Review of The Price of Worthlessness

Stephanie Runyon · Post by **Stephanie Runyon** » 09 May 2023, 20:11

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Price of Worthlessness" by Gloria Eveleigh.]

4 out of 5 stars

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Gloria Eveleigh’s novel The Price Of Worthlessness addresses human trafficking from the point of view of Petra. After seeing her popular sister garner approval from her family, Petra joins the netball club. The netball coach, Mr. Ahmed, takes a personal interest in Petra, and the fourteen-year-old stays after practice. One afternoon, Mr. Ahmed tells her that his friend Marvin wants to get to know her better. The following Wednesday, Petra meets Marvin, a twenty-eight-year-old man. Despite their age difference, Marvin convinces Petra to keep their relationship secret. Events at Marvin’s apartment led to multiple men raping the young girl. Petra tells the police. All of her forensic evidence disappears. Two months pass before Petra disappears after school. Marvin abducts her, and the story details her life in a sex trafficking ring.

There are a few parts of this book that I find unbelievable. I understood Petra was young and naive, but a man twice her age wanting to have a serious relationship with her is odd. She knew it was wrong because she didn’t want her parents to find out. I saw several times that she could have easily escaped. It was frustrating to see how she didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.

I appreciated the format of the story. The book starts in December 2005, when Petra was fourteen. It progressed in monthly increments until February 2008, when she was eighteen. It described the steps of grooming Petra in great detail. The sexual acts were vague, with a focus on Petra’s emotions. There were several moments where the story would take an abrupt turn, which kept me engrossed all the way to the conclusion.

I am confident in rating The Price Of Worthlessness 4 out of 5 stars. Human trafficking is a horrible crime, but the multiple warning signs in the story were obvious. I felt Petra’s family should have picked up on their daughter’s sudden change in behavior. I am honestly skeptical that any young teen would seriously think an adult loved them. The story Marvin told Petra about the rapes was absurd. I encountered only a few errors and felt this book’s editing was professionally done.

I recommend this novel to readers interested in the psychological effects and the processes criminals used to imprison their victims. The number of people involved in human trafficking is shocking. They explored the lack of prosecution for crimes in depth. This book is not appropriate for younger readers because of the serious content and the violence involved.

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The Price of Worthlessness
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Cheryl Erickson · Post by **Cheryl Erickson** » 13 May 2023, 10:52

I have just seen TV shows involving human trafficking and rape. Reading a book about it would be even more horrifying, I'm sure. I just hope Petra was somehow rescued from that living hell and found a way to heal. You have made some thoughtful points in your book review. Well done.

Kavita Shah · Post by **Kavita Shah** » 17 May 2023, 00:49

Fantatic review Stephanie. You've written a good summary and it looks like an eye-opener about the dark side of the world
When you're kept away from family, or people don't notice you much, a stranger(irrespective of age) who listens or is there will be like light in darkness and you'll rush to it like a moth.

María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda · 17 May 2023, 09:13

There are a few parts of this book that I find unbelievable. I understood Petra was young and naive, but a man twice her age wanting to have a serious relationship with her is odd. She knew it was wrong because she didn’t want her parents to find out. I saw several times that she could have easily escaped. It was frustrating to see how she didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.

I guess we all (especially teens) do things that we know are sort of wrong...But most of us don't think about the possibly catastrophic consequences.

I appreciated the format of the story. The book starts in December 2005, when Petra was fourteen. It progressed in monthly increments until February 2008, when she was eighteen. It described the steps of grooming Petra in great detail. The sexual acts were vague, with a focus on Petra’s emotions. There were several moments where the story would take an abrupt turn, which kept me engrossed all the way to the conclusion.

I hope people who read this learn to recognize the signs of grooming. If more people, including parents, knew about this, we could be actively vigilant against this evil.

