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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Gut wrenching, devastating, poetic, fierce. What a read. It's a book I'll keep thinking about for a while
Beautifully written, very intense story of poverty, survival and the drive to stay connected to one who cares for you when so few people do. I found this a difficult story to read - the treatment of both young women by people who did not really see them except as bodies to be abused. It is hard to witness their lack of value to societies that considered them less than worthy by virtue of gender, caste/class and physical differences. I loved each of them for their strength but overall found this to be a very disturbing story.
“What fools we all are. We girls. Afraid of the wrong things, at the wrong times. Afraid of a burned face, when outside waiting for you are fires you cannot imagine. Men, holding matches up to your gasoline eyes. Flames, flames all around you, licking at your just-born breasts, your just-bled body. And infernos. Infernos as wide as the world. Waiting to impoverish you, make you ash, and even the wind, even the wind. Even the wind, my dear, she thought, watching you burn, willing it, passing over you, and through you. Scattering you, because you are a girl, and because you are ash.” —Girls Burn Brighter, Shobha Rao
Am I, too, a fool Poorinma? A fool hoping that one day our world will be free of the disgusting and inhumane treatment of women, of people?
There are many potential triggers in this book so if you read it, be prepared for sexual assault and human trafficking.
Poorinma and Savitha have left me emotionally spent as I contemplate the dark reality of what girls and women have dealt with for centuries.
4 years of existence, clinging to the hope of being able to live without fear and with love. Remembering that it was only true when the two of you were together.
Do you have a friendship that burns so strongly that it would be the gasoline that fuels your endurance. A fire that even in the worst of times (and in this book we are far past the worst), you won't allow ANYONE to extinguish? Although you see over and over again, how so many girls/women have been blown out permanently.
Am I, too, a fool Poorinma? A fool hoping that one day our world will be free of the disgusting and inhumane treatment of women, of people?
There are many potential triggers in this book so if you read it, be prepared for sexual assault and human trafficking.
Poorinma and Savitha have left me emotionally spent as I contemplate the dark reality of what girls and women have dealt with for centuries.
4 years of existence, clinging to the hope of being able to live without fear and with love. Remembering that it was only true when the two of you were together.
Do you have a friendship that burns so strongly that it would be the gasoline that fuels your endurance. A fire that even in the worst of times (and in this book we are far past the worst), you won't allow ANYONE to extinguish? Although you see over and over again, how so many girls/women have been blown out permanently.
This book was a tough read for me and I almost put it down for good a handful of times. I couldn’t even get thru the final scene with one of the main characters. To quote another readers review….it’s basically torture porn. A lot of the rape scenes felt gratuitous and unnecessary and simply inserted for shock value. This book hurt my soul in such a way that I wish I hadn’t read it.
3.5 stars
First of all, I really struggled with how to rate this. In literally so many ways this should be a new favourite book of mine. I love multiculturalism, I love a raw story, I love a strong female friendship dynamic... But there was something missing for me. The central drive seemed to dip in some places and therefore the plot would stall and then the end?? Like what the heck, I read this whole story,I got connected with all of these characters and then I was left with no resolution.
A lot of people really didn't like the "series of unfortunate events" and said they were too brutal and used as plot devices. While this is not an easy story by any means (please see out tw's if you need to), I didn't think that the brutality was unnecessary. I think these things happen very often in the real world and the eye opening of that is a very important component of the story.
So yeah, I am stuck. I'd say middle of the road, but I can't do that either because I know I enjoyed the storytelling more than that so a 3.5? Also really random but this is literally the first floppy paperback I've come across in the UK and it was a joy to read.
First of all, I really struggled with how to rate this. In literally so many ways this should be a new favourite book of mine. I love multiculturalism, I love a raw story, I love a strong female friendship dynamic... But there was something missing for me. The central drive seemed to dip in some places and therefore the plot would stall and then the end?? Like what the heck, I read this whole story,I got connected with all of these characters and then I was left with no resolution.
A lot of people really didn't like the "series of unfortunate events" and said they were too brutal and used as plot devices. While this is not an easy story by any means (please see out tw's if you need to), I didn't think that the brutality was unnecessary. I think these things happen very often in the real world and the eye opening of that is a very important component of the story.
So yeah, I am stuck. I'd say middle of the road, but I can't do that either because I know I enjoyed the storytelling more than that so a 3.5? Also really random but this is literally the first floppy paperback I've come across in the UK and it was a joy to read.
There is no shortage of horrendous acts and tragedy in this novel, but the endless resiliency of these two girls shines through. A great read.
This book! The story of Poornima and Savitha was heart wrenching to read. If you choose to pick this one up, be aware that the subject matter involves human trafficking and violence towards women. My rating would have been higher, were it not for the ending which made me so angry I had to throw the book across the room. Quite literally.
I’m struggling to write this review as I don’t where to start and how to feel about it. This is also a hard and brutal read. There are so many trigger warnings in this book - sexual abuse, violence, human trafficking to name a few - that made me stop and pause for awhile before continuing.
The book is about the story of Poornima and Savitha and the beautiful friendship they formed overtime. Life circumstances made them go separate ways -Poornima got married and lived with her husband’s family as custom
dictates while Savitha was forced to ran away from getting marriage out of rape.
Life was cruel for both of them and there were so many sufferings along the way but these girls’ hope and determination were very admirable. I like the first half of the book as we get to know them and their friendships. The second half of the book started to slow down and I was feeling frustrated that their reunion is not happening fast enough. The quest of Poornima to find Savitha was just too long and just when you have hopes that they can finally be together, the book just ended without you knowing what happened. I have to repeat the last chapter to double check that I did not miss out anything. Although I have read books with endings that authors will make you think, this is different. I feel I was left hanging and no closure at all.