Calling Maggie May

by Anonymous

A dark and edgy first-person cautionary tale about how one girl’s seemingly minor choices quickly spiraled into a life as a sex worker in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky .

She had a normal life, until one small decision changed everything. Suddenly, there were new possibilities and new experiences.

But not all of those experiences were good.

Read her shocking story in the diary she left behind.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Mental Health, Drama, High School

257 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2015

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Read InAGarden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read many of the other Anonymous books, I am familiar with the series - both goals and style. To me, Calling Maggie May just doesn't fit with the series. It feels more like an adult piecing together the stories of several teens to make up one story that would scare teens away from prostitution. There is not an emotional connection between Maggie and herself much less the reader - she looses her virginity to a john after knowing him for only a couple of hours with little reaction, she gets drunk and blacks out and somehow manages to keep journaling, she goes from being a repressed honor student to a full-fledged prostitute in less than a month with out blinking an eye. It's just hard to buy as reality.

[Crystal]

o stars from me...

Um what did I just read???? This book was a complete mess, but that editors note has totally left me speechless!

First why is this book titled Calling Maggie May? Was that the main characters real name?? This is really bugging the poo out of me! We never learn the main characters real name so I have no idea if that's her name or not so I am left just wondering why in the world this book has this title. I could see it being Justine since that's her call girl name, but Maggie May????

This isn't the only thing that didn't work for me. The whole book fell really flat. I liked the idea of using a journal type entry for a book like this, but my goodness the main characters voice was so incredibly whiny! Yes I get that she was pressured at home and turned to the wrong kind of friend for help, but she was insecure and okay I'm going to say it stupid. Yes she was stupid, she saw her crush trying to force himself on her friend but she still wanted to be with him. Her first actual interaction with this guy was when she had to stop him from hurting her friend so it's not like that had some horrible torrid love affair. Nope she saw first hand what a jerk he was without any emotional connection tied in and still wanted him to like her. That wasn't all either. She lost her virginity to the first guy she had a true date with and thought that war normal. She even knew he wasn't going to be around the next day...again not so smart. I just don't get it. The way she thought about prostitution honestly scared me for teenagers who read this. It's like she accepted it. She didn't like it most of the time, but she just thought it was no big deal. WTH?! That's why I am calling her stupid. She wasn't naive she knew what she was getting herself into and her choices just weren't smart. She even said at one point she wished she had a terrible story to share with the other "workers" because hers wasn't tragic like theirs. Who says that??!! In a way I felt like she glorified what she was doing and that's just not okay with me.

I also didn't find the story realistic in the slightest. Everybody she came in contact with was niceish. Even the guys that were yelling at her didn't touch her or abuse her. Even the woman who ran the brothel was nice in a way. I mean she said you could leave when you wanted and no she didn't put the girls first, but she wasn't abusive like in other books I've read. Everyone just seemed too nice for this type of book and it felt wrong and a little disrespectful to other stories.

What really bothered me though was when the main characters pretty much said being on a street corner was better than working at a fast food place. She even compared them and said they were similar! Umm no I don't think so. When I read that my brain totally lost it and I thought this girl needs to go to therapy.

Okay so this editors note what can I even say about it. I'm not sure if this story is based on a real story or not, I am leaning toward not but I really don't know to be honest. I thought for sure it was all made up, but the editors note made me question that. If it is real then I am completely flabbergasted at that ending. I mean WTH?! I am going to look into this more because if that was the actual ending I need more info. For everything to be on the nicer side of dark that note just didn't make any sense to me.

I know I was harsh in this review and if this is a true story I am truly sorry for calling her stupid. I just can't believe this is real. If you are looking for a dark story dealing with these issues I say look elsewhere. This story doesn't even come close to the dark world I've read about and honestly might give some the wrong impression. This was definitely not a great book for me.

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh. Weirdly enough, this book features a pretty well-written main character. The characters are fairly sympathetic and their motivations sensical. The only thing I don't like is that she dies at the end. If this were actually a diary, it would be one thing, but it's trying to punish the character for her actions, rather than allowing her to learn from her mistakes.

