Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Secret Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World

by Christopher McDougall

Gloria Trevi, Mexico's most popular singer in the 1990s, stunned fans and the world when revelations surfaced that the talent school she and her boyfriend, producer Sergio Andrade, operated was a front for a sex-slave operation. Trevi eluded authorities for two years before being apprehended and jailed in Brazil, where she then became pregnant and blamed a guard for raping her. An extradition struggle ensued, with the Mexican government demanding her return and Brazil denying the request -- on the grounds that the parent of a Brazilian-born child cannot be extradited. The shocking truth of the baby's paternity is only one twist in this stranger-than-fiction tale. In Girl Trouble , Christopher McDougall recounts the complete story of how Trevi rose to fame and then notoriety. With exclusive interviews with Trevi, Andrade, and many of the victims, he offers readers an inside look at this scandal that continues to astound a decade later.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Memoir

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Christopher McDougall is an American author and journalist best known for his 2009 best-selling book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. He has also written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men's Journal, and New York, and was a contributing editor for Men's Health.

McDougall is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University. He spent three years as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, covering civil wars in Rwanda and Angola.

Reviews

[Luella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was great that the author wanted to put this story out there. Cases like this one are reminiscent of the brain control exerted over the Mason Family or Patti Hearst and the sexual obedience reads like that of the case of Colleen Stan. It is also fitting that he exposed emotional abuse and manipulation which is really poorly understood and can often make people outside the situation point fingers at the victim because it seems so illogical from the outside. For that I give the author big Kudos.

That being said I think this book could have used a better fact-checker and or editor. There is a place in the Afterward where two words are smashed together "shespent." There is another point where the author mistakenly says that Sergio was thirty-seven when he was really actually thirty-five in 1990, and another were he lists Aline Hernández as being married to Sergio when she was thirteen to seventeen, when she was actually married to Sergio from the time she was fifteen to seventeen. He never explained the origin of that photo of the the girl in the bra in the X graphic that is used at the beginning of each chapter.

The author uses the world middle-aged very freely referring to Gloria Trevi as middle-aged at 33 and Sergio as middle-aged at 35. Sometimes it feels like he tweaked already shocking material to make it even more so for dramatic effect which makes it almost soap opera like. And he repeats some points several times that to me seem unnecessary and non-essential to the story, for instance his harping about Gloria Trevi being barely covered up in the calendars or when the author keeps mentioning that he finds Aline Hernández unattractive.

Sometimes he says things like Crystal was past her prime in her twenties and while I assume he trying to make the effect that this is something he is saying through Sergio's eyes from the way it was written it is actually not that clear whose opinion it was. At another point he goes on a rant about Gloria being upset about Aline's belly button showing even though Gloria would later take her own panties off on stage as if to say so her outrage over an exposed navel is ridiculous. But the way it is written it makes him come off sound like a judgmental prude or something. The tone of the book is all over the place, it would have done some good to go over it all again and make sure the parts matched up more clearly. There is a lot of information here and it doesn't tie together very well. It seems when you are done reading it like a jigsaw puzzle that is missing pieces. This book needs polish. Another thing that bugged me is that he mentions that he got in for interviews with both Gloria and Sergio but he never mentions how those interviews concluded or how much information in the book is actually from those interviews.

I think a timeline could have helped a lot. Putting it in the appendix maybe? Something like that starts at the time of Sergio's birth and shows in x year he had his first son etc. Or even a map that shows the route of where they traveled while they were hiding out. I think that would have made the story easier to follow. It would have probably been beneficial to hold off publication until Sergio's trail had concluded as well. The story ends with Gloria's verdict and if that was the point of the story that now that the world knows what would happen to Gloria it doesn't matter what happens to Sergio then fine I can take that.

I think it was a good attempt and an important story it could always be re-released with the errors corrected, tone clarified and new information especially now that he wrote Born to Run he might get a whole new audience exposed to this strange saga.

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the kind of book I would normally read, however it was one of the many books I got from the big book give-away at work, and I figured I'd give it a shot. It turned out to be a fascinating and disturbing story. It was amazing how many girls gave themselves over to the sociopathic monster that was Sergio Andrade, but then again, people who are desperate for fame, or to escape poverty or their mundane life are frequently willing to put up with a lot of abuse. Many people suffer the same kinds of abuse at the hands of zealous religious institutions as well, and there is a background of blind adherence to Catholicism in the mix as well. It's difficult to tell how complicit Gloria Trevi was in the whole cult-like organization; she was certainly culpable to some degree, despite being found not guilty, but she was also a victim.
What is truly astounding though, is how fans will insist with absolute certainty that there could be nothing going wrong, because these people are stars, dammit, and that is a behavior that cuts across all countries. In this book, people didn't want to believe anything bad about Andrade even though he was clearly a disgusting, unrepentant pedophile and sadist, because he had written such sensitive songs. There is a parallel to the excuses made for abusive priests.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. McDougall is fortunate to have a story lurid and unbelievable enough that his limits as a storyteller can be mostly overlooked. Much of this was repetitive but my main issue with this book is that it reads like a novel. McDougall mentions two interviews he conducted in the nearly 300 pages of this book. It's assumed he interviewed the other subjects, whose thoughts, actions and words the 1990s are presented unquestioningly here. Another issue is the fact that he goes into detail on how psychologically damaging abusers can be and yet he doesn't extend that explanation to Gloria, though he explicitly recounts the details of her abuse very closely. Much of this reads as an attack against Gloria Trevi with no real reason given why we shouldn't believe Gloria suffered emotional and mental abuse over the many years she spent with Sergio. Is it because she's famous and rich and should somehow know better? This was a wholly disappointing endeavor that wanted to do no more than titillate audiences and draw caricatures of people who lived through a disgusting trauma.

