Sold Review

Sold
by Patricia McCormick
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small village in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must take a job to support her family.

He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. glad to help, Lakshmi journeys to India only to learn the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt -- then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.

Gradually, Lakshmi forms friendships that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision -- will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?

I am not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. This book is definitely not a light read, but it is definitely going to be stuck in my heart and my head for a very long time.

I started it Friday morning and didn't stop reading until I closed the final page. I could not put it down for anything. And when I was done, I just stared at the last page like I was waiting for more to magically appear. I'm aching to know what happened to everyone after that ending.

All the characters were beautifully rounded, even those that were evil beyond compare. Besides Lakshmi, I was particularly fond of Monica, Harish, and the tea boy. I loved that how even though her world was dark, there were still those tiny sparks of kindness.

The writing itself is beautiful and lyrical and fit the book perfectly.

Overall: 10/10 I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Comments

Kulsuma said…
This is on my tbr but it sounds like it ends with a lot of unanswered questions.
February 28, 2011 at 7:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RTW: First Quarter Check-In

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week:  Quarterly check-ins! We're already 1/4 of the way through the year--where are you on your reading and writing goals? Where did the time go??  Reading Goal: 100 books  Where I should be: About 16 Where I am: 5  Clearly it is not going very well. In my defense, I did finish up A Clash of Kings in January and read A Storm of Swords in February. I'm hoping to do some catch up reading over spring break and then really get trucking when summer rolls around. I'm probably getting A Feast for Crows this week, though, so we'll see how long that lasts.  Writing I didn't set any writing goals for this year, other than just to keep writing. My writing kind of dropped off last sem
Read more

RTW -- Picking Titles

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: How do you pick your titles? I don't really have a secret for picking titles. Basically my method is to wait until something pops into my head that sounds good to me. Sometimes that title might not even really fit the book or feel exactly right, but to me it's just a working title until I think of something better. Burning Bridges was the first thing to pop into my head when I started the first draft and needed something to name the folder. I don't know why it popped into my head because I don't really see a connection between the book and the title, but it's stuck through every one of the three drafts. Lately I've been toying with the idea of changing it to Once Bitten, Twi
Read more

Monday Updates: July 29

This is my last Monday Updates post. As of next Monday, I'm going to start up my college tips weekly blog on Mondays, since it's almost the school year.  Song of the Week: Here's to Us by Halestorm How's Life? Well, there are only two days left in July and I'm still trying to figure out where the rest of my summer went. Seriously, it can't almost be August, can it? How's TV?  Watched the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Friday. There was a point in the middle where I wanted to just stop because I didn't want the series to end. It was a fantastic finale, definitely one of my favorites. Now I'm trying to decide which on my long list should I watch next. Silver Linings Playbook is an amazing movie. I already knew Jennifer Lawrence was a fantastic actress but she still managed to surprise me. Taken 2 isn't nearly as good as the first one, but it's a decent movie overall.  How's Reading? Books read: 0 I'm no
Read more