Poornima and Savitha are young girls living in poverty in India who strike up a fast, intense friendship. Through a series of horrific events, Savitha flees and Poornima abandons her life to find her friend again. Across oceans and continents, they fight the darkest elements of humanity, never losing the drive to find each other again.

I am still trying to decide what to make of GIRLS BURN BRIGHTER. The stark writing mirrors the harsh reality of the girls’ lives and only barely shields the reader from the things they endure. It is a tough, tough read.

This book shows all the ways the women’s bodies are used to make money for men at every stage of their lives. They work the looms with their hands. Their marriages come with dowries. Their bodies are maimed and sold, all for the profit of men who otherwise find them useless. I couldn’t stop thinking about how these women are always the source of the men’s income and yet the men think of them as less than dirt. It’s crushing, and so sadly, real.

I really loved the characterizations of Savitha and Poornima. They and their bond felt real. However, I had a hard time buying a lot of the plot machinations. It was too many coincidences, too much getting the right information with no one catching on to what they were doing. It took me out of the story every time.