Plot:
When tough teenager Anna ran away to New York, she never knew how bad things would get. After surviving as a prostitute, a terrifying incident leaves her damaged inside and out, and she returns home to the parents she was sure wouldn’t want her anymore.
Now she has a chance to be normal again. Back in school, she meets a boy who seems too good to be true. Cute, kind, trusting. But what will he do when he finds out the truth about her past? And when a dark figure from New York comes looking for Anna, she realizes she must face her secrets…before they destroy her.
Review:
I did not expect to enjoy this book. Boy was I wrong.
Anna has had a rough life. She grew up in a household where her father expected her to be the perfect child and do everything that he wants her to do, or rather not do. Nothing she did was ever good enough for her controlling father. So at the age of 13, she runs away from her family to New York City, where she dreams of singing on Broadway. Obviously, this doesn’t go as planned for her. Once she arrives in New York, she is wooed by Luis, who eventually starts pimping Anna out to his friends for sex, in exchange for money. This goes on for three years before Anna is brought in to the police and sent back to her parents.
Once she’s back home, things are still horrible. Her father is ashamed of the things that Anna has done and only cares about how it will make him look if people find out what she did for the three years that she was missing. To make things worse, Anna’s mother refuses to stand up to her father, even though she knows that the way he is treating Anna is wrong.
This book is all about overcoming your fears and just being honest with yourself and others. Anna can’t be happy with herself and move on until she has accepted the things that she has done in her past and come to terms with it. Once she does this, she feels a weight lifted off of her shoulders and can actually start to recover from what she has experienced.
Anna also learns to stand up for herself to her father, and realize that even though he is her father, the way that he treats her and her mother is wrong and abusive.
Along the way, Anna makes some great friends who are there for her no matter what, even when she thinks that they won’t want to be associated with her when they know the real truth about her. Anna even helps out someone who has never been nice to her, because she wants to help this girl regain control over her life and get out from underneath her controlling, blackmailing boyfriend.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Naked is on sale today. You can click the image of the book’s cover above to order your copy.
