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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
This book broke my heart in a way that no other has done in a very long time. A true crime revolving around the deaths of two young girls found hanging in an orchard. Rumors and speculation surround the case. Were they murdered? Raped and murdered? Was it an honor killing carried out by the fathers of the two girls?
It is stories such as this where we are reminded even now, oppression still exists. I was honestly not overly familiar with the customs and beliefs in India before reading this but I felt the author did an amazing job highlighting the challenges Indian girls and women face in their lives, as well as some of the political difficulties
some of the poorer communities face. The author gave incredible detail not just on the characters but the overall incompetency of the police investigation along with other examples showing this isn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.
I definitely recommend this if you are a fan of true crime. I would say this story is more heartbreaking in its detail rather than disturbing in detail. (Although there is some graphic explanation about the bodies, I don't think it was overly gruesome detail).Solid 5 stars, since writing a book with so much detail about a foreign country and their politics in a way that a reader not only doesn't feel completely lost but also keeps the pages turning is a significant accomplishment.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It is stories such as this where we are reminded even now, oppression still exists. I was honestly not overly familiar with the customs and beliefs in India before reading this but I felt the author did an amazing job highlighting the challenges Indian girls and women face in their lives, as well as some of the political difficulties
some of the poorer communities face. The author gave incredible detail not just on the characters but the overall incompetency of the police investigation along with other examples showing this isn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.
I definitely recommend this if you are a fan of true crime. I would say this story is more heartbreaking in its detail rather than disturbing in detail. (Although there is some graphic explanation about the bodies, I don't think it was overly gruesome detail).Solid 5 stars, since writing a book with so much detail about a foreign country and their politics in a way that a reader not only doesn't feel completely lost but also keeps the pages turning is a significant accomplishment.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Almost didn't finish... heavy subject matter and jumped all over the place.
Story sounded interesting at first, but it was very difficult to follow and keep up with what was happening listening to the audiobook.
Story sounded interesting at first, but it was very difficult to follow and keep up with what was happening listening to the audiobook.
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
I wish this had been fiction. Terrible to know that stories like these are happening on a daily basis in India.
Living in a country like India, where there are so many things that are still changing to become a better place for the generations to come, there still are places where education, equal rights for women and standard of living is a concern. The Good Girls - an ordinary killing, is an eye opening, heart breaking book about a true incident that occurred in the Katra Village of Uttar Pradesh, India.
The book is extremely well researched and well written, giving a feel of reading another crime or thriller novel. However, when it dawns upon you, that something like this incident, really happened, it gives the chills. I do remember this incident and the nation wide opinions people had about it. But to read such details about this case was a different experience altogether.
I have so many questions after reading this book. Questions like, will woman ever feel safe in this world? Do we have to hide from each and every person around us, just so we can live to see another day? I am lucky, I have privileges others don't, doesn't mean I am not afraid to come home alone at night. --Spoiler Alert-- The girls in this book, are young women, who meet a boy from the neighbouring village and engage in sexual activities. These girls do not have access to a toilet in their house, have to look after their homes, have been made to withdraw education and be married soon. With so many restrictions, on getting caught, they have no option but to die by suicide, so that they do not have to face their family, destroy their honour or worse, be killed by them. So another question that comes to be is, who really is at fault here? Something to ponder upon.
I will think about this book and a lot of crimes like this that go by. We do not even understand the reality of what is happening, thanks to the news channels dramatising every incident that happens and keeps us from facts. So I am thankful for this book and the details in it, for shining light on this case.
The book is extremely well researched and well written, giving a feel of reading another crime or thriller novel. However, when it dawns upon you, that something like this incident, really happened, it gives the chills. I do remember this incident and the nation wide opinions people had about it. But to read such details about this case was a different experience altogether.
I have so many questions after reading this book. Questions like, will woman ever feel safe in this world? Do we have to hide from each and every person around us, just so we can live to see another day? I am lucky, I have privileges others don't, doesn't mean I am not afraid to come home alone at night. --Spoiler Alert-- The girls in this book, are young women, who meet a boy from the neighbouring village and engage in sexual activities. These girls do not have access to a toilet in their house, have to look after their homes, have been made to withdraw education and be married soon. With so many restrictions, on getting caught, they have no option but to die by suicide, so that they do not have to face their family, destroy their honour or worse, be killed by them. So another question that comes to be is, who really is at fault here? Something to ponder upon.
I will think about this book and a lot of crimes like this that go by. We do not even understand the reality of what is happening, thanks to the news channels dramatising every incident that happens and keeps us from facts. So I am thankful for this book and the details in it, for shining light on this case.
Thanks to netgalley and groveatlantic for providing the e-arc.
This book didn't surprise me and that is a disturbing fact. We are so used to crime against women, police incompetence, broken systems, botched investigations and corrupt practices that nothing is a surprise anymore.
'One night in the summer of 2014' two girls of the Katra village, Sadatganj, UP went out to defecate in the fields and never returned home. The next morning they were found hanging from a tree in an orchard. Padma & Lalli (names changed) were first cousins and thick as thieves. They were always together, herding their goats or working in the farms, chatting up with other girls or snooping out at night. Together in life and in death.
Sonia Faleiro takes up this case as the centerpiece of her book which is about so much more than just a case. With a stupendous amount of research comprising of more than 200 interviews, chargesheets and investigation notes, news items, youtube videos, testimonies and more, the author draws a compulsively readable narrative of the whats, whys and hows of the said case.
The book is written like a true crime novel but the minute you are lulled into thinking it is just a story, it hits you in the face with cold facts, case studies, dialogues from the victims' family members and statistics about crimes against women.
