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shinesalot's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
lee_hillshire's review
I really wanted to like this book when I first found it. It's such a valuable story, told by someone who works in those communities firsthand, with the possibility for great insight, humanity, and hope within the story.
It was all of that. And more. I love it a lot.
The writing style is a little weak at times, but it's very journalistic and given the author's background writing, that makes sense. It's not bad, but can pull the reader out of the story slightly if you let it get to you.
But it's still such good book to read. I don't like calling a book "important" because I feel like that gets thrown around way too much. But I do feel like that applies here, and all of that without being gratuitous, boring, or otherwise a negative experience.
It was all of that. And more. I love it a lot.
The writing style is a little weak at times, but it's very journalistic and given the author's background writing, that makes sense. It's not bad, but can pull the reader out of the story slightly if you let it get to you.
But it's still such good book to read. I don't like calling a book "important" because I feel like that gets thrown around way too much. But I do feel like that applies here, and all of that without being gratuitous, boring, or otherwise a negative experience.
katykelly's review
5.0
Hits hard, like its heroine. Distressing story that invigorates and educates.
Sadly this is based on real people, places and events. The author describes her reasons for writing it at its close, and readers will probably not be surprised that stories like this are not simply made up.
So as an example of being born into hardship, Heera brings us brutally into her reality - as a teenage girl born to a low-caste family unable to rise from the roofless hovel they share in a Red Light district in India, surrounded by brothels and gambling dens. Too hungry to study in school, mocked for her origins and fate, Heera knows it is just a matter of time until her drunkard father sells her into the same sexual slavery that has taken cousins and friends.
A brother has aspirations towards academia, her mother cannot afford medicine for Heera's sick sister despite daily back-breaking labour. Her cousin next door is sold regularly by her own brother to men on request. Heera and her family are tied and bound and the reader isn't spared the descriptions of their poverty.
But she is not helpless. When things seem at their darkest after she is expelled for confronting a bully, Heera is given refuge at a hostel for girls. A refuge not only for her physical safety, but somewhere she finds she can also learn to defend herself. With martial arts. And through this, learn about bodily autonomy, freedom and aspiration.
This story has plenty of moments that will shock and upset, but it's an empowering book and set of characters, with the aim of educating and inspiring. I very much enjoyed the novel and hope it shines a light on a hugely topical issue that goes unseen.
Not just a book for young women, the trade in human trafficking affects parents, children, brothers, sisters and as such this story should be passed around in schools widely.
For ages 12 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
Sadly this is based on real people, places and events. The author describes her reasons for writing it at its close, and readers will probably not be surprised that stories like this are not simply made up.
So as an example of being born into hardship, Heera brings us brutally into her reality - as a teenage girl born to a low-caste family unable to rise from the roofless hovel they share in a Red Light district in India, surrounded by brothels and gambling dens. Too hungry to study in school, mocked for her origins and fate, Heera knows it is just a matter of time until her drunkard father sells her into the same sexual slavery that has taken cousins and friends.
A brother has aspirations towards academia, her mother cannot afford medicine for Heera's sick sister despite daily back-breaking labour. Her cousin next door is sold regularly by her own brother to men on request. Heera and her family are tied and bound and the reader isn't spared the descriptions of their poverty.
But she is not helpless. When things seem at their darkest after she is expelled for confronting a bully, Heera is given refuge at a hostel for girls. A refuge not only for her physical safety, but somewhere she finds she can also learn to defend herself. With martial arts. And through this, learn about bodily autonomy, freedom and aspiration.
This story has plenty of moments that will shock and upset, but it's an empowering book and set of characters, with the aim of educating and inspiring. I very much enjoyed the novel and hope it shines a light on a hugely topical issue that goes unseen.
Not just a book for young women, the trade in human trafficking affects parents, children, brothers, sisters and as such this story should be passed around in schools widely.
