Review by sierrakaiser15 -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[sierrakaiser15]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Elastic Girl" by Olivia Rana.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Elastic Girl is the story of a young Indian girl's heartbreaking life journey. Muthu is the youngest of three girls and therefore her parents do not think she needs to attend school because there are already two girls going. Instead, she helps her mother by selling her roti on the roadside. One day while playing with her only friend Meheesh, she fell into a pool filled with black sludge. She would have perished but she somehow worked her way out through the vent, thus earning the name elastic girl. Soon after, their whole town was bulldozed to the ground and they were promised land elsewhere but upon arrival, they realized there was no house or means to build one. Muthu’s Dadi took her to the circus and signed her away so they could build their home. At first, Muthu thought it was going to be a great adventure, then the truth was shown.

Her first assignment was as the assistant to a monkey; then she befriended Gloria, the trapeze artist. With her help, she finally became the elastic girl. Throughout her time at the circus, she witnesses many horrible things from the cover-up of her friend's horrible death by a lion; to her and other girls being physically abused and then to her family not caring enough to come see her. At one point she snuck away with Gloria and they got wrapped up in a lot of trouble from being sold to a prostitution house and in the end losing her friend to drugs.

She finds her way back to the circus and once and for all gets rid of her abuser by exposing him for what he truly is and threatening to tell everyone including the circus owners. Things seem to be looking on the upside thereafter. Then, she becomes pregnant with a man's child who she can never lawfully marry. They move away and are happy for a few years, but then he dies of a fever and it takes Muthu awhile to find herself but in the end, she finds her reason for living despite all the horrid things she has been through.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The compelling storyline keeps you coming back for more and the heartbreaking moments have you reading through your tears. Elastic girl deserves a 4-star rating because there are minimal spelling and grammar mistakes and because the author takes you on a journey of this young girl’s life. Every description and detail brings this book to life. It also helps tell the world a horrible truth because this does happen in real life.

This book is perfect for people who love fiction dramas and those over the age of 16. Some of the descriptions of abuse are too much in my opinion for those younger than age 16. I will be recommending this book to all of my book loving friends.

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Elastic Girl
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Like sierrakaiser15's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kdstrack]

Thanks for your great summary of this book. You give a nice explanation of some of the difficulties Muthu faced. I like your recommendations.

[Italiansweety1982]

I just read this book. A good read, well written, but some parts were hard to get thru.