This is a pretty heartbreaking story, and I found it a difficult read. There's no other way for me to say this without sounding like a horrible parson lacking empathy, but it was frustrating for me to read this book from Carey's point of view, because her world view is so warped from all the abuse she has suffered, and all the brainwashing her mother has put her through. 
 After nearly a decade of being kidnapped by her mentally unstable and drug-addicted mother, Carey and her half sister Jenessa were found and returned to their biological father. Despite all that her mother has put her through, and trust me, they and Carey in particular, suffered horribly at the hand of the woman who gave birth to them. 
 Carey has had to grow up before her time. She's had to find a way to keep herself and her sister hidden from the outside world, find creative ways to keep them fed while their mother was out doing drugs or selling herself. Despite all this, Carey maintains the steadfast belief that their mother is to be believed: that she keeps them safe, that she is to be trusted, that she is to be believed. Their mother let them believe that their father is a horrible, abusive person, which turns out not to be the case. Still, Carey persists in that belief and that distrust of her father after they were rescued, and after their father demonstrates that he is not the monster she believed him to be. 
 The other characters in this book were believable; I loved their stepmother. What a loving, warm-hearted person. The stepsister, on the other hand, would give Cinderella's a good run for their money for the majority of the book. I also had some problems with the clarification in the writing. I didn't really know what year the setting was. I had actually thought it was set in the 80s, but the author didn't really give us a clear sense of time, and that added to the fuzziness in the book. 
 There were parts of this book that made it rather unbelievable, or too coincidental, for example, Ryan's story arc. I also found it tremendously annoying that the author constantly brought up how beautiful Carey is. It seems like everyone she meets remark upon how lovely, how attractive, how beautiful Carey looks. She could be a supermodel...etc. It gets old, and it adds nothing to the story. This is a tale of survival, and Carey's looks should not play into it that much. 
 It was a frustrating read, but well-written. The abuse within might be triggering for some.