[Marie Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the most disturbing book I've ever read.

[Mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

The name Gloria Trevi was vaguely familiar to me as a musical performer, however I was previoiusly unaware of the scandal associated with her music and acting career. The book tells a compelling stranger than fiction tale, a definite page turner. At times I did find the book a bit difficult to track in regards to timing of events and also in regards to the various he said she said accounts of events. However I have not previously read any of Mr. McDougall's work and am unsure if this is his writing style or rather the possibility that my own confusion at times may have been a reflection of the reality of the situation and perhaps he was doing his best to account for a tale with many different sides and unclear facts. However, more important than the specifics or details of conversations, the book brings to light a larger social issue that needs attention. The very sad and real situation of the vulnerability and desperation of young people to seek out and value fame and their willingness to compromise their dignity, values, and family relations in attemtps to attain celebirty status. My hope is that this book does not bring Gloria and Sergio more fame and attention but rather can speak to lives of young women who may be tempted to sacrifice their dignity in their pursuit of fame.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty wild story, and TRUE apparently. I spoke to a fan of Gloria Trevi who's from Mexico and she doesn't believe she was guilty of ANY of the things she was accused of in the book ("...because she was just a girl..", she said). It's pretty amazing how easily the Latin American public has forgiven and embraced her once again too.

[Anna Wanderer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because, while I hate to run, I really enjoyed Christopher McDougall's book about running. I thought he could tell a story very well. This story is really lurid and it's hard to tell who is telling the truth at many times but it is interesting. I don't think I'd highly recommend it but if you're looking for a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction type story this is for you.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an interesting, I felt it read more as a speculative opinion piece rather than a true saga of Gloria Trevi.

And like any Mexican novela, the ending was completely rushed. After all the groundwork laid, the way this book ended was short and didn't seem to have a main focus.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh....given the chance, I would not re-read this. Long, rambling, very little factual date/time information, it jumps back and forth in the storyline, doesn't wrap up very well.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Echoes of Harvey Weinstein, P Diddy, etc

[Rhias Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, this book is pure trash - but it is one hell of a ride.

[Elizabeth Reuter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and heart-wrenching. McDougall goes over the manipulation these girls endured, and then helps explain to readers how such brainwashing and abuse works, turning this into both a true-crime report and an introduction to predatory pedophiles and their victims.

This one's good for anyone interested in true crime, Mexican culture, celebrity, or in how brainwashing works. I couldn't put it down.

- Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fascinating. The only problem is, I'm unable to do more research because the majority of the articles and all of the videos online are in Spanish. Gloria Trevi is an excellent performer from what I've seen online. Sergio sounds like a terrifying, sociopathic man who could write a book on the art of manipulation. Creepy.

[Carolina Madrid]

I didn't know much about Gloria Trevi when I inherited this book from my sister in law. A really fascinating guilty pleasure of a read. You probably, like me, don't really care much about some aging Mexican pop star, but her story was really interesting and sad and shocking. It was a page turner. I enjoyed it a lot. A beach read, and a pretty good one. A cautionary tale for sure!

[Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned that people can and will do anything to be noticed and looked at. This is written by a journalist so it has that kind of style to it. It is hard to put down because of all the crazy shhit that went on.

[Lviva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre story that I had to put down for bits of time because it was kind of tiring to read about so much wacky stuff described with intense detail. Would recommend if you are familiar with Mexican pop culture otherwise skip.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of Gloria Trevi before I read this book, but that didn't prevent it from being interesting.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of Gloria Trevi, called "The Mexican Madonna". In the early 1990's, as a teen-ager, she was a "bad girl" superstar singer, having been launched into her career by famous music producer Sergio Andrade, known as "Mr. Midas". The story gets twisted from there. And I do mean twisted. Turns out Mr Midas was a pedophile who preferred 12-year-old girls. He ran a "talent school" for years and eventually accumulated twelve young girls, many of whom he impregnated, including Gloria.It's well researched and cogently written. This story illustrates that truth is stranger than fiction Hands down.

[Elaine O'Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insane story ... well worth a read