Review by KasieMiehlke -- Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana

[KasieMiehlke]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Muthu Tikaram is the youngest of three children in a family that is suffering financially. In order to help her family, she agrees to let her father sell her to the circus. Mutha’s life then suffers and with the help of her friend Gloria she attempts to escape. As her journey moves along she discovers secrets about her lineage and her family’s past. Will she manage to make out of her imprisonment or will she forever be trapped?

Elastic Girl is set in India. It deals with the ever-growing problem of trafficking. Aside from trafficking, it also deals with drug abuse and financial instability. The subject of drug abuse is showed from the point of the loved ones of the abuser, which is a change of pace frim most books that only show the user’s point of view. The way the author covers these subjects opens the readers eyes to real problems faced throughout the world. I never thought that trafficking to the circus was a major issue until I read this book.

The way that the author, Olivia Rana, captures the struggles is astonishing. She manages to pull the reader into the story with ease. The sounds and sights of the circus were expertly detailed as well as the pain that the characters feel. The book read similar to a Law and Order: SVU episode. I had to put the book down several times to regroup and then immediately picked it back up.

The characters grow an astounding amount through the story. The main character, Muthu, grows the most throughout the story. She starts off as an innocent child and ends as a woman who accepts herself. She faces criticism and hate from the beginning and from the people who are supposed to love her. Once she discovers her family’s dark secret, she learns true acceptance. The other secondary characters also grow, but not to the extent of Muthu.

I give Elastic Girl by Olivia Rana 4 out of 4 stars. There is amazing character growth while dealing with intense social issues. The author does a great job at capturing every detail throughout the entire book and pulling the reader in. I highly recommend this book to a mature individual that is a fan of crime series. The few mistakes I found did not take away from the story at all. I see myself re-reading this book several times in the years to come.

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Elastic Girl
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[kdstrack]

Your description of Muthu and her experiences in the circus are compelling. The audience only see the entertainment in the ring without realizing everything that is happening behind the scenes.

[Italiansweety1982]

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