REVIEW | Soulless Nights by Virginia Johnson

**Trigger warning: themes of sexual abuse, sex trafficking and homelessness**
BLURB
Deep in the city, where we’ve been taught to avoid the dark corners and alleys, monsters lurk within the fragile cracks of our human emotions, waiting for the chance to break in.
With the loss of his grandfather, William runs to the streets without family or the knowledge of wealth he’s left behind. Spending years begging for food and money, William has learned the secrets that the city keeps hidden, making him one of the most versatile detectives the department has ever seen.
Losing the love of his life, with nothing more than a letter saying she’s sorry and spending five years tracking her, William has learned that she has entered the world where sex and money can make you very successful or may very well kill you in the process.
Kathryn has spent seven years on the streets, leaving behind her addicted, abusive mother and her sexual predator boyfriends. William proves to be the light she’s been longing for but when darkness shadows the truth she’s left to return to the streets in hiding with fear of the lies she’s faced with.
Kathryn must decide, work for Xander and sell her soul for sex, or face the demons of her past and hope William understands she has never forgotten him.
(Blurb and photo taken from the Soulless Nights GoodReads page)

This book made me sick. And before you take that to mean that it wasn’t a good read, let me assure you: it was. The story was incredibly compelling and sucked me in immediately, but the subject matter had me so angry and feeling so heartbroken for these women in the sex trafficking that it was difficult for me to get through. There were certain parts of this book I really had to muddle through because there are a few explicit and abusive sex scenes that made the reading process almost too much to bare. I love the heroism in this novel and the way these two characters reunite, but the getting to that point was gruesome, heart wrenching, and extremely difficult to “witness.”

Virginia Johnson most definitely is a good storyteller. She has a good story in her mind and she recites what is inside her head quite well. The delivery of the story could use a little work, but I’m not complaining. There are a few editing mistakes that made the story a little distracting, though not enough to keep me from reading. I found it difficult to make it through at times; certain parts seemed to drag and give a bit too much information, while others almost skimmed past what seemed to be important parts of the storyline and I felt like I was missing something (though that could be due to the fact that I do most of my reading at night while rather tired).

All in all, I wouldn’t say I necessarily enjoyed the read, as that seems too nice of a word for a subject so harsh–but it was a good story. The ending is left wide open for a sequel, which I will probably be reading to get the rest of these characters’ stories, but I do think there is potential for a good story worth telling here.

If you can get through the abusive nature of sex trafficking, then I suggest you decide for yourself whether you think the story is worth reading or not 🙂

Goodreads | Amazon

I was provided a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

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