As you read further, you realise that all of this happened, for real, two teenage girls hanging from a tree, the hours of protest by family members, the botched up post mortem, the news room drama, the twitter trends, the half hearted investigation, the CBI intervention and the trauma the family went through.
Faleiro also goes on tangents to tell the readers about the laws regarding rape and crimes against women, how they came to be, the different cases that made the fast track courts spring up or helped in formulating the stricter and more sensitive laws.
She also provides us with context of how things go about in the rural India, the lives of women, the education they are provided and why, the false sense of freedom, the history of crime in and around the area, the socio-political scene, and the subtle and not so subtle powerplay of castes and sub-castes.
The Good Girls is a brilliant book, one backed with stunning research and simple yet engaging writing. This is something which should be a staple read. I give this book 4.5 stars.
This book didn't surprise me and that is a disturbing fact. We are so used to crime against women, police incompetence, broken systems, botched investigations and corrupt practices that nothing is a surprise anymore.
'One night in the summer of 2014' two girls of the Katra village, Sadatganj, UP went out to defecate in the fields and never returned home. The next morning they were found hanging from a tree in an orchard. Padma & Lalli (names changed) were first cousins and thick as thieves. They were always together, herding their goats or working in the farms, chatting up with other girls or snooping out at night. Together in life and in death.
Sonia Faleiro takes up this case as the centerpiece of her book which is about so much more than just a case. With a stupendous amount of research comprising of more than 200 interviews, chargesheets and investigation notes, news items, youtube videos, testimonies and more, the author draws a compulsively readable narrative of the whats, whys and hows of the said case.
The book is written like a true crime novel but the minute you are lulled into thinking it is just a story, it hits you in the face with cold facts, case studies, dialogues from the victims' family members and statistics about crimes against women.
As you read further, you realise that all of this happened, for real, two teenage girls hanging from a tree, the hours of protest by family members, the botched up post mortem, the news room drama, the twitter trends, the half hearted investigation, the CBI intervention and the trauma the family went through.
Faleiro also goes on tangents to tell the readers about the laws regarding rape and crimes against women, how they came to be, the different cases that made the fast track courts spring up or helped in formulating the stricter and more sensitive laws.
She also provides us with context of how things go about in the rural India, the lives of women, the education they are provided and why, the false sense of freedom, the history of crime in and around the area, the socio-political scene, and the subtle and not so subtle powerplay of castes and sub-castes.
The Good Girls is a brilliant book, one backed with stunning research and simple yet engaging writing. This is something which should be a staple read. I give this book 4.5 stars.
This has been one of the most difficult reviews I had to write. I couldn't put my thoughts into sentences because of shock. The Good Girls is tragic but powerful work on investigative journalism by Sonia Faleiro.
In 2014,two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in Uttar Pradesh. The girls had stepped out the previous night to relieve themselves before bedtime and they had not returned back. After hours of searching, they were discovered in such an eerie setting. The way they were found made the incident go viral on social media. The family refused to let the authorities bring the bodies down until they got justice.
This book reads like an actual thriller which starts from the beginning and tells the incident in a chronological manner with several unexpected information and twists in the middle. The police didn't do a proper job with the initial investigations and combined with the unreliable witness statements and shoddy autopsies, there was a lot of confusion happening. The author tries to establish a timeline of events and there are descriptions of the village in which the girls grew up in, the social and economic conditions in rural India, caste, customs and the mistrust of authorities. She traces the incident in Katra, to the initial police investigation and the handover of the case to the CBI.
This is one of the quotes from the book which resonated with me.
“The story of Padma* and Lalli* revealed something more terrible still – That an Indian woman’s first challenge was surviving her own home.”
*The girls’ names have been changed in accordance with Indian law which requires that the identity of victims of certain crimes remain private.
What really happened to both the girls will forever be shrouded in mystery and none of us will ever really know. This was such a disturbing and uncomfortable read but very enlightening. It made me feel incredibly fortunate.
In 2014,two teenage girls were found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Sadatgani in Uttar Pradesh. The girls had stepped out the previous night to relieve themselves before bedtime and they had not returned back. After hours of searching, they were discovered in such an eerie setting. The way they were found made the incident go viral on social media. The family refused to let the authorities bring the bodies down until they got justice.
This book reads like an actual thriller which starts from the beginning and tells the incident in a chronological manner with several unexpected information and twists in the middle. The police didn't do a proper job with the initial investigations and combined with the unreliable witness statements and shoddy autopsies, there was a lot of confusion happening. The author tries to establish a timeline of events and there are descriptions of the village in which the girls grew up in, the social and economic conditions in rural India, caste, customs and the mistrust of authorities. She traces the incident in Katra, to the initial police investigation and the handover of the case to the CBI.
This is one of the quotes from the book which resonated with me.
“The story of Padma* and Lalli* revealed something more terrible still – That an Indian woman’s first challenge was surviving her own home.”
*The girls’ names have been changed in accordance with Indian law which requires that the identity of victims of certain crimes remain private.
What really happened to both the girls will forever be shrouded in mystery and none of us will ever really know. This was such a disturbing and uncomfortable read but very enlightening. It made me feel incredibly fortunate.
This was something interesting/tragic to learn about it, and I really appreciate the work that the author put into doing her research and learning about the story. Unfortunately it was pretty hard for me to follow because I was listening.
Recommended by Jessica Ti'a.
Recommended by Jessica Ti'a.
dark
informative
medium-paced
🎧
I listened to the audiobook. I liked the narrator. The book was alright. It seemed well researched and well written. I like that Faleiro wrote this in a narrative form.
I listened to the audiobook. I liked the narrator. The book was alright. It seemed well researched and well written. I like that Faleiro wrote this in a narrative form.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm
informative
sad
fast-paced