REVIEW: Tricks

Tricks - wow - what can I say? The book was a very interesting read, but so very disturbing. The premise is the story of five different teenagers who are from all walks of life from all over the U.S. who all somehow end up in a prostitution ring in Las Vegas. Each story is different, but somehow they all end up at the same place.

Eden is a pastor's daughter who is forbidden to do almost everything. She falls in love with a boy, and when her parents find out, she is sent to a home in Nevada to be exorcised. Her only way out of the home is prostitution.

Seth is a down-home farm boy from Tennessee who has lost his mother, and therefore lives alone with his father. Seth, a Catholic boy, realizes early on that maybe he isn't straight. After entering into a homosexual relationship that ends badly, Seth's father finds out. Not able to deal with a gay son, his father kicks him out of the house. With no money and no job, Seth becomes a trophy boy for an older gay man who takes him to Vegas. Seth, too, eventually turns to prostitution.

Whitney seems to have it all - her parents are wealthy, she goes to a good school, she makes good grades - but she never feels that she can add up to what her sister is, and Whitney has a strained relationship with her mother because of that. Whitney meets the wrong guy at the wrong time, falls for his lies, and ends up in a very bad situation when she runs away from home to go with him to Vegas.

Ginger's mother is a prostitute, which leaves Ginger to care for her younger brothers and sisters. While Ginger resents her mother, she is capable and willing to care for her younger siblings, until her mother does the unthinkable - she sells Ginger to a stranger. Ginger runs away to Vegas with a friend, and they too end up being tricks.

Lastly, there's Cody who is from a good family, and has a lot going for him until his stepfather gets sick. Unable to help his mom pay the bills, Cody turns to gambling. After digging himself and his family into a hole, Cody turns to prostitution to help pay his debt and his family's bills.

Each story left me with a feeling of hopelessness. I could see how each of these teens had no choice, but to turn to prostitution, and how in each case, it was nearly impossible to get out. Each of the stories was pretty graphic, and therefore left me feeling very dirty at times. It was really hard to get through, but also strangely captivating. I would recommend this book, but only to extremely mature readers.