Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

12 reviews

colittle's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.75

Rao has a way of employing the non-visual senses that’s as rare as it is delightful. An incredibly evocative writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Abandonment

kkreads's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism

margaretrose's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

A heart-wrenching story with so many almost-could-be-true elements that you ache for the characters as you read.

Rao really makes you choose your own ending, as she gives you pieces of the setting and atmosphere that are so similar that make you believe that it is possible that it actually will turn out ok for Savitha and Poornima. It still isn't definite closure, you still end the book unsure that they are back together. I'm still asking the question: will they be ok?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, and Rape

howwoolatthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

WHEW. That was rough. Well written, some beautiful stuff, but also a whole lot of darkness. Bad things happen. Bad. And I'm not sure the ending was worth the slog through the difficult events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

alicelalicon's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

Minor: Gun violence

lilymouse's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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

5.0

This was absolutely breathtaking. You can feel every emotion that these girls feel, and the twists, turns, and journeys these girls go on take you in such a bittersweet ride. Also,

THAT ENDING OH MY GOD

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Abortion

morganperks's review

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, and Death of parent

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is absolutely heart-wrenching.

It contains a beautiful friendship, but it contains even more horrible people.  There is so much pain written into this book, so many things happened that should not happen.  Girls Burn Brightermakes you fall in love with Poornima and Savitha and then shows what the world does to women, to Indian women, to poor women, to strong-willed woman.  The world, in case you have forgotten, is a dark and cruel place and so many people are selfish animals.

So while I didn’t enjoy reading Girls Burn Brighter for all the pain and rage it left me with, I deeply, deeply appreciated this book.  It’s a character-driven novel about two young women who meet as teenagers and are separated by cruelty and happenstance. Rao takes her time in the beginning, luring the reader into a false sense of security where you know life’s difficult, but there is hope for a happy ending.  Then it’s all downhill from there.  In this way, Girls Burn Brighter is both a journey and a reminder that more often than not, endings are sadder than we want and the journeys are difficult and we are so privileged to be reading this book and not going through life in the same way as these young women.

Girls Burn Brighter left me with a lot to think about.

There are all sorts of traumatic events in this pages of the book, so before picking it up, make sure to check for content warnings.  Off the top of my head, there is rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, slavery (of a sort), physical abuse, emotional abuse… Girls Burn Brighter is filled with different levels of trauma and it is really important to check in with yourself and come prepared, otherwise I can see how this book could be triggering.

It’s a book I couldn’t put down – both because of the story and because I think Soneela Nankani did an excellent job reading it.  You are brought so easily into the world, especially through Savitha’s POV where there is so much joy in both food and textiles.  The writing is excellent – this is a sparkling debut novel and puts Rao on my “To Watch” list.  The writing is lyrical but direct, and the story is an important one.

It’s not the type of book that’s going to leave you feeling good, but it’s a powerful, emotional story and I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use