Unfortunately, this story is clearly meant as a “don't be a prostitute, or you will die” cautionary tale. The character actually ends the book resolved to change her life and escape both her parents AND her career, but she dies at the end. I take issue with this form of narrative punishment; I prefer stories where characters make mistakes and yet persevere. This story would be more powerful as a story about redemption.

I also take issue with this entire scheme. Don't write fake diaries as propaganda. Is fearmongering really the best way to solve prostitution problems? I think not.

[Dani St-Onge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Make sure to check out http://betterbooks.tumblr.com/!

"What does it matter? We give them a fantasy and they give us money. Everyone is happy that way.”

The nameless protagonist (probably Maggie but her name is never given properly) starts the novel out feeling stifled. Studying and extra-curricular activities rule her life and her mother is disappointed in anything less than perfect. Frustrated with her lack of freedom our protagonist becomes friends with a fashionable girl, hoping she can become more like her, but being like her new friend is more unpleasant than she first imagined.

After reading most of the books in this series Calling Maggie May feels slow and less exhilarating than it’s counterparts. The protagonist has everything going for her, and while the book describes her as intelligent she seems very dense. She’s very quick to make seemingly uncharacteristic decisions and the throw away everything at the drop of a hat. It’s very hard to feel sorry for her. Most of the characters in the novel felt flat and one-dimensional but the plot at least held enough interest that it wasn’t a boring read.

[Peaches · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know all of the "anonymous" books are fake, and truthfully I don't care if a Mormon psychologist fabricated diaries to write cautionary tales; however, it is clear that Beatrice Sparks is dead and whoever took on the legacy is far more incompetent. I could mildly believe a teenager wrote it, as the vocabulary is seriously lacking, but Maggie's filter is almost comical ("they made me do things and stuff I didn't want to do). If we're reading this book, we obviously want to know what the "things are," and frankly no teenager would be able to filter that in a "private" diary.

I also could never muster sympathy from spoiled Maggie who was hellbent on destroying her life. She even goes back to her parents, but predictably meet demise like all of the others. This book was far less engaging than Letting Anna Go or Lucy in the Sky. Luckily, it was at least easy to get through.

The most comical part comes from Maggie's uncanny ability to tote her diary everywhere although she is incapable of keeping herself safe. Even hiding in a dumpster or locking herself in a bathroom, she manages to have her diary handy and a pen to boot!

[Diego Sanchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengo que admitir que este libro me puso bastante emocional, por lo cual decidí esperar días para poder publicar una reseña que fuera apropiada y honesta.

-Trama/Desarrollo:

Nos encontramos ante la historia de una adolescente de 16 años, que nunca se presenta su nombre (tal y como es la tradición en éste tipo de libros), la cual tras conocer a su amiga Ada, descubre que hay un mundo para ser "cool", obtener su propio dinero de manera sencilla y no pasar desapercibida ante las personas (o chicos exclusivamente). Lamentablemente, las cosas no son como ella lo pensaba.

¿Cómo comenzar? Bueno, pondré las cosas en partes esenciales para no ocasionar spoilers. Empezamos por decir que nuestra protagonista se ve opacada por la sombra de su hermano, el cual es un estudiante muy inteligente y está en una universidad prestigiosa, mientras que la joven (que a mi parecer es bastante astuta), se hace menos ante esa situación. Con la falta de ganas de dar un esfuerzo más y sentir que su vida es monótona y gris, un día decide dar un giro a su vida, pues cuando por azares del destino, Ada (una adolescente que se dedica al trabajo sexual) se acerca a ella, descubre un mundo al que también quiere pertenecer, sin importar las advertencias que la contraria le pueda dar.

El desarrollo es solamente alusivo, aunque sí te plantean algunas situaciones, no vas a leer detalladamente cosas que puedan parecer subidas de tono, sobretodo tratándose de una menor de edad. Debo admitir que cuando el libro comienza, está un poco lento, pero con la llegada de algunos personajes, la trama comienza a ponerse bastante bien. Sin embargo, es hacia el tramo del final cuando algunas cosas pueden parecer que decaen.

