I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta (Review & Giveaway)

I am thrilled to host a spot on the I KICK AND I FLY by Ruchira Gupta Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my review and make sure to enter the giveaway below!

ABOUT THE BOOK

"In I Kick and I Fly, Ruchira Gupta has given young readers an irresistible story, and also one that could save lives. This book is a gift." — Gloria Steinem

A propulsive social justice adventure by renowned activist and award-winning documentarian Ruchira Gupta, I Kick and I Fly is an inspiring, hopeful story of triumph about a girl in Bihar, India, who escapes being sold into the sex trade when a local hostel owner helps her to understand the value of her body through kung fu.

On the outskirts of the Red Light District in Bihar, India, fourteen-year-old Heera is living on borrowed time until her father sells her into the sex trade to help feed their family and repay his loans. It is, as she's been told, the fate of the women in her community to end up here. But watching her cousin, Mira Di, live this life day in and day out is hard enough. To live it feels like the worst fate imaginable. And after a run-in with a bully leads to her expulsion from school, it feels closer than ever.

But when a local hostel owner shows up at Heera's home with the money to repay her family's debt, Heera begins to learn that fate can change. Destiny can be disrupted. Heroics can be contagious.

It's at the local hostel for at risk girls that Heera is given a transformative opportunity: learning kung fu with the other girls. Through the practice of martial arts, she starts to understand that her body isn't a an object to be commodified and preyed upon, but a vessel through which she can protect herself and those around her. And when Heera discovers the whereabouts of her missing friend, Rosy, through a kung fu pen pal in the US, she makes the decision to embark on a daring rescue mission to New York in an attempt to save her.

A triumphant, shocking account inspired by Ruchira Gupta's experience making the Emmy-award winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents, this is an unforgettable story of overcoming adversity by a life-long activist who has dedicated her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold.

Genre: Young Adult Social Justice Fiction | Publication Date: April 18, 2023 | Publisher: Scholastic Press | Page Count: 352 (Hardcover) | Disclosure: I received an eARC and physical copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

“Earthsong moved across his skin like the lips of a lover.”

Song of Blood & Stone is the first novel in the Earthsinger Chronicles. The Earthsinger Chronicles is a new adult/adult epic fantasy romance. It follows the story of Jasminda, an outcast endowed with Earthsong, and her fateful encounter with the injured spy Jack. Jasminda lives on the border of Elsira and Lagamiri, nations caught in a centuries-long feud separated by a magical barrier called the Mantle. Thrust together one fateful winter night, Jasminda and Jack set off to stop the impending war and fall in love in the process.

“The two sides she’d seen before—soulful Jack and warrior Jack—merged before her, giving a complete picture for the first time.”

I adored this story and romance! It contains the familiar tropes of the hero’s—and in this case heroine’s—journey popularized by Joseph Campbell. However, unlike many entries in the mythopoeia genre, Song of Blood & Stone feels fresh. Snippets of world lore open most chapters dubbed the “Collected Folktales” with cool chapter header art. Folklore and romance are interwoven into Jasminda’s coming-of-age and blossoming romance with Jack. The heroine, a mix-raced Earthsong practitioner, embodies her divided arcanepunk world. While the novel lagged near the end and introduced the dreaded “jealous childhood friend” female antagonist, the finale will keep readers on their toes and hooked until the last word.

Final Judgement:

Song of Blood & Stone is a daring epic fantasy romance delivering fresh twists on stale tropes! I highly recommend this novel and I can't wait to finish the series. ⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️ / 5 Swords

Recommended for Readers who Love:

— a soaring epic fantasy,
— steamy new adult/adult romance,
— and a magical mixed-race heroine

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RUCHIRA GUPTA has pioneered laws, policies, protocols, conventions and Best Practice approaches in the Feminist Abolitionist struggle against sex-trafficking in the UN, globally and India. Her work will be archived at Stanford Library and will be open access for students across the world to study. Her journey began as a journalist, when she made the Emmy-winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents. With the help of the documentary, she testified to the US Senate for the passage of the first Trafficking Victim Protection Act and to the UN for the passage of the UN Protocol to End Trafficking in Persons. She founded the Indian anti-sex trafficking organization, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, that supports thousands of prostituted and at risk girls in India. You can learn more about her organization here: apneaap.org

She is a visiting professor at New York University, and Distinguished Scholar at University of California, Berkley. She is the editor of a feminist journal for SAGE, Antyajaa: Indian Journal of Women and Social Change and two anthologies- River of Flesh & Other Stories and The Essential Gloria Steinem Reader. She has been presented the French Légion honneur, an Emmy, and the Clinton Global Citizen, UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction award. She dreams of a world in which no human being is bought or sold.

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of I KICK AND I FLY, US Only.

Ends May 6th, midnight EST.

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