Light of Day by Allison van Diepen Series: Stand-Alone
Published by HarperTeen on November 24th 2015
Genres: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Rating:
Heat Rating:
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Like any other Saturday night, Gabby Perez and her best friend, Maria, are out dancing. But this isn’t just another night. When a mysterious stranger warns Gabby their drinks have been drugged, she hurries Maria home. Sure enough, the next day, Maria can’t remember a thing. Gabby’s shaken by their close call. And she’s not going to stay quiet about it.
She opens up the airwaves on her radio show and discovers an even worse truth: the guy who drugged them was going to force them into prostitution. Then Gabby’s friend Bree never makes it home from a party, and Gabby fears the worst.
Gabby reaches out to the guy who saved her, the gorgeous stranger she knows only as X. As they dive into the seedy underworld of Miami, searching for Bree, they can’t ignore their undeniable attraction. Until Gabby discovers the truth about who X really is and the danger that surrounds him. Can their love survive the light of day?
This was an interesting story and an interesting concept. It basically follows Gabby an aspiring DJ, who is saved from being drugged at the club by a mysterious handsome stranger named ‘X’ and somehow gets tangled up into a darker world of girls getting kidnapped, pimps and sex trafficking.
The story was a quick read for me. I think in a way the author was trying to spread awareness about this issue that’s so big in this world right now, I just felt as far as the story went, it was a bit unrealistic. Entertaining, but unrealistic.
For me, all the steps that Gabby took felt dangerous and if this was taken by a girl her age in the real world, the girl would be long dead and probably would have hurt a lot of girls in the process for being so reckless. As nice and cleaned up the ending came out, there aren’t a lot of happy endings for a lot of the girls going through this.
In the book, Gabby was trying to find and rescue a girl from her school named Bree, so she uses the radio to spread awareness and is forward about the pimps and actually mentions the name once or twice. Somehow everything works out for Gabby, no one she cares about get’s hurt, only the bad guys. Unfortunately, this is not how it works. If anyone did what Gabby had done, it would never turn out the way it did.
Are there people out there like ‘X’ looking and rescuing the girls that are kidnapped and forced into the sex trade? I don’t know. I did not do a lot of research on that. I do know that sex trafficking numbers are high, that most of these girls never get a happy ending because they are never found, and if someone in real life announced the pimp’s name on the radio - the pimp would probably have disappeared into the night with these girls.
In truth the statistics are real and frightening. I wish the story was handled better, but nonetheless, it was entertaining and I am sort of glad that someone took a bold step to write about this. I just wish the actions of the main character wasn’t so reckless, uninformed and dangerous. Even the messy situation that she gets herself into in the end, she somehow comes out unscratched.
I gave the author 3 brownie points for at least trying.
The Statistics behind sex trafficking from http://www.equalitynow.org:
- At least 20.9 million adults and children are bought and sold worldwide into commercial sexual servitude, forced labor and bonded labor.2
- About 2 million children are exploited every year in the global commercial sex trade.3
- Almost 6 in 10 identified trafficking survivors were trafficked for sexual exploitation.4
- Women and girls make up 98% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.5
kindlemom1
At least it was entertaining though right? And you’re right, sadly this is something that needs to be made more aware, especially with the youth whom it affects the most.
kindlemom1 recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday
Lily B
yeah as entertaining as this book was, you know..everything turning out perfect, when in the dark reality it isn’t ;/
Heidi
This is such a troubling topic, I applaud the author calling attention to it, but it sounds like you struggled with the realism of the story, which is disappointing. Those stats are frightening.
Heidi recently posted…Review: Killer Jam(Dewberry Farm Mystery #1) by Karen MacInerney
Lily B
Yeah I think its too neat, if this was any other girl charging into danger like this, I worry what would happen to them
LilyElement
Oh wow, I didn’t know the number was that high.
LilyElement recently posted…WoW [185] - Coming Back
Lily B
yea when i learned about this in psychology, it was scary
blodeuedd
I think that this might not be for me
blodeuedd recently posted…The Christmas Wager - Delilah Marvelle
Lily B
yeah I don’t expect its for everyone
Lola
It sounds like an entertaining book even though it’s unrealistic. With how everything end up good and she doens’t get hurt, although I think it would’ve been a much darker read otherwise. I don’t think I’ve read about a main character who has her own radio show before, so that does sound like a nice touch. Those sex trafficking numbers are quite scary, I never realized how high those numberd were. I’ve read one book before about this topic, but that one was so distrubing I couldn’t read it anymore and DNF’d it.