Debo decir que hay cosas demasiado “rosas” o “buenas”, tomando en cuenta de todo lo que se habla en el mundo real acerca de ese mundo.

-Personajes:

Debo decir que fue muy difícil empatizar para mí con la protagonista, pues aunque entiendo que es una adolescente, casi todo lo que quería hacer, lo hacía. Es entonces cuando me pregunto ¿Qué sucede con los padres si en el libro los pintan como que aman y sobreprotegen (y exigen) mucho a su hija? Es un punto que nunca terminaré de entender, pues si Irene, nuestra encargada de contratar y conseguir a las chicas, era bastante flexible y no solía retener a la fuerza ¿Por qué la joven hizo lo que hizo? Probablemente entenderán cuándo lean el libro.

En esta historia destacaré a Ada. Honestamente, llega un punto en la trama donde te preocupas más por ella que la protagonista, pues Ada tiene una historia más cruda y dramática, que con ella sí logras empatizar. Es sin duda una pieza muy clave.

Shawn es otro de nuestros personajes, uno de los que más odié a decir verdad y conforme vayas leyendo, ve notando las pistas que nos van dejando sobre él.

-Final:

El final, así como el de los libros de ésta serie, son siempre de dar giros. La nota del editor es sumamente impactante y creo que eso le da un plus a la historia.

-Género:
El libro figura en la sección “Teen” y es promocionado como tal. Debo decir que sí puede ser apropiado, pues maneja por encima todos los aspectos del mundo sexual, pero deben tener precaución sí no se quiere tratar con temas muy sensibles.

-Escritura:

Una escritura muy sencilla de leer, con vocabulario práctico para aquellos que apenas se adentran a leer en inglés. Diálogos sumamente sencillos, pero está más que claro que la chica no podía andar con su diario por todos esos lados.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I decided to go on an Anonymous Diary/Beatrice Sparks spree because morbidly curious. I think I'm gonna regret this.

Narrator: Waaaah my life sucks my mommy's evil and oppressive because my brother's perfect weeeehhh
Bitchmother: DO EVERYTHING I SAY OR YOU'RE A BAD GIRL
Narrator: I wanna be a whore! Then I'll have freedom just like my sexy new friend!
Reality: LOL NOPE

Yeah, this was a very, very annoying book. The narrator was a whiny brat who stewed in her misery and her only show of defiance was fucking up her own life till she was even more miserable. Her parents were dicks, her crush was a typical dudebro fuckass, the Dream Boy OF COURSE turned out to be Evil, the only character who was remotely interesting was Ada.

Speaking of which, did anyone else come away from this convinced the narrator was in love with Ada? Even before the fake lesbian kisses she's so fascinated by Ada she stalks her, clings to her constantly, goes into a BSOD when Ada disappears and is presumed dead, risks her life looking for her. And then the "you are my real life" line when they find each other again. But even that's not enough to keep this from being one of the whiniest books I've ever read. And of course the heroine gets killed off once she finally gets her life back on track. Remember, girls, never make even one bad decision or it WILL kill you!

[Kristina Mathioudakis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Going into this novel I was excited because I had read others like it, but this one fell very flat. I did not like our main character at all as she was very flat. There was not a justified reason for her getting into prostitution, and I felt as though her relationship with her parent’s was an extreme form of a “first-world problem”. This book took me forever to read - the plot moved very slowly. I have read the other books by Beatrice Miller or “anonymous”, but this one felt so disconnected from the others in more ways than one. The entire story transpired in about 10 months, and it felt like it took that long to read. She was living a fast-paced world and the entries would jump around so much that it was very hard to keep track of the timing that had passed.

Check out my full review on my blog!
http://theprincessgummybearreviews.bl...

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved these kind of books, I have always found the true life stories to be interesting and compelling. "Calling Maggie May" is told in a diary format about a young girl named Maggie. This is truly someone's real life. I hate not knowing what transpired between her last entry and the editors note. The book shows a very interesting look into the world of prostitution. The ending leaves you wondering. I would definitely recommend to friends.

