Evalina Martinez is only fourteen when she catches the eye of film star Richard Goods. As she turns fifteen, he meets her and her parents in Gdansk, Poland and arranges for her to come on a shopping trip to London. On the trip, he can feel his desire for her growing. After that, it is a small step before he is inviting her to stay and live with him in Los Angeles in his palatial home and away from her existence in Poland. He buys her everything she needs and introduces her to a new life all the while feeling a growing desire for the girl. That is not helped when his aide Chris becomes attracted to her as well catching the eye of Richard’s best friend Rufus. Evelina finds herself drawn to Richard, who provides everything for her, but when she watches him having sex with someone else at a party, she wonders what place there is for her there, as a young girl in L.A with nowhere else to go.

Framed as a story within the story of Evalina’s memoirs being written, this is billed as the story of a young girl growing up. Or if you look at it from another angle, the story of the three abusers and the abuse victim they groom using their influence, money and power to manipulate her. There is a strong case that could be made for unreliable narrator where the constant refrain of “she made me do it” rings so horribly false when you consider the ages of the men in question. Given that viewpoint, it suddenly becomes a very uncomfortable story to read. Evalina herself switches from being a naive child to someone growing into her sexuality as a young woman, but make no mistake, she is far from responsible for the actions of anyone else in the story. It doesn’t help that all the main male characters in the book are lusting after her, and all commit abuse and, on occasion worse, at one point or another. It’s not even that it is hidden away, as it is clearly commented by them, that what they did would and should incur jail time, but somehow still seem to blame Evalina for their own failings.

Aside from that, what I can say is that the book is well written. The scenes and feelings come across clearly, no matter how deluded they may be. The slow, clear, descent of the actions and repercussions of what happens is neatly laid out and the inherent jealousies and interactions help to move the story along at a steady pace. It is well laid out and I didn’t notice any major spelling or grammar errors and while the material may have been difficult, the ease of reading the book and the understanding what is going on was clear.

This is a difficult book to read, not an awakening, but far more a story of the grooming and abuse of a young girl. I’m honestly not sure what the author was aiming for either, seeing as I was slowly stripped of any illusion about what this book turns out to be from the one I thought I was going to be reading.