Review by Coolie -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[Coolie]

[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 Review by O.Williams

Elastic Girl tells the story of a young girl in India named Muthu who lives with her family. After a death scare her and her family realizes she has a gift of fitting into small places. Living in a poverty stricken village, Muthu’s father, with a job as a shoe shiner and no place to live, decide to sell Muthu to the Circus, to enable a better life for his family.

I love that this book is eye catching, telling a story of intricate relationship among family members faced with poverty that some readers may be familiar with and others will sympathize. Muthu tries hard to fit in with her family, to be close to her sisters however no matter how hard she tries, she is only pushed at a further away by her family especially her grandmother, who believes Muthu is a curse to the family. Whilst her sisters are given the opportunity of getting an education, Muthu is not given that chance but instead she has to sell Roti on the highway to passersby.

Expect the unexpected; Muthu on her journey throughout the book learns of family secrets kept by the persons she trusts most. She is betrayed and deceived by her family and other persons that she meets along the way. She also encounters a forbidden love which she least expected but ultimately gets to find contentment with herself and her life.

This book highlights a lot of social issues that affects young ladies worldwide; poverty, lack of access to education, sexual abuse and prostitution, child labour and drug abuse. It gives hope to all these young ladies, giving knowledge that if affected by any of those issues, that it can be overcome and greater things can be achieved.

Muthu empowers young ladies to be independent. There is nothing I can say that I dislike about this book. Throughout the entire book, there is a craving for more. A need of knowing what comes next. Muthu takes us on a journey of emotions, that covers her life throughout the book; contentment, melancholy and grief.

I think this book would fascinate the young adults and take them on adventure through the world of poverty and desperation. I’ll rate this book 4 out of 4 stars for its complex yet simple writing, which include its great editing, which makes the reading comprehensive and enjoyable. This is a book that I would read over and over again.

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Elastic Girl
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like Coolie's review? Post a comment saying so!

[kdstrack]

Glad you enjoyed this book. Muthu's experiences are difficult to read about but the way she handles them is encouraging.

[n-dai che]

hmmm, I wonder about this book. i wanna check this, too. Nice review.