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    Out of the Easy
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    Out of the Easy
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    Out of the Easy
    Audiobook9 hours

    Out of the Easy

    Written by Ruta Sepetys

    Narrated by Lauren Fortgang

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.

    Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

    With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

     

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 1, 2012
    ISBN9781101601723
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Out of the Easy

    4/5

    465 ratings74 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this while I was reading it, though now that I'm writing the review a week later it hasn't stuck with me. In many ways it's a fairly ordinary "smart girl with tough home life makes good" story. Where it stands out are the settings -- a bookstore and brothel (those are separate establishments, unfortunately) in the 1950s French Quarter -- and the supporting cast. In particular, Willie, brothel madam and surrogate mother, is a delightful character who I want to see on film. Meryl Streep, perhaps?
    • 4/5

      This and other reviews can be found on Reading Between Classes

      Cover Impressions: Pretty Pretty. Love the antique birdcage and the imagery of Josie peeking out from behind/within.

      The Gist: Josie Moraine is the daughter of a prostitute. She has lived her life in the shadow of the most popular brothel in New Orleans. Josie is determined to escape The Big Easy and to make a life for her herself beyond the grasp of her greedy and conniving mother. When a murder in the quarter threatens that dream, Josie must find a way to hold on to her dreams without compromising her morals.

      Review:

      Out of the Easy is a very character driven novel. Which is great, because it has great characters. Josie is the daughter of a prostitute the *almost ward of a madam and has been cared for by a cast wonderful cast of well written characters. She is strong willed, but is very vulnerable. Josie is constantly being tossed into difficult situations and it is compelling to watch as she tries to dig herself out and emerge with her dignity intact. Her mother is a truly despicable character who selfishly preys on anyone whom she feels she can exploit - including her daughter. As a mother, I found her actions all the more deplorable but could understand Josie's feelings of obligation towards her. The other characters, the ones who truly cared for Josie, were fun and interesting. Willie was easy to imagine as the tough as nails madam who is generous and loyal to those who deserve it. Cokie's love felt kind and genuine and the prostitutes added some comic relief.

      The novel did have it's faults. The mystery is not particularly strong. It was easy to tell who was behind the murder and the big reveal was more than a little predictable. There were also a few elements with one of the love interests that came as no surprise and I was only able to convince myself that Josie was honestly not able to see the truth by remembering the time period in which this was set and the difference in societal ideals. Towards the end of the novel, an additional problem was introduced which interrupted the flow of the storyline and the resolution was a little too clean and easy.

      Overall, Out of the Easy was a fun read and a fast one. Sepetys paints a beautiful picture of New Orleans and writes with rich detail that will draw in any reader.

      Teaching/Parental Notes:

      Age: 16 and up
      Gender: Female
      Sex: Kissing, Prostitution
      Violence: Gunplay, Knifeplay, Self-Harm
      Inappropriate Language: Whore, Asshole, Bitch, Queer
      Substance Use/Abuse: Smoking, Drinking,
    • 5/5
      I’ve heard great things about Ruta Sepetys for the longest of times. She has really good story ideas and explores angles that I would never even think about. I never would have thought I needed to read a book about a girl who grew up surrounded by escorts and prostitutes eventually settling with her mother in a brothel in New Orleans. All in taking place in the 1950s. Josie is a girl full of dreams to break out of the future her mother may have set out for her to have some job relating to the brothel. Her dream is to be a scholar of some sort and live the life she wants. Josie is surrounded by many people who love her and believe in her. This is such a beautiful story about a girl who realizes who is her true family and how to finally tell her mother no. I really did love this story but having read another Sepetys book around the same time this one actually pales in comparison to that other one. I did get bored at some point because once the murder mystery came back into play I quickly solved it and was eager to get back to the “everyday life” aspect of the book. This is still a book I would really recommend for reading.
    • 4/5
      This one was a breath of fresh air... I needed something different and Out of Easy exceeded all expectations. It was a historical piece that captured the essence of The French Quarter. It's about a girl that is tied to a brothel and has a Madame as a mother figure. There are a lot of twists and turns, but in the end I was quite satisfied.

