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The Story
She escaped the traffickers. Now the real chase begins.
When Vân throws herself into Stuart Henderson's car on an ordinary evening in Guildford, she drags him into a world he never knew existed: hidden networks, bought police officers, and men who make people disappear.
Now the men who owned her want her back. And they will hurt anyone who stands in their way.
Outmatched and unprepared, Stuart, his husband Martin, anxious IT consultant John, and sharp-tongued seventy-three-year-old Barbara refuse to abandon her. As the night spirals into violence, this unlikely group discovers that courage doesn't always look like heroism. Sometimes it simply looks like showing up when it matters.
Literary crime thrillerHuman traffickingFound family
'"I'm going to keep changing, because that's how I survive this. So, you need to decide if you can love the person I'm becoming, or if you're only capable of loving the person I used to be."' The Other Lotus Girl promises a thrilling ride. On his way to the supermarket to buy some tea for his delightful (NOT) mother-in-law, …'"I'm going to keep changing, because that's how I survive this. So, you need to decide if you can love the person I'm becoming, or if you're only capable of loving the person I used to be."'
The Other Lotus Girl promises a thrilling ride. On his way to the supermarket to buy some tea for his delightful (NOT) mother-in-law, Stuart is surprised by a Vietnamese girl jumping into his car and telling him to move quickly. It soon turns out that Van is being chased by the trafficking goons she escaped from. Together with his husband Martin, their neighbour John, and his mother-in-law (sort of), Stuart goes on a wild adventure to keep Van out of the hands of her captors. In the secondary timeline, we learn what has happened to Van over the last twenty months. You may think you can imagine what this storyline is like.... you can't. It's awful.
Now, this had the makings of a great story. But I felt a strong disconnect between the present timeline, which, while moving along fast-paced, was gimmicky and overly convenient at times, and the story of Van and her sister Mai as they were moved from Vietnam, through China, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France, and ultimately the UK, which was dark, gruesome and hopeless. I think perhaps I would have liked to spend more time on the latter timeline, filling some of the plotholes (what happened between Minh and Van in Germany??!) and skipped the maffia-style chase.
Moreover, I found some of the characters to be odd and their actions even stranger (or just plain unbelievable), and found some of the story to be repetitive (I had to check whether I hadn't accidentally hit the back button on my kindle a couple of times). Ultimately, the writing style didn't work for me either, but I think it did help the feeling of wanting to know what happens next. Now... while I am annoyed that I am supposed to read another book to have answers to some of the questions raised in The Other Lotus Girl, I don't think I will be picking it up.
Note that there are many others who have loved reading this story, so clearly this is a matter of taste. If you are looking for a fast-moving chase story with a gruesome backdrop and some education on human trafficking, give this a try. I don't think there are many others like this out there.
Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing a Digital Copy of the book. This review is entirely my own.
I found the two parts of the story too incongruous to fully appreciate this novel. If I was just reading the chapters from the past, I would accept it as a tragic story. Whereas if I was just reading the chapters from the present, I would accept it as a humorous story. I simply could not cope with a character's …I found the two parts of the story too incongruous to fully appreciate this novel. If I was just reading the chapters from the past, I would accept it as a tragic story. Whereas if I was just reading the chapters from the present, I would accept it as a humorous story. I simply could not cope with a character's tragic past being transformed into a slapstick chase scene.
Added to this, I found the writing stilted and lacking finesse.
I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Human Trafficking FictionFound Family ThrillerLGBTQ+ ProtagonistsKitchen Sink Realism Meets Crime ThrillerRoad Trip ThrillerBritish Crime FictionDark Humour in Crime FictionVietnamese ProtagonistOrdinary People in Extraordinary Danger
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