Prayers for the Stolen

A Novel

By: Jennifer Clement

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Ladydi Garcia Martinez is fierce, funny, and smart. She was born into a world where being a girl is a dangerous thing. In the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, women must fend for themselves, as their men have left to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Here in the shadow of the drug war, bodies turn up on the outskirts of the village to be taken back to the earth by scorpions and snakes. School is held sporadically, when a volunteer can be coerced away from the big city for a semester. In Guerrero, the drug lords are kings, and mothers disguise their daughters as sons, or when that fails, they "make them ugly" - cropping their hair, blackening their teeth - anything to protect them from the rapacious grasp of the cartels. And when the black SUVs roll through town, Ladydi and her friends burrow into holes in their backyards like animals, tucked safely out of sight.

While her mother waits in vain for her husband's return, Ladydi and her friends dream of a future that holds more promise than mere survival, finding humor, solidarity, and fun in the face of so much tragedy. When Ladydi is offered work as a nanny for a wealthy family in Acapulco, she seizes the chance and finds her first taste of love with a young caretaker there.

Contains mature themes.

©2014 Jennifer Clement (P)2018 Tantor

Poignant topic fabulous story

LadyDi and her mother are compelling characters that tell the story of so many Mexican women. It gives a voice to the voiceless.

I don’t know how to feel about this...

The narrator really threw me off because her voice and accent didn’t make any sense as the voice of the main character. I struggled with her voice throughout the book. Another thing I didn’t like was that there were times when it was unclear whether she was talking about the past or the present which was confusing and that’s one of my pet peeves. However, the story was very sad and the lives of the characters were very tragic. In the end the author gives insight about how these are very real stories and things happening to women in Mexico. Even though I did not enjoy listening to it majority of the time, by the end of it I had found somewhat of an appreciation for the story being told. I think she’s spreading awareness which is always good but I think it could have been executed much better.

Super sad story

Narrator did a great job with the story. It's a super sad story about a girl in Mexico and her existence. They live an hour outside Acapulco in the jungle. Cartel men are sent in to take the young girls and use them for whatever purpose they'd like. The whole trajectory is dismal and doesn't leave you with much of anything you can do about the situation.

Use your Audible credit on something else

This book attempts to cover an important topic regarding human trafficking. Unfortunately, the author made stereotypes of many of the characters and failed to provide greater insight to the issue and the devastating impact it has on women.

At one point, the protagonist refers to herself as an Aztec. The Aztecs did not refer to themselves as Aztecs, but Mexicas. In Mexico today, there are hundreds of tribal affiliations throughout the country, but no one refers to themselves as Aztec.

In another section, a woman remarks that we speak only twenty-six letters to form so many words. There may be twenty-six letters in English, but not in Spanish. In Spanish there is the double “L,” the double “R” and the “N” with the tilde for twenty-nine letters. “Ch” is also recognized as a separate letter which brings the total to thirty letters, not twenty-six. It is each detail that gives authenticity to a story.

Moreover, the narrator Justine Eyre was horrible. She does not speak Spanish. Her Spanish accent was atrocious and it was the same for each character she represented in the story. She mispronounced every name or Spanish word to the point where it was offensive. I blame the director of this fiasco ad much as I do the narrator herself. If you can’t pronounce words properly then you are not qualified to do the reading. Millions is people speak Spanish. It would have taken little effort to find someone who could pronounce words correctly. It made the book difficult to listen to as I waited for the author to properly address this important topic.

There is nothing I can recommend about this book. The fact that it was published in this manner is just another indicator of how little is thought of the actual suffering of trafficked women.

Such a true sad story.

The story was great. I am from Mexico. I actually live in the state of Guerrero. (It was too bad the reader did not know how to pronounce it correctly).
This state is known for its conflicts. Not only with the cartel but the people who are from this state have also hardened. As a Mexican indigenous woman I felt the story compelling. Unfortunately the story is not just fiction and I hope there could be a change regarding the disappearance of women.

I had some trouble with the reader’s voice but I let go of it because the story was great. Not sure if it can be edited again. Perhaps having someone else read it would give it more emphasis.

good reading

Very detailed, good-fair. Really expected a better ending. I may read more of her books.

prayers of the stolen is a nice book to read

she was fine and love this book . I will read ot again and again

Just okay

This book was just okay, the accents the narrator used were atrocious and made it hard to focus on the story.

Very good book… heartbreaking

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I don’t think I would have known about this book if it wasn’t for the book club that I’m in and I’m really grateful that they chose this book this month. Such an eye-opening and heartbreaking story. Definitely worth reading/listening to.

Tragic but beautiful.

I read this book when a was a teenager and fell in love with it. After several years I found it here and wish it had more attention! This book is tragic, deep, and an amazing read that makes you root for this unfortunate girl. It’ll bring tears to your eyes but give your heart a few squeezes, I highly recommend it!