I am confident in rating The Price Of Worthlessness 4 out of 5 stars. Human trafficking is a horrible crime, but the multiple warning signs in the story were obvious. I felt Petra’s family should have picked up on their daughter’s sudden change in behavior. I am honestly skeptical that any young teen would seriously think an adult loved them. The story Marvin told Petra about the rapes was absurd. I encountered only a few errors and felt this book’s editing was professionally done.

I wonder that often, too. But I guess families often have blind spots regarding their own behavior.

Fantastic review, my friend!

Akuvi Kafui Akpawu · Post by **Akuvi Kafui Akpawu** » 24 May 2023, 17:43

I like your comments Maria Andrea Fernandez Sepulveda. Your comment "I guess we all (especially teens) do things that we know are sort of wrong...But most of us don't think about the possibly catastrophic consequences." I agree with you. Petra seemed like a normal teen. And like all teens it's normal to rebel a bit and not follow everything our parents tell us...Also as Petra was young and naive, when you haven't encountered evil before or haven't been taught discernment, it is really not obvious at all to know what is good and evil or what is normal or not....Unfortunately in this world, not every one is lucky to have educated parents, or parents that know how to guide children so they never make the same mistakes they did. Just like 'Candide' (in the book 'Candide from Voltaire')....when you're good, and bad things happen, you are in such a shock that it takes a while first to understand that something really bad happened....(some people will never learn this, and some will be in denial, because it is very surprising, when you've never encountered evil before). When I first read Candid, I found it funny that every time something bad happened, he kept his optimism and firmly believed that everything was perfect, in his perfect world....But actually, now I don't think it's funny at all, because unfortunately, it was the truth.... People who are never exposed to evil, will always have a hard time, to believe it happened #1, and #2, to believe that there will be a happy ending and evil will be punished, and confirm that the world is perfect...Not funny at all....especially to those suffering...their pain doesn't decrease when you hear such things. Also the way the author described her first reaction when she got raped the first, time, emphasizes that Petra has never experienced such bad intent before, and not saying anything just shows how shocked she was....she was in so much shock she couldn't complain out loud, because she was in so much pain...and the pain of the betrayal of Marvin...She had double pain, a pain of rape, and a broken heart....I think that was too much for her. She must have had some trauma. If you ever experienced something this close, you will then realize that in state of shock you just can't think of an escape....it really hard to explain. Especially when the shock prolongs and gets worse and no one comes to the rescue, you are how do I say like in a mental prison....In the scenario that she only had 1 rape and was separated from Marvin and had time to recover for at least a month, yes I think the options of saying that she could have thought of an escape would have been feasible...but the fact that there was no rest, no separation from Marvin and more trauma, means that Marvin knew how to control her without making it visible. That's when we see how dangerous he is.
So I really like your comments Maria, and yes in the end of the book when we find out more, I think there could be more speculation on the wellbeing of Petra.....

Stephanie Runyon · Post by **Stephanie Runyon** » 29 May 2023, 20:11

Trauma lasts well beyond the incident. I was raised that nobody is going to help you; a closed mouth never get's fed. I think my upbringing and life experience has made me borderline paranoid of most situations. I always look for the options to exit any room I enter, I also size up the people, and am hypervigilant of anything that is abnormal. While Petra was an employee at the nail salon, she had ample opportunity to seek help from the police. Her actions after being reunited made no sense to me. But then again, I was raised a lot differently than she was.

Post by **Hazel Mae Bagarinao** » 30 May 2023, 16:56

The story sounds tough, especially for Petra. I think my heart rose to sadness when I read a novel that portrays human trafficking, abduction, and rape of a young teen. Your review is amazingly written, Stephanie!

Omneya Shakeep · Post by **Omneya Shakeep** » 10 Jun 2023, 17:07

I thought the same while reading the book: that she should have thought better, read the signs in Marvin's odd behaviour, and couldn't understand how she could believe his clumsy story about her rape. However, after thinking about it, I discovered that her behaviour is a result of her naive mindset and upbringing. The difference in each person's mental strength is what makes people's decisions differ from one another. I enjoyed reading your review very much, Stephanie. This is an amazing review!