Lola recently posted…Review: Colour Me Funky - Advanced Colouring by Jenna Lyn Field
Lily B
I think the topic it self is dark and scary, there isn’t really a way to make this light without making it unrealistic unfortunately ;/
Joy // Joyousreads
I remember the first book to this series and how I felt kind of disconnected to it. I hope I’ll enjoy this one better though.
Joy // Joyousreads recently posted…[593]: Hello? by Liza Wiemer
Lily B
oops didn’t realize this was a series? will have to check it out
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
Wow those statistics are frightening !
Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf recently posted…Cover Characteristics – Books
Lily B
I know, I found it scary as well, a lot of people don’t know either. It is a good awareness
Naomi Hop
Good to see you liked this despite being a bit unrealistic. You do want people to be more cautious and it sounds like Gabby continued to take risks. Nice review girl!
Naomi Hop recently posted…Play With Me by Anna Katmore ~ Review & Swoon Thursday
Lily B
I guess because she chose such a dark subject, she had to fit it into something lighter? It wasn’t badly done
kimbacaffeinate
This is such a dark and serious topic. The statistic make me shiver.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Add A Search Box to Your Website
Lily B
I thought so too Kim
Christy LoveOfBooks
It’s a sickening subject for sure. Makes me want to hunt some bastards down. I think I could enjoy this for the story and not worry about how realistic it is.
Christy LoveOfBooks recently posted…Dirty Deeds by Megan Erickson
Lily B
for the subject that was introduced the book is kind of light, but it does spread a type of awareness. I just wish, it wasn’t so….hummm.. yeah
Ramona
Wow. I can’t really imagine an entertaining story on this particular topic. Sex trafficking is a heavy subject matter. Love the review, Lily.
Ramona recently posted…2015 Bookish Review: The Wow, The Meh, The Ugh
Lily B
It’s not a form of entertainment that’s pleasurable, its more of like, the book has action in it and its entertaining to fancy that saving these girls can be dangerous and do able, but it’s not…not the way they came upon it, you know?
melliane
The topic of the story is really interesting but sorry to see it’s handled like that. In any case, thanks for the discovery, it’s a new one to me.
Lily B
I guess I expected it to be darker, but its a YA, so…
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
Drugged drinks is what I’m the most afraid of when my two oldest kids go out! I keep telling them that they should order something the bartender has to open (a bootle of beer) and if they leave their drink, they need to buy a new one! Usually, they are with several friends, and I think they are pretty good at looking out for each other.
Too bad the story was a bit unrealistic, Christy, because it’s definitely a hot topic! And I may read it anyway, then let my daughter read it as well…
Great review.
Lily B
Yeah it starts out that way, the girl are in a club, and their drink gets drugged. In the book someone steps forward and warns them, but honestly, who would do that in real life? outside of taking care and watching out for themselves.
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
True, I’m not so sure a stranger would actually step up like that, Lily!
Danielle Meek
I’ve been wondering about this book. At least you were entertained, even if it was unrealistic
Danielle Meek recently posted…Waiting On Wednesday #10
Anissa
Wow, I don’t know if I could read about this subject - although I want to eventually try reading about everything. Great review, Lily!
Brandi Breathes Books
It is a good concept but sorry the elements didn’t come together for you.
Tracy Terry
A topical and I should think chilling read, its a shame it was better handled.
Kynndra-jo
I’m sorry this wasn’t a good read for you Lily. I agree that such a topic probably should have been drawn up in a way that showed how truly awful sex trafficking is. But at least you could find a little bit of entertainment while reading.
Lovely review!
Kynndra-jo recently posted…A Must Read! These Shallow Graves
Grace MyBookSnack
I wish the subject of this book wasn’t a reality for many girls. Even if it wasn’t very realistic and with reckless scenes, it still sounds like the author wanted to get a message out. Great review and hope your next read will be better.
Grace MyBookSnack recently posted…ACED by Jennifer Lane ~ Guest Post + Review
Chiara
It’s a shame that the book tried to tackle a series and current issue affecting so many people, but made it a bit too positive. I think it’s important for topics like this to be in novels available to the people it might affect, or people who might not know about it, but the possibly unrealistic elements seem like a bit of a let down.