      The characters in this story captured my heart. Josie was such a strong character. Her mom was worthless and her life wasn't anything to be desired, but she makes the most of it. She works hard and never gives up on her dreams. Her friends may seem underwhelming, but they are kind and she is truly lucky to have them. Her life is made hard by the decisions of her mom. She is tied to a criminal that commits a crime and leaves the town in shambles. Slowly Josie must put the pieces of the puzzle together to uncover the secrets behind the murder. Luckily she has stern Willie in her corner. She was an unconventional character, but I learned to respect her. She cared for Josie and chose to protect her when she had no one else.

      The theme of the story was murder mystery meets upper/lower class scandal. It was quirky and heartwarming, but also dangerous and tragic. It's basically a tangle of lies with a mild love triangle. Josie has Patrick, the best friend and Jesse the guy that all the ladies love. She has mixed emotions and puts others in front of herself. It takes a bit for her to figure it all out, but she does and the decisions are genius.

      Overall, I really enjoyed this story. It was a fun, emotional read that pulled me in and left me feeling like I was in the character's shoes. I definitely recommend it to readers that like time period pieces.
    • 5/5
      Set in 1950s New Orleans. Our main character begins the book with the line, "My mother's a prostitute." From there we watch Josie try to figure out who she is. Mixed up in a world of brothel life, Josie works hard to better herself and avoid falling into the profession of her mother. Many twists and turns. Another great novel by Sepetys!
    • 5/5
      Out of the Easy takes place in 1950s New Orleans, a city filled with brothels, mobsters, and secrets. Josie Moraine works for a bookstore and lives above it since she was 12. Her mother is a brothel prostitute who does not have a mothering instinct or any empathy. Josie has always dreamed of leaving behind her sordid family history but a murder in the French quarters draws her back to the seedy underworld of her life and more entrenched in New Orleans. The book was good but the themes are very mature. I would not recommend this for teens 14 and under.
    • 4/5
      In this well-written YA historical fiction, Josie Morraine is the hardworking teenage daughter of a 1950s New Orleans prostitute who dreams of escaping the underbelly of New Orleans and going to a prestigious East Coast college. Murder, the mob, and some romance thicken the plot. The ending is satisfying and not completely predicable.
    • 4/5
      Josie works hard and dreams big, longing to go to school far away from New Orleans where she has grown up working as a cleaner and errand girl in the brothel where her mom has worked. Building her own support system due to her negligent and morally questionable parent, a chance encounter with a kind tourist who is later killed brings Josie into some danger and propels her to act on her dreams. Strong characters and solid story telling drive this interesting read.
    • 4/5
      My work book club chose this book for October 2014 and I was eager to read it as soon as it was mentioned it was set in New Orleans. I was there for a conference a few years ago and when my husband and I started thinking of places to go after I retire New Orleans was top of my list. So I've been trying to read some books set there anyway but I probably would not have found this one on my own because it is classified as YA fiction. It's true that the main character is a teenage girl but the subject matter is all grown up.Josie Is smart, good-looking and honourable and she has been taking care of herself since she was ten years old. She has a mother technically but her mother has done nothing to look after Josie. Josie's mother, Louise, is a prostitute who works for Willie Woodley, a famous New Orleans madam. Josie lives above a bookstore owned by Charlie Marlowe who lets her stay there in return for helping with the store. Charlie's son, Patrick, has been relying on Josie to help at the store while he is at home looking after Charlie who has been unwell ever since a robbery at their home. Josie also cleans at Willie's brothel and Willie relies on her to tell her what is going on in the house.On New Year's Eve a handsome older man comes into the bookstore looking for a book of poetry by Keats. He chats to Josie and thinks Josie is a college student. Josie fantasizes that this man is her father so she is shocked when she reads in the paper the next day that he has died in a nightclub. Josie doesn't believe this death is natural and it turns out that she is right. Someone slipped him chloral hydrate in his drink and the dose was too high. When Josie's mother leaves town in a hurry with her boyfriend Cinncinnati and Josie finds the man's watch in her mother's room she realizes that her mother is involved somehow.Josie has formed a plan to go to Smith College in Massachusetts but she doesn't know how she will get the money or even get accepted. She finds that all of her attempts to accomplish this get thwarted and she becomes more desperate. Soon she is lying to everyone who is important to her. Will Josie ever get "out of the [Big] Easy"?I thought the author did a good job of portraying the French Quarter in New Orleans and the characters are well-drawn but maybe a little one-dimensional. Most characters were either salt of the earth or despicable and I don't find that most people are that one-sided. However, I enjoyed the book and I rooted for Josie all the way through.
    • 4/5
      Readers are in for a treat from the very first page as the author describes 1950 New Orleans so vividly you can almost smell the Cajun cooking wafting from open windows. Our heroine, Josie is a character that inspires readers with her bravery and resourcefulness. Her mother is a prostitute, a selfish woman who neglects her daughter and wants only for material things. Josie desperately wants to go to college and does all that she can to make that dream a reality. She works hard in high school and has two part time jobs; one in a bookstore, where she also keeps a one room apartment, and another running errands and doing housework in the brothel where her mother works and lives. When her mother gets involved with a mobster and a man is found dead Josie gets caught up in a mystery that threaten ruin all her plans for new life.
    • 5/5
