficked girls. In this case, reading the actual accounts might be better than reading fiction that filters the emotions of the trafficking victims through an author. Still, the novel creates a sense of what it must be like to be sold as an Eastern European child or to drift into a forced prostitution ring as a troubled Western European teen. The story tells an important truth and Nico and Sammy are, simply by virtue of their circumstances, sympathetic characters.

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I truly sometimes think I am broken. The writing here is certainly beautiful and masterful. Yet, it was not for me and I could not connect. I like things to be more straightforward, so things like symbolism and speaking in big picture mode is lost on me. I don't want to work to determine what I am supposed to be taking away from what I just read when all I want to do is get lost amongst the pages. I don't even know what I am trying to say other than soooo many people loved this and I didn't. So we'll just go with it's me, not the story.