[Melissa Spear · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always wanted to try these anonymous diary books. I'm glad I did. The editors note at the end broke my heart.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

.5/5. This is easily the worst of all the "Anonymous" journal books. Yes, I'm including Jay's Journal, because up until now, that one was the worst because of the disrespect shown for the real teenager it was allegedly based on. Calling Maggie May is a whole new level of awful, with the same tropes and cliches I've come to expect from this trash, but with the added bonus of poorly-written sex worker drama. Because all high schoolers deal with that, right?

"Maggie May" is not fun to follow around. Granted, none of the main twits of these books are that likable in the first place, but she was particularly unbearable. Her parents being overbearing and putting pressure on her was somewhat relatable, but a Chinese woman wanting her daughter to succeed was done much better with Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. The first person perspective leaves no room for other points of view, and so everything is horribly skewed by our unreliable narrator. Her whining and stupid decisions were hilarious at first, but that got old very quickly.

I'm going to go out a limb here and assume the way prostitution is portrayed in this book is not very accurate. It reads a lot like one of those Lifetime movies about high school prostitutes in that it plays up the danger only after "Maggie May" is in too deep. The way these books try to scare their readers into making good choices feels manipulative and hollow, especially when every single character is shady and untrustworthy. The ham-fisted morals are even more obvious here, because the writing suddenly devolves into a transparent attempt to tell the reader that hooking is not a good idea and that "Maggie May" should have listened to her parents. (We get it, middle-aged woman writing this book. You're not invisible behind that curtain.) And I haven't even mentioned the casual racism that's thrown in! "Maggie May" is Chinese, and she's told to play up the Asian girl fetish when she's with clients. What a wonderful message to send to young readers.

And that ending...wow. I can't say I'm surprised, since almost all of them end in the abrupt death of the main character. But this one seemed particularly harsh in that it happened months after the final entry instead of days or weeks, and that there was no indication "Maggie May" had started hooking again. The drug and eating disorder relapses made some sense, especially with the short time frame, but "Maggie May" dying after being seen with different men days before her death seems cheap and unwarranted. I don't know how addicting hooking is for teenagers, but I would have thought that after the several near-death experiences, the lying, and the fact that her best friend is now HIV positive and slowly dying, "Maggie May" would decide that it's not worth it. But as I said before, she's a first-class idiot who is constantly getting herself into situations that are easily avoidable.

Nitpick Corner: 1) “Maggie May” carried around her journal a lot and documented things happening constantly, to the point where it was inconvenient and silly. She just always has it on her to write down how she’s in the park to investigate? She’s really writing about how she’s being followed at night while she’s hiding from the person following her? My suspension of disbelief can only stretch so far. 2) I love how “Maggie May” makes the seamless transition from honor student to prostitute in the span of, what, a month? And she’s okay with it? And on top of that, she acts like she has no other choice? Sure, Jan.

I have one more book to read, and it's the Breaking Bad ripoff, so maybe that will be at least more entertaining than this. At the very least, I'm hoping the main character isn't a complete diphthong who's too dumb to live. (Spoilers: she's probably not.)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly? I know this stuff happens all the time and that makes the book that much more believable. What i had a hard time understanding is Maggie's/Justine's reason for wanting to be a sex worker. NO teenager in their right mind would be like, "yeah! I'll do that! I want to be JUST like you! You're mysterious!1!" - unless you had some sort of mental disorder going on in your head to begin with. I don't buy that for a second. She was naive at times, which i definitely understand and could relate to because I too was very sheltered growing up.

I don't feel like this book should be directed towards the ages of 14 and over. The back of the book said that this was the age range and honestly, out of all the other Anonymous books i've read, this one was by far the most mature. Definitely up the age by 2 years. After all, that's how old Maggie/Justine is in this diary.

The ending (in the Editor's note) confused me. I'm not sure what happened there but I wish I had some insight from either the author or from Maggie herself.