      I love the intricate characters. Almost every single character has such a different and complex background. I want to say that almost all of the characters, no matter how minor, are more than one-dimensional. You connect with the characters. You feel their pain, sorrow, happiness, anger, and you'll probably end up hating at least two of them. But this book is mainly a character driven book, so thank goodness the characters are amazing.The plot is, as I said, mainly character driven. If you're looking for an action packed book, this probably isn't the best choice. There are some more suspenseful sections, but there aren't many. Personally, I love character driven books, which is probably why I love the book as much as I do. Some of the plot twists I saw coming, but there were definitely a few, particularly one surrounding Patrick, that I was not expecting. I cried so many times while reading the book. It felt real, as if you were right there with Josie.Another aspect of the novel that I enjoyed was how Willie and the girls that work for her aren't defined by their profession. So often in society, these kinds of people are looked down upon because of what they choose to do (perhaps that has changed a lot from the setting of the book to the present day, but I think the idea still stands), and the book shows that there's more to them. They're all people. Ruta handled this extremely well.There was something about this book that I can't quite explain in concrete words. It left me feeling something that I can't quite describe. Perhaps it's something like hope, but it's also so much more than that. Both Josie and Jesse grew up in such tough childhoods, yet they both turned out okay. It was a bit obvious that they'd end up together, but I kept rooting for them until the end. Their chemistry was so obvious, which made it all the more aggravating when Josie kept pushing him, and everyone else, away. But I'm straying. I can't get over how perfectly the title fits the book, and I think it also compliments what I was feeling when I finished. It was that feeling that made me want to jump to write this review and give it a 5/5.But the one thing I can't shake is that the plot was also lacking in many parts. Yes, it's character driven, but there were some slow sections that I really had to push through. They were necessary, but they weren't the easiest to get through. That's really the main reason I've been struggling to rate this; because the book is amazing, and the slow(er) pace doesn't detract from the other parts of the book that are so well done that they overshadow the pace. It's more like an issue that's pushed to the back of your mind because the characters and their interactions are so compelling.
    • 4/5
      1950's in New Orleans. Josie is the daughter of a prostitute and has lived on her own since she was 11. All she wants is a normal life and to go to Smith College where no one will know what she came from. It's not an easy task to achieve and when Josie becomes involved in a murder investigation things get a lot harder. Geered toward YA's this book will capture you and doesn't let go. If you haven't read the author's first novel Between Shades of Gray I highly recommend it too.
    • 4/5
      Out of the Easy is set in one of my most favorite places, New Orleans. I loved experiencing the city through the eyes of protag, Josie, in the 1950's. I admit i squealed a little when I discovered this is historical fiction and YA. Yippee! Josie is the daughter of a prostitute and hasn't had the most traditional upbringing, but she is determined to make something of herself. Working at a book store and cleaning up the brothel each morning to help build a meager savings. She sets her sights on a college far from New Orleans with the hopes to escape being known as the hooker's daughter. Of course if things went smoothly the author wouldn't have a story to tell us so toss in a sinister bad guy, a dead rich guy, and a little romance and you have a story you won't want to put down.Out of the Easy contained fascinating, well-developed characters, an interesting setting, and a keep you flipping the pages into the wee hours of the night mystery. I'm hard-pressed to find anything I didn't enjoy about this novel.
    • 5/5
      Excellent book! Listened to through Audible.com. Great story, full of interesting and twisted characters. Love any book set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The plot took unexpected turns and, many times, I wondered how things would ever resolve themselves. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Out of the Easy is a gripping story about a girl who's mother is a prostitute in 1950 New Orleans. She soon meets a young girl while working in the bookstore that opens her eyes to the thought of moving across the country to attend college. That maybe she has a chance to escape the situation she's in and especially her mother and her abusive ways. Her true mother figure has always been Willie, and a true friend in Patrick, the bookstore owners son. Jo has been able to find a very supportive group of people that surround her. Soon a man ends up dead, and when her mother takes off to Hollywood, Jo finds the dead man's watch in her mother's room. She also gets mixed up with the wrong guy when she sees him coming out of the house, after visiting a girl and making the unwise decision to use that information against him to get a recommendation letter to the college she has now set her eyes on attending. Jo's wishes to go off to college, but getting mixed up with Mr Lockwell's secrets and her mother's murder mystery. Jo finds herself in a bit of a tight spot. This novel has great pacing, several characters that are all play important roles in the plot, yet never became overwhelming. The writing was very gripping and the fun mixture of several different interweaving messes that Jo's life contains wrapping up in the end. It was very well put together with fun, well rounded characters and pacing. Good romance and suspense.
    • 2/5
      This book was a lesson to me that just because I loved an author's debut novel, I'm not guaranteed to feel the same about their second. I never connected to Josie. I found her lying and risk-taking annoying. She kept lying to save her mother even though she knew her mother didn't deserve it and the man she helped to murder deserved justice. She lied to both her potential love-interests. She lied to Willie, the woman who was helping her to get to better her life, even though Willie her self ran a whorehouse. I hated her stupidity in not telling Willie, quietly about the situation she found herself in, having to pay her mothers debt. I loathed the way that she resented her mother and felt she was better than her, yet came so close to becoming a prostitute herself.

