Review of The Price of Worthlessness
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Janki Patel
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Review of The Price of Worthlessness
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Price of Worthlessness" by Gloria Eveleigh.]
The Price of Worthlessness by Gloria Eveleigh is a work of fiction about the life of a teenage girl, Petra, and her journey of being involved in sex trafficking.
Petra, a middle child and merely fourteen years old, in an attempt to assuage her parents' worry about her not having a social life, joins the after-school netball club. Unaccustomed to extensive praise, she is roped in by her netball teacher into believing that one of his friends, Marvin, would like to go on a date with her. She secretly decides to meet Marvin and starts to fall in love with him, only to realise later that she is stuck in an utterly degrading and abusive situation. Wanting to correct things, she instead finds herself dragged into the world of prostitution.
This book deals with some heavy themes, and therefore I'd suggest checking out the trigger warnings before reading this book. Right off the bat, the book engages with Petra's personality traits and does so really well. It all adds up to her decision and subsequently justification to date Marvin. Following this, the readers are engulfed in the levels of sex trafficking and how they operate. The book captures the debilitating impact of such horrendous acts on the victims of human trafficking through Petra's story. While many such stories end with victims finally going back home after successful police action, this book gives equal if not more importance to the rehabilitation of the victims. It delves into a barrage of psychological issues from PTSD to panic attacks that became a part and parcel of Petra's life.
The book perfectly articulates Petra's dilemma of not belonging to either the normal life back home or the life she was forced into. Although Petra was living a life she did not choose, she eventually found companionship with girls in a similar situation as hers. The story also brings to light that trafficking rackets cannot function without some higher government functionary involved and thus brings out the ugly aspects of the business. What I loved the most about the book was the way the author captures the behavioral anomalities in Petra after she is finally back home. It had an almost confusing touch to it, depicting what Petra must be feeling but not knowing the reason for the same.
In totality, the book, though heavy to read, is definitely a must-read book. I liked the author's approach to the subject. Moreover, the descriptions of the atrocities aren't too graphic, which, for me, goes on to describe the numbness of the victims while they are subjected to degrading acts. The book would have been perfect if not for the numerous typing and grammatical errors. For the above-mentioned reasons, I rate this book four out of five.
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The Price of Worthlessness
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Price of Worthlessness by Gloria Eveleigh is a work of fiction about the life of a teenage girl, Petra, and her journey of being involved in sex trafficking.
Petra, a middle child and merely fourteen years old, in an attempt to assuage her parents' worry about her not having a social life, joins the after-school netball club. Unaccustomed to extensive praise, she is roped in by her netball teacher into believing that one of his friends, Marvin, would like to go on a date with her. She secretly decides to meet Marvin and starts to fall in love with him, only to realise later that she is stuck in an utterly degrading and abusive situation. Wanting to correct things, she instead finds herself dragged into the world of prostitution.
This book deals with some heavy themes, and therefore I'd suggest checking out the trigger warnings before reading this book. Right off the bat, the book engages with Petra's personality traits and does so really well. It all adds up to her decision and subsequently justification to date Marvin. Following this, the readers are engulfed in the levels of sex trafficking and how they operate. The book captures the debilitating impact of such horrendous acts on the victims of human trafficking through Petra's story. While many such stories end with victims finally going back home after successful police action, this book gives equal if not more importance to the rehabilitation of the victims. It delves into a barrage of psychological issues from PTSD to panic attacks that became a part and parcel of Petra's life.
The book perfectly articulates Petra's dilemma of not belonging to either the normal life back home or the life she was forced into. Although Petra was living a life she did not choose, she eventually found companionship with girls in a similar situation as hers. The story also brings to light that trafficking rackets cannot function without some higher government functionary involved and thus brings out the ugly aspects of the business. What I loved the most about the book was the way the author captures the behavioral anomalities in Petra after she is finally back home. It had an almost confusing touch to it, depicting what Petra must be feeling but not knowing the reason for the same.
In totality, the book, though heavy to read, is definitely a must-read book. I liked the author's approach to the subject. Moreover, the descriptions of the atrocities aren't too graphic, which, for me, goes on to describe the numbness of the victims while they are subjected to degrading acts. The book would have been perfect if not for the numerous typing and grammatical errors. For the above-mentioned reasons, I rate this book four out of five.
******
The Price of Worthlessness
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Bar Maid by Daniel Roberts