If the other Anonymous books like Letting Ana Go or Lucy in the Sky didn't do it for you, this one just might.

Great read, I had a difficult time putting this book down.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read all of the books that have been written under this anonymous writer. They are a guilty pleasure and I will proudly admit it. None of these books are written masterpieces, but they are interesting. Personally, my favorite genre of books is contemporary books that cover darker topics. In this genre, it's a little difficult to find well written stories mostly because a lot of people don't want to discuss suicide, drug abuse, mental disorders, or, in this case, prostitution. Some points in this book I feel like Maggie acts way younger than she is but I also feel like it fits her character. Maggie has never really experienced the real world, or even the "real world" of high school. Instead of dipping her toes in, she goes head first and spirals a little out of control. This book is pretty straight forward and the story doesn't have a ton of depth, but it is interesting to read about Maggie May's journey into prostitution. The ending was kind of predictable if you've read the other Anonymous books.

[Haley Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to buy as reality and felt like multiple stories that the author got from teenagers and couldn’t remember all the details so it was put into one story. Also one of the most frustrating main characters I’ve ever read, I like she wanted to stick by Ada but I spent most of the book just wanting her to stop and go home.

The editors note really caught me off guard. She was randomly murdered after going home and back to school, being in a good place and still able to see her friend? Like did Irma have her killed? You can make a cautionary tell without it ending it random death. Her best friend is going to die at some point, her best friend had AIDS, she got into some serious trouble with a pimp, was homeless for a bit, was panicked about how her parents would react.

[Equal Opportunity Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a cautionary, back-to-school-special style fictionalized diary of...

...an academically pressured Asian-American high school student who becomes a fetish sex worker accidentally.

Let me run that past you again.

This book is the story of an academically pressured, stressed out Asian-American girl who accidentally becomes a SCHOOLGIRL PROSTITUTE.

And it was published in 2015.

I'll let y'all figure the rest out.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I don't review favorite authors**

But I will say that this story seemed highly unlikely (yes, it is a work of fiction). I love the idea of tackling teen prostitution (I loved Ellen Holpkin's 'Tricks') but I feel like this book did not make it seem realistic enough.

[Syleena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response:
I enjoyed the book, Calling Maggie May, by Anonymous, because it encompassess the real life story of a young teen who turned to the life of prostitution. This book explains the severity of the situation regarding young girls and boys going into this life choice. I had a hard time reading this book due to the intense emotion that the main character experienced. This book really doesn’t hold back when it comes to detail describing every disgusting event that occurred following the main character’s life. I was placed in the main character’s shoes while reading, which really helped me understand the concepts that are put into play involving prostitution.

Plot:
This book was about the real life occurrences of Maggie, a sixteen year old girl who turned to the life of selling her body for money. In the beginning, Maggie was an honor student only concerned about passing upcoming tests, competing in her several extracurricular activities, and pleasing her strict parents; however, as the book went on, Maggie met a girl in her school by the name of Ada. Maggie started acting like Ada in various ways, hoping that Maggie herself could someday be as beautiful and sophisticated as Ada was portrayed to be. After a while, Ada introduced Maggie into the life of prostitution. Maggie then began having sexual intercourse with strangers for money. She got so involved in her new profession that her new jobs started becoming more demanding. After a while, Maggie ended up owing some money which got paid off by her new boss. She, eventually, came back home and everything seemed to be getting better. Her body was found weeks later in what was known as “The Jungle” --the outskirts of the city where people went when they had nowhere else to go.

Characterization:
Maggie May was a sixteen year old girl who lived a completely normal life. She was pressured by her parents to be the “perfect daughter.” After years of following her parents every command, Maggie finally decided to break out of her shell and take control of her own life for once. After getting into prostitution, Maggie became infatuated with the idea of feeling special. She adored when her clients called her beautiful and told her how good she was at her job. Maggie thrived off how well she was doing, which motivated her to continue. This, evidently, lead to her death after she got out of the profession only to return only months after.
Ada was a sixteen year old girl who was demoted to her profession. She used the money she received to further escalate her growing profession. Ada’s mother was identified as insane and was aware but unaware of what Ada was really doing. Ada got Maggie involved and instantly regretted it. After Ada disappeared, Maggie went on a rampage looking for her. Months passed and eventually Ada returned to Maggie looking more worse for wear. Ada got infected with HIV only a few weeks after her return and was living in the hospital after Maggie died.