      Given Josie's love of books, you would think I would have loved her because of the shared interest, but she was just so stupid and frustrating that I couldn't even enjoy the interesting plot and excellent writing.
    • 5/5
      This is the second book I have read by Ruta Sepetys and I must say she is quickly becoming a favorite author to me! This is a well researched, beautifully written 1950's historical. You really get the feel of being in New Orleans in 1950.

      Josie (Jo) is a very well written character. She is strong, intelligent and very realistic. She is an extremely believable character with a good blend of strengths and flaws. She is a teenage girl who lives on her own, and wants desperately to get out of New Orleans and go to college. With a prostitute for a mother and no known father her goal seems to be a pipe dream. A sick friend, and a murder mystery just adds to her troubles.

      Her mother is an evil piece of work. I loathe her. One of the most self-centered ladies ever! What she does to Jo in this book buts the word awful to shame! Then there is Willie who runs the whorehouse where Jo cleans and her mother sells herself. It took the longest time to make up my mind about her. I like her no nonsense attitude but I always felt that she was hiding something. Then there is Cokie. I loved Cokie. He is the driver for Willie and acts like a uncle and friends to Jo. I think I could have a great time hanging out with him, sweet and fun as he is!

      There is a bit a love triangle between her, Patrick and Jesse. Jesse is the ladies man mechanic of the Quarter with a bit of a 'bad boy' edge. Patrick is the son of the owner of the bookstore where she lives and works. The smart intellect, caring for his ill father. Now while I say love triangle it is very mild through a lot of it. It is not drawn out like so many other books these days. Very simple and plausible.

      The way everything is written out is perfect. From the clothing, the whorehouse, the Quarter in general.... Every scene was very visible in my mind. You really feel like you are right there with Josie at all times. Seeing, tasting and smelling everything she does. It has a slightly artistic edge and it very evident that Ruta took her time to research New Orleans and the time period. This book comes with my full recommendation for all teenagers and adults.
    • 5/5
      It took me a while to get into this, but once I did I loved it. Not the only book I've read recently to hinge on a poor-girl-dreams-of-going-to-college storyline, nor is it the only book I've read where a second hand bookshop features prominently (oh how authors seem to love them, despite the fact they pay no commission to authors!), but it has an individual feel to it, perhaps because of the proximity of the local brothel, home to the protagonist's mother and a host of tarts-with-hearts. I'm setting aside the fact that Josie as the daughter of a prostitute has been brought up in that type of environment and has a mother who would happily turn up to a parent-teacher meeting at school dressed in a fur coat and nothing else, and yet against all theories of nature/nurture, has grown up as level-headed and bookish as you could wish. I liked very much the way the story proceeds gently, one thing leading to another, until close to the end you catch up with the fact that there's a major crisis and think, wow, how did THAT happen? An impressive piece of writing.
    • 4/5
      This was a fun book to read. It was written for the older teen market but adults will enjoy it just as much. The premise involves the child of a prostitute seeking to better her life through education and getting out of the big easy. I'm from the north and this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone wanting to get out of New Orleans! Very enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      I think Ruta Sepetys is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. While I did like Between Shades of Grey better, this book was still amazing and a good debut! It really caught my attention and I didn't want to put the book down once I started! Some parts, as always, were a bit slow, but not enough that I wanted to stop reading. 5 out 5 stars. Amazing book.
    • 4/5
      A gripping young adult novel - eighteen year old Josie struggles with many tensions in her life. Her mother is a vicious, irresponsible woman, a prostitute, a thief. Josie is a survivor. Set in 1950, New Orleans the novel is well-paced and leads to a nerve-wracking climax. I read it in one day. I did not want to put it down.
    • 5/5
      The setting is steamy, seedy New Orleans in the 1950's. Living on her own since the age of eleven, as she grows older, she has definite goals which entail more than wondering where her next meal will come from.A child of a cold, manipulative sociopath, Josie longs to cut the ties from her mother whose claim to fame is good looks and the ability to make money by working in a brothel. Whenever her mother connects with her, there is trouble. Faster and speedier than a Dyson vacuum cleaner, Josie's mother sucks the energy and vitality right out of Josie's hope to live a "normal" life.Hanging out with a brutal mobster, her mother's boy friend Cincinnati is as nasty and evil as she. The two steal, harm and physically abuse those in their path.When an attractive architect visits New Orleans and ends up dead, Josie's mother was one of the the last people who saw him. While her mother steals, robs and harms Josie any way she can, Josie is intelligent and surrounds herself with wonderful friends who love her, including the Willie, the madam of the house of prostitution. The cast if characters are well developed and Josie's toughness and vulnerability render her a very likable character that the reader cannot help but route for and long for her to fulfill her dream of attending college at Smith. There are beautiful passages of description of the downtown French Quarter and the uptown snobbery of the higher echelon who look down on Josie.Struggling to find an identity other than a daughter of a crazy prostitute, Josie looks for a way out of the easy and into a life where she can accomplish freedom and the respect she deserves.Highly recommended.. 4.5 stars.
    • 3/5
      Josie Moraine really wants to escape the confines of her reputation (defined by her mother who is not only a prostitute but a horrible person) in 1950s New Orleans. Despite having no parental support, Josie is surrounded by adults and peers who love her and respect her: Cokie, the dark-skinned taxi driver, Charlie, the bookstore owner who gave her a home above the store, his son Patrick and Josie's best friend, and finally Willie, the brothel's madam. Charlotte, an upperclass college girl befriends Josie and makes her long for a life away from the sleaze of French Quarter by encouraging her to apply to east coast Smith.Although a murder mystery lends some intrigue, this story unfolds more as a character study, slowly revealing truths about each of the individuals in Josie's life. The climax of the story hinges not on solving the crime but rather on how Josie will respond to the pressures around her.
    • 4/5
      The historical setting of this book is a real treat and Josie is a likable main character surrounded by interesting and believable secondary characters. (I was especially impressed that both her love interests came across as having actual lives of their own that didn't entirely depend on her and what she did.)

      There are only two things that keep me from giving the book a 5 star rating. One is that Josie's voice doesn't feel entirely authentic--we're constantly told how tough she is, but really she doesn't seem nearly as jaded or traumatized as you would expect someone with her life story to be. Though I liked the character, I never really believed that she would exist in real life.

      My other complaint is that the ending gets wrapped up REALLY quickly and predictably and doesn't allow Josie a large enough role in her own salvation. Not bad enough to keep me from recommending the book or from really enjoying it overall, but still, definitely keeping it from an "absolutely loved it" rating.
    • 5/5
      Fresh, exciting, with a main character I'd love to know and hang out with.
    • 5/5
      This young adult historical fiction follows seventeen-year-old Josie as she navigates life in New Orleans as the uncherished daughter of a prostitute. Josie is good in school; wants to pursue higher education; and needs to get out of the city that has low expectations for her. Unlikely friends and supporters can help her on her journey, but can't protect her from her hindersome mother. A murder mystery further complicates the scene...While prostitution, a brothel, and murder are central figures in this novel, they aren't sensational or explicit in detail. I would recommend this book for mature young adults and adults.
    • 4/5
      I liked this a lot, it's a fairly straightforward story of a girl living in the French Quarter in New Orleans in the early 1940s. She wants to go to Smith, her mom is a prostitute in a brothel, and then there's a crime. CRIME. It has maybe a hint of a noir feel to it.Probably my favorite thing about this is that it handled Josie's decisions -- good and bad -- in a way that felt believable and natural to the world of the story, as opposed to how it makes me crazy when I'm reading something and a character makes bad decisions that seem to simply exist for the sake of moving the plot into a conflict. In this book, it felt completely reasonable that a well-intentioned person in this situation would make some choices that weren't the best, but were still very understandable given the circumstances. This felt like a book that I could see myself reading about million times over and over if I had owned it when I was a kid, because I love(d) stories like this that included a lot of very satisfying details and made a time and a place very tangible, almost mundane. Not boring mundane, more like pleasantly familiar mundane. And I am not really familiar with New Orleans brothels. I would have read it over and over and STILL not gotten what was going on with Patrick, though. :)
    • 5/5
      Josie Moraine is sharp, independent, and well-read. She's also the daughter of a French Quarter prostitute, and she feels that, as long as she lives in New Orleans, that's all that people will see. Josie's fondest wish is to go to college, preferably somewhere far away from the Big Easy, but it's not so easy to leave. Josie is saving every penny she can while working two jobs, but it will take years to earn enough to pay tuition to Smith, her dream school. And she can't ask her mother for help, considering that her mother is more likely to steal Josie's savings than to chip in money for college. Josie doesn't know who her father was, but she likes to imagine that he was someone good and kind, someone like Forrest Hearne, a gentleman from out of state who stops by the bookstore on New Years Eve, 1949, and speaks kindly to Josie about Dickens and Keats. Even in a brief exchange, Hearne makes Josie feel interesting, as if he sees her as someone with potential. But a few hours later, Hearne is dead -- and the next morning, while cleaning the brothel where her mother works, Josie discovers Forrest Hearne's watch under her mother's bed. Josie finds herself caught up in the murder investigation, first through her own curiosity, and later through her mother's involvement. She's also caught up in the drama of applying to Smith, fighting for a space among a crowd of applicants with more extracurricular activities and better references. To top it off, she's caught between two potential suitors, one who holds the comfort of long friendship, while the other is exciting and charming. Will she choose the former, the latter, or neither? After all, what she wants most isn't a man, but a ticket out of the Easy.This is one of those books I can't believe I waited this long to read. The characters are layered and complex, and Josie is likeable, but also believable -- sharp, salty, and strong. She's the sort of character that you root for, but she's also a little unpredictable, so you never quite know how the story will turn out. The secondary characters are likewise well-written. I wanted a bit more from the mystery aspect of the plot, and the New Orleans atmosphere was a little diluted, but those are small criticisms when stacked against all of the goodness of the characters and writing. I definitely recommend this one.
    • 4/5
      Jo's mother is a prostitute in New Orleans. Since she was 12, Jo has lived in a small room on top of a bookshop to be away from her mother. She supports herself by working in the bookshop and cleaning the bordello where her mother works. Now, Jo has graduated high school, and wants to go to college in Massachusetts. But her family background may hold her back.
    • 5/5
      Ruta Sepetys is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. She writes characters who are easy to love and hate, settings you can lose yourself in, and histories that feel contemporary. In "Out of the Easy" we meet Josie Moraine, daughter of a prostitute with big dreams of going to college and making something of herself. Josie's life is filled with colorful characters; the madam who is more of a mother to her than her own, the driver who loves her like a father, the other women who live in the brothel, and the boys who are both friend and more than friend. The story moves along at a fast pace. The reader is immediately pulled into a mystery, but underneath that plot are a dozen smaller ones that are compelling and wonderful. Readers will empathize with Josie and root for her along the way. While this book is not as emotionally devastating as "Between Shades of Gray" it will still break your heart. Sepetys is a talented author who writes richly layered stories and I can't wait to see where she takes her readers next!Pick this one up, you won't regret it.