Girls Burn Brighter

A Novel

By: Shobha Rao

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

Girls Burn Brighter is a searing, electrifying debut audiobook set in India and America. Irrepressible author Shobha Rao examines the extraordinary bond between two girls, driven apart by circumstances, but relentless in their search for one another.

Poornima and Savitha have three strikes against them. They are poor. They are driven. And they are girls.

When Poornima was just a toddler, she was about to fall into a river. Her mother, beside herself, screamed at her father to grab her. But he hesitated: “I was standing there, and I was thinking…. She’s just a girl. Let her go…. That’s the thing with girls, isn’t it…. You think, Push. That’s all it would take. Just one little push.”

After her mother’s death, Poornima has very little kindness in her life. She is left to take care of her siblings until her father can find her a suitable match. So when Savitha enters their household, Poornima is intrigued by the joyful, independent-minded girl. Suddenly their Indian village doesn't feel quite so claustrophobic, and Poornima begins to imagine a life beyond the arranged marriage her father is desperate to secure for her. But when a devastating act of cruelty drives Savitha away, Poornima leaves behind everything she has ever known to find her friend.

Her journey takes her into the darkest corners of India's underworld, on a harrowing cross-continental journey, and eventually to an apartment complex in Seattle. Alternating between the girls’ perspectives as they face ruthless obstacles, Girls Burn Brighter introduces listeners to two heroines who never allow the hope that burns within them to be extinguished.

"The resplendent prose captures the nuances and intensity of two best friends on the brink of an uncertain and precarious adulthood.... An incisive study of a friendship's unbreakable bond." (Kirkus)

©2018 Shobha Rao (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"A searing portrait of what feminism looks like in much of the world, Shobha Rao's first novel, Girls Burn Brighter...follows an incandescent friendship." — Vogue

"In this harsh but vibrant debut, two best friends navigate the landscape of India at the dawn of the new millennium. Rao's feminist commentary is particularly potent, situating a powerful bond in restrictive, patriarchal structures." — Entertainment Weekly

"Soneela Nankani narrates this painful coming-of-age story in a subdued style that draws even more sympathy from the listener...This is an expertly told story of survival, courage, and grit that fans of world literature will enjoy." — AudioFile Magazine

Sad and haunting

This book was so sad to listen to. I think the reader did a great job of doing the voices of the various characters. The story itself will make you cry. The ending...well it’s one of those endings that doesn’t like to wrap itself up nicely like a bow. Which makes sense considering the harsh reality you are presented with throughout the story. I love the continuing motif of fire and inner light.

pleasant surprise

not a traditional read for me, but with a push from book Club, I'm very happy I read it!

Powerful, engrossing, heavy, haunting

The audio performance was superb. She had correct pronunciations and accents were perfect. Loved her voice. Alternated between it and Kindle. Preferred audio. The story was amazing and I didn't want it to end. I read it while traveling and due to the nature of the story, the travels and journeys, I suggest you take it with you on your next trip. I am a picky reader but loved this one. If you like it, I recommend Toss of a Lemon as your next read.

Heart wrenching and compelling

I listened to this story twice. I think it’s that good. How small things can be very important depending on the context. Themes of love and hope , in a bleak and cruel world . How human trafficking looks.

Holy crap, this is heavy!

First off, reader be warned, this book is tough. The story itself is good enough, but it was really hard to listen to because some of the content is so upsetting and hard to listen to. If it hadn't have been the selected read by my book club, I honestly wouldn't have finished it because the story gets pretty dark. It did make me think about life from a different perspective though, which I guess that is my take away.

Pretty good book, but the reader, UGH

This is the first time in a long time that a reader nearly made me want to quit a book. EVERYTHING was so fraught with emotion. EVERYTHING. Simple descriptive sentences are read as if the reader is saying that she just met a man with a pineapple on his head who only spoke in pig Latin (random example but you know, like, "Can you believe this?!" when really all she is reading is that it was sunny that day or something else mundane). I only kept going because I had to read this for book club. I would highly recommend NOT doing the audio version of this book. And then I would really only recommend the book to someone who is okay with excessive sexual violence (not always explicit, but there nonetheless). It got a bit over the top at the end.

A story that is hard to hear

Such a great story that showcases the effect of disenfranchisement and ascribed cultural value on young Indian women. A fictional tale that is undoubtedly and heartbreaking true for many.

It is amazing to watch the two main characters grow over the course of the book. They go through so much and through it all they hold on to their love. This story left me wishing there was more I could do to help women on similar circumstances in the world.

My biggest complaint about this book is the performance. Her voice was very whiney. While the characters suffer at times which warrants a tone of that type, it's rather annoying to whine when talking about buses or looking at a red car and a blue car or a bus, etc. Definitely becomes grating at times.

Tough to Read but Important

This is a tough story to read, but an important reminder of the conditions in which many women live today. The story is well written, but often perhaps too well. I found the overuse of metaphors and descriptions distracting. The other distracting element in the audio version was the narration. Her enunciations are perfect, but she speaks in such a whiny tone throughout the entire text that it's difficult to make out the parts that need to be emphasized. If you're listening to someone describe a banana and sex trafficking in the same high pitched whine, it feels like they are of the same importance, and of course, they are not. Still, it's a good read and an important book.

Much appreciations to Soneela Nankani

I may risk sounding xenophobic in pointing this out, but I greatly appreciate Soneela Nankani's pronunciations of Poornima and Savitha's names. There were some tough scenes written by Shobha Rao that the narrator confidently expressed; the story still haunts me a week after completing it.

Irritating Narration

While the story is interesting, the narrator speaks as if every single sentence is a question. The quaver of every word of every sentence is awful. It is distracting and detracts from the experience of the book.