Setting:
The setting of this book took place in Seattle, Washington. A location was introduced further into the book which was known as “The Jungle.” It was described as being the outskirts of the city where the deadbeats and druggies go when they had nowhere else to reside. The setting impacted the storyline by how big the city was and the large amount of people involved in prostitution. The time was unknown throughout the book. The only clue that was given regarding the time period was that they used cell phones, making me believe it was during modern times.

Thematic Connection:
The main theme that emerged was feeling important. Throughout the entire book, all Maggie wanted was to feel important to someone and feel like she was doing something right. After she began her new profession, she started to feel more important to her clients after they kept asking her to comeback and giving her compliments.

Recommendation:
I recommend this book to young adults of both genders ages 15 and up. This book shouldn’t be read if the reader is below the age of 15 because of the mature content that this book contains. This book's reading level is high, so it is recommended that the reader be above the age of 15. The book also helps people understand more about prostitution and what someone living that life experiences.

[Lesli Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finished reading Calling Maggie May, a realistic fiction book by an Anonymous author. This book is not really a "book" because it's more of a diary or journal that Maggie had to write her accomplishments which lead to being recording her secrets of what was happening in her life. Maggie & Ada became friends, but little did she know that Ada lived two lives & that she wasn't like she seemed. Later on Maggie decided to join her & got into the same "life" as Ada, which lead them looking out for each other & having trust. Lots of things happen in Maggie's life & Ada's that shape who they are & realize that they can help themselves being a normal ordinary person & living their normal lives with their family. I enjoyed reading this book because it had many details & I could read her dark secrets that only Ada, her diary, other similar people as her & her herself only knew about. I would recommend this book to anyone out there that likes suspicion, surprises, & "mysteries" because Calling Maggie May has all of those in it that will give you an impact & might even get you into character if you enjoy reading it.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Statutory rape, mentions of drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution, derogatory terms, mentions of sodomy, mentions of HIV/AIDS, physical abuse, mentions of murder, mentions of delusions. Mentions of rape



This was a tough read. Definitely a very serious subject, but it was handled well! I feel like it showed how fast something you think is innocent can go bad.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!! Kept me interested from page one. The only time I put it down was to sleep and eat breakfast. I think in total it was about an 8ish hour read for me.

[Alyssa Gue · Rating 4 out of 5]

heartbreaking but honest. I don't know what brings me to these books, but I love it.

[Alessandra Cannella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew how it would end but rip

[Ashley Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parents got it for me as a mystery book - fourteen year old me would've eaten this up, current me reluctantly did as well

[Amanda Berrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

A brief synopsis: A girl (presumably named Maggie) is struggling with the common high school woes of fitting in and self discovery while trying to impress her overbearing parents and it begins to weigh on her. As she meets a mysterious girl named Ada she is indoctrinated into the world of sex work and begins to skip class to balance time with her job. Told in the style of journal entries

My review: This book is commonly compared to ‘Go Ask Alice’ but it is no where near as good. I understand that this was supposed to be a cautionary tale however, there was a major disconnect between the last entry and the editors note. Also “Maggie” was not a likable character. I would’ve much rather learned Ada’s story. They also not once revealed “Maggie’s” real name in the book. We can only assume her name is Maggie based on the title. I find it quite odd that not once did they state the characters name. Also, I appreciated at the beginning that they were taking a less old school approach to it and making it seem more formal than the age old way of looking at sex work however, I feel like it should’ve been more highlighted that the issue here was that Maggie was 16. She had no business being in sex work at that age. Also towards the end there were just so many stereotypes that it got boring. The fact that the word “goons” was un-ironically used was honestly ridiculous. Also there should’ve been more entries about Maggie handling her parents. In the beginning they were constantly overbearing but in the middle they start basically not saying a word about her going from a straight A student to a C average to not showing up for school at all. And then they went from not talking to her at all to threatening to send her to Thailand? The interest level jumps are insane. I wouldn’t recommend this book

[Cinthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024: I wanted to go back to this story and figure out what really happened to Maggie. I don't know why she ended up in the jungle if everything was going well in at home and she was already going back to school. Was it Tyler? Why did she go back to prostitution? how did she end up with some many random men again? I have so many questions and sadly will never get the answers to them. I feel so bad for Ada too. I feel it's Karma for what she did to Maggie but at the same time they were both only 16 years old. I hope Shawn and Ms. Irma get their comeuppance, I am so angry at them. I feel bad for the parents too, I could never picture myself in their shoes, so helpless.

2022: That editors note was a real punch to the gut. Here I was at the end thinking, "good for her, she gets to go home and be a normal kid again." And then Bam! Smacked in the gut by what happened to Maggie. I felt so bad, you could tell she was so naive and just going through the motions. It was heartbreaking through the whole prostitution ordeal. Ada should've been more open with her, maybe Maggie wouldn't have ended up at the jungle.

[Maya Ocampo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy reading this book. I was really excited to read this book because I have read and really enjoyed multiple from this author and I wanted to finish the series. From the start the story and writing was kind of annoying and cringey, which is common in this series of books but the story and the way it's told usually makes up for the tone of writing in the other books i've read. The story in this book felt rushed and did not create a connection with the deep issues and topics the writer touches on. The book had such young, immature writing while the narrator was going through mature situations. I also feel like these topics were not necessarily my cup of tea and I should have realized before reading this that the author goes into detail and I wouldn't have enjoyed this. I don't think this book is bad but it wasn't enjoyable for me from the start. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone really. If I had to, I would recommend it to people who are mature readers. I would also say that the reader needs to be able to get past the youthful, cringey writing. Overall, the book feels rushed and it was hard to read.

[Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

So... From this girl taking her diary everywhere and writing on it at different places, when she goes back home she decides to just stop? Then a few weeks later she went back to old habits and ended up like Alice in Go Ask Alice.

Honestly, the chapters did not feel like diary entries. So many long conversations. "Writing" about how their conversation went like. Word for word.

The topic had so much potential. But Miss Maggie May (I guess that's her name since it's in the title) just randomly decides to go into sex work. After one night with a predator.

Parents are obviously not that strict. Like how did you not question what she has been doing that is causing her to skip class????

I don't know why i am spending time reading books like this. It's like a sad attempt to be like Go Ask Alice.

[ashes ➷ · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, unlike most of the books in this series, this one is readable! (As evidenced by my having read it, as opposed to skimming like I did the others). There are even some insightful moments about how working retail can be, in practice, worse than sex work, and the way the main character's race plays into how she is viewed sexually is often rewarding to read. The trouble, of course, is that this still plays into the worst stereotypes of sex work, particularly by always insisting on including one pimp or another and ignoring all cases of sex work outside of "extremely young women pimped out by older women/men for penetrative sex." All the best points seemed despite what the book was forced to be; I admit I just really wanted to see what these Go Ask Alice knockoffs were all like.

[Carolena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks the troubles that "hanging" with the wrong crowd can get you in. It brought about emotions of sadness, anger, confusion, and the many more emotions the girl felt. She found herself in the worst situation and it took hitting rock bottom and below before she could find a recovery foundation. Even then, according to the editor's note she possibly fell to her old routine which cost her a horrible death.

[Mekaylah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book didn't take very long to escalate. It was of course predictable and, obviously if true at all, was greatly exaggerated. It was however disappointing because just when things start to look better, she's found dead. That seems to be a reoccurring theme in these books. The person starts off fine, falls in with the wrong crowd after one slip up, things get crazy, they start to get better, then they die. It's insane. Great book though. Lucy in the sky is next for me.