Exactly how steamy is this story?
R, NC -17
This is a young adult book about human sex trafficking—so the rating for this one is more for the content matter than, say, explicit language in the text.
In Sold sex is not equated with romance or love or anything positive. Sex is only used for the violation of women, for the greedy satisfaction of men, and as a means to gain power over others. It's used for profit, and there is virtually nothing of emotional intimacy sometimes tied to sex in the novel. In fact, the only emotional intimacy Lakshmi experiences is with the hugging man.
And the sex in Sold is absolutely brutal. McCormick wants to show us the reality that many of the people sold into slavery live in. Lakshmi is raped repeatedly, and even when she becomes accustomed to her life and the helplessness she feels, even as she searches for things to feel joy about, the violation of her body and spirit are always in the forefront of our minds.