The protagonist of this story is empowered in an effortless and unconventional way, her thoughts leave you with a sense of restlessness, her desires are uncensored, there is always a feeling that anything can happen at any moment. And even though the story explores themes that are familiar-power, fear, anxiety, love, existential angst and death-we feel that we haven't been here before, that the unexpected has gotten the better of us, and that we must urgently turn the page to discover what happens to this young woman who repeatedly fails to fulfil society's expectations of her.

Kalki Koechlin

Edgy, acute and insightful, this disquieting novel, full of hurt and learnings is told with style and elan.

Namita Gokhale

Suspended between the memory of a tender, familial past and the breathing proximity of a near-dystopian future, this novel speaks the erotic language of contemporary Indian youth with remarkable candour. Asserting a powerfully unsettling sexual agency, it brings India's most striking urban spaces remarkably alive.

Saikat Majumdar

I was impressed by the raw power of its words.

Scroll

Anisha Lalvani's debut novel, Girls Who Stray, is a haunting, poetic coming-of-age tale about a nameless young woman caught between disillusionment, desire, and despair.

Outlook Magazine

Girls Who Stray by Anisha Lalvani is a striking, genre-bending debut that melds a coming-of-age narrative with the intrigue of a thriller.

Kitaab