For ages 12 and above.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
stilesstilinksi's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
thegracefulpal's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
katharine613's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
apairofducks's review
This book, despite having a concept that really called to me, was a slog. The prose was plain, and the pace was glacial.
elizabethpianalto's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
One thing I really appreciated about this beautiful book is that the mother in the story - Mai - had a dream of her own outside of motherhood. It’s way too common for all characters in a story to have dreams and goals of their own, and the mother is only given motherhood as her sole identity. Ruchira Gupta is one talented and inspiring lady. Thank you.
This is a nuanced portrayal of sex work, trafficking, the depths and layers of exploitation, and the desperation of poverty.
Since this is a YA novel I will note there is no gratuitous violence (sexual or otherwise) in this book.
This is a nuanced portrayal of sex work, trafficking, the depths and layers of exploitation, and the desperation of poverty.
Since this is a YA novel I will note there is no gratuitous violence (sexual or otherwise) in this book.
thechemicaldetective's review
5.0
I was captivated by this book.
It’s very hard to write about the grim realities of the sex trade for a young-adult audience. Too little detail and you risk glossing over the horror, too much and you could be accused of adding to prurient confusion: exploitation by inadvertent titillation.
Ruchira Gupta knows what she is talking about and steers a confident path through the minefield. She tells the story through the eyes of Heera a fourteen year old girl from a poor family who are struggling to survive in the red-light district of a town in the state of Bihar, India.
Heera narrates in a mater-of-fact voice. She and understands much of what is going on. She sees how her cousin Mira –prostituted from a shack at the back of the family home by Heera’s uncle next door - is treated by clients and she desperately wants to avoid the same fate.
There was much that was new and shocking for me. The ‘dance company’ and ‘orchestra’ that come to town for the annual Mela and buy the young girls. The absurd Bisi Bele ceremony where a priest publicly marries a girl to a tree before she is sold into prostitution, to get around the prohibition on sexual activity for unmarried women. The complicity of the police in the sex trade is depressingly familiar, but the portrayal of the family complicity was believable, tragic and appalling.
Heena’s life is turned around when she is accepted to join a Kung-Fu class run by Rini Di at a hostel for vulnerable girls. Her rising self-esteem sets her off on a different path.
What I particularly loved about the ending was the way the teenage rebellion was framed within a very close family; Heera’s triumph is not only that she avoids being trafficked, but the way she brings her whole community round so they can contemplate an alternative way to survive and prosper. And at the heart of this change is respect for girls and women.
This is a triumphant, feel good story but it never feels glib or superficial.
I heartily recommend this book as it covers an important topic while being a thoroughly good and enjoyable read. It would also make a fantastic movie.
It’s very hard to write about the grim realities of the sex trade for a young-adult audience. Too little detail and you risk glossing over the horror, too much and you could be accused of adding to prurient confusion: exploitation by inadvertent titillation.
Ruchira Gupta knows what she is talking about and steers a confident path through the minefield. She tells the story through the eyes of Heera a fourteen year old girl from a poor family who are struggling to survive in the red-light district of a town in the state of Bihar, India.
Heera narrates in a mater-of-fact voice. She and understands much of what is going on. She sees how her cousin Mira –prostituted from a shack at the back of the family home by Heera’s uncle next door - is treated by clients and she desperately wants to avoid the same fate.
There was much that was new and shocking for me. The ‘dance company’ and ‘orchestra’ that come to town for the annual Mela and buy the young girls. The absurd Bisi Bele ceremony where a priest publicly marries a girl to a tree before she is sold into prostitution, to get around the prohibition on sexual activity for unmarried women. The complicity of the police in the sex trade is depressingly familiar, but the portrayal of the family complicity was believable, tragic and appalling.
Heena’s life is turned around when she is accepted to join a Kung-Fu class run by Rini Di at a hostel for vulnerable girls. Her rising self-esteem sets her off on a different path.
What I particularly loved about the ending was the way the teenage rebellion was framed within a very close family; Heera’s triumph is not only that she avoids being trafficked, but the way she brings her whole community round so they can contemplate an alternative way to survive and prosper. And at the heart of this change is respect for girls and women.
This is a triumphant, feel good story but it never feels glib or superficial.
I heartily recommend this book as it covers an important topic while being a thoroughly good and enjoyable read. It would also make a fantastic movie.