Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

30 reviews

karlisimp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This would’ve been a 4-5 star read however the ending was awful and anticlimactic. The author should’ve gone one or two more paragraphs. This book is extremely dark and hard to read at most times. Story is mostly rewarding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

ventellina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Violence

kriti's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, Rape, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

comeundun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

What the fuck was that ending? Like... I get it, but I'm angry. I wanted to see it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

vynexareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It’s better to be swallowed whole than in pieces. Only then can you win. No elephant can be too big. Only then no elephant can do you harm.

After owning this book for three years and it being unread all of that time, it is such a good feeling to finally read it even though it isn't the easiest read to consume. It's so beautifully written and painful and also so hopeful even when these two girls/women are in such hopeless situations.

If you're planning on reading this book, please know that there's a lot of violence, both physically and verbally, acted upon girls and women from beginning to end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Misogyny

amandasiino's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Sexism, and Torture

jrabbit's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Not a fan of the writing or the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking and Sexual violence

It is disturbing on so many levels.

irisfromthevillage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

1.5

This book had been on my TBR for a long time and I knew from the summary that it would be a challenging read and there’s nothing wrong with that. My issue with the book is that it felt like trauma was being stacked without giving us real depth of character. I didn’t get out of it what I felt the book was building towards. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Torture, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

calster's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Beautiful writing, devastating story, unsatisfying ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism

ninjamuffin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A raw, emotional, and powerful story about an unbreakable bond of female friendship. Read with care.

Poornima and Savitha are two compelling and complex characters that I became incredibly emotionally invested in and their journey to find each other. I liked Rao's lyrical yet direct prose and in particular I enjoyed the way she expresses her characters' thoughts and emotions. Several tragic and heartbreaking events occur throughout the novel, and Rao makes no attempt to sugar-coat them; at the same time, Rao doesn't let them drag on or let these events consume the novel to the point where it seems self-pitying.

The ending is incredibly bittersweet, and I think a lot of people can/will find it unsatisfying (I did too initially). At the same time, I think the ending does fit the novel very well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Rape