Prisoned

by Marni Mann

[stacey_is_sassy]

You can leave The Heart behind…but the memories stay.

***3.5 Stars***

I’m the kind of reader that takes things to heart. Do you know what I was thinking when I finished Prisoned? If only their mother’s had done right by them. This story had children who were hustling on the street to scrounge enough money to put food in their bellies. While the kids are starving, mummy dearest buys drugs to feed her addiction. It worries me that this story is way to close to being real. I have not seen and hope to never be a part of, a life this ugly, selfish and demoralising. BUT, ugly is real and sometimes the prisoned life we live is not because of four walls.

When I started reading Prisoned I could see The Heart. The Heart is a housing project filled with over two hundred apartments. It’s a hard life for a lot of the people living there. Unfortunately, that hard life was brought on by addictions. Drugs are an everyday part of life. Food, clothing, electricity and rent play second fiddle to finding a high. What’s worse is the children brought into and raised in this life. The children are not looking for the high, but more than likely someone in their home is. If it happens to be your parent, then there’s a pretty good chance that you know what it feels like to be hungry, cold and scared. In Prisoned we meet three kids who became friends and support each other. Garin, Billy and Kyle are part of The Heart…but one day their world will be torn apart and hearts will be broken.

Prisoned takes us from the time they are kids to the time when one of them falls victim to the ugly side of life. When the time comes to say goodbye, the two remaining will face each other with pain in their hearts. Time has changed them. They grew up, left The Heart and made lives for themselves. Neither of them is clean and pure, but they’ve definitely moved up the food chain. Both of them have lived with guilt. One of them holds a secret that tore them all apart.

This is a hard story to review. There are so many parts to the story that if I even gave a hint at, will change your reading experience. So, the above is all I’m giving you. What I will say is that Prisoned was definitely out of my comfort zone. It’s ugly, gritty and emotional. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters because I struggled to relate to the choices they made. Then again, I’ve never been starved nor had a mum who loved drugs more than me. I could easily say this is a trigger happy book, but I think you’d be mad to take on a read like this thinking hearts and flowers. There is violence, abuse, death and mutilation that definitely made my stomach turn. The sex scenes are graphic, rough and very, very dirty.

After all this I can definitely say that reading Prisoned was an experience. It was very well written and I had NO problems picturing the scenes I was reading. I’m still a fan of Marni Mann and I have no hesitations in reading more of her books in the future. If you’re a fan of dark and gritty with a few emotional gut punches thrown in for good measure, then Prisoned is the book for you. I think I’m heading back to my light and fluffy reads for awhile.

To purchase Prisoned from Amazon - http://amzn.to/2bhCpcI



I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -