My review of Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust!

More like 4.5 stars! Excellent book and ministry tool. Highly recommended.

About the book:

Fear of being abandoned keeps nineteen-year-old Harmony Dust trapped in an abusive and cruel relationship. She thinks she has hit bottom-tens of thousands of dollars in debt, struggling to get by, and so controlled by her boyfriend that she doesn't protest when he begins openly sleeping around. Things can't get worse . . . until someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next three years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a fully-nude strip club.


Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this story/memoir and read it straight through. I found it compelling and well written. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't a novel because it read like one. The author gives the reader a real feel for the lifestyle and how a young woman can get pulled into it without making the reader feel icky. Not an easy task with this type of subject matter. I appreciate how she showed that God had used the damage from her past to heal her in the present, and to prepare her for the future so she could minister to others.

I personally have been in similar situations as have many of the people I've worked with in child welfare. In these situations they agreed to something they didn't want to do out of fear of losing something they thought they had but was never really theirs to begin with. That particular theme in the story is what makes it so sad and yet, so real. The early childhood abuse taught her not to fight or to assert herself because she would always lose. That is how so many teens that I have worked with felt about themselves. They would make poor choices because they felt they had no choice. Yet when they realized they'd had a choice it was too late. Sad, but very real life. Bottom line...the authenticity of the story amazed me. And to be brave enough to tell it in all of it's shameful subject matter is incredible. That can only be done with God's help.

In Scars and Stilettos I didn't feel like the author was trying to glorify her past, but intended to walk the reader through her story in regards to the thought and emotion she went through as she deal with so many things. It was even powerful of a story in that regard. The beauty of how God reached her right where she was inspired me the most. How true that you don't win people to Christ by shaming them, but by filling them with the love of Christ, and then the behavior changes. You can't make anyone change by condeming them, but with love, you can move mountains. Isn't that so true? This book is not a downer; I really encouraged me. I loved that Harmony pointed out that she waited to heal before getting involved in a new relationship. That was a very healthy message. I have nothing but good things to say about this book.

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