{ about the book }
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha NganPublishes November 6, 2018 by Jimmy Patterson Books
ARC provided by ARC club
ARC provided by ARC club
Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for... and the most cruel.
But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.
In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after—the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable—she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.
TW: violence and sexual abuse.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•
{ my review }
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
Before I begin this, some trigger/content warnings: animal death, sexual assault/rape, violence, and abuse. There might be more that I missed—I’m so sorry about that—but I believe the finished book will have them printed in page!
The first thing that grabbed my attention about Girls of Paper and Fire—other than that cover—is how gorgeous the writing is without being overly purple prose-y. Ngan’s writing is flawless, both in describing the awful situation Lei is in and creating tension, to descriptions of food, setting, feeling. I was surprised by just how easy it was to fall into this book!
The writing, paired with the main character, Lei, is what kept me hooked the entire time. She—along with seven other girls—are all basically sex slaves to a demon king who only cares about power, in a court where everyone looks down at them for being what they are: courtesans, but also of the paper caste. I felt so much for Lei. Ngan handled her shifting, complex feelings extremely well. The guilt that shocked her when she found herself laughing, maybe even feeling happy in this place; her feelings for another Paper Girl. Lei herself was a very likeable character. Despite her traumas and tragedies, she never lets herself stop fighting in her own way. She never allows herself to be cruel to other people for it. I had so much respect for her!
The romance in GOPAF was amazing. A little slow in the beginning, but the build up was done super well. I loved both Lei and Wren—both characters were super well done—and how the two dealt with their issues, leaned on each other in times of hardship, and y’know, just made the best of what time they had.
There was some cattiness in the book. I hated it, but I felt that. By having other girls who did get along with each other almost made up for it. Blue might’ve been a mean character—even though Ngan added depth to her—but Lei’s friendship with the other girls was a nice change of pace.
And going off that, it was interesting to read about the different viewpoints. Clearly, Lei hated being there as a concubine for the Demon King, but it wasn’t so for all the other girls. It was something that was interesting to read about, how some of the girls were happy to be there, but others clearly had reservations.
My complaint would be the pacing. While well done, it took some time for the story to really get moving after Lei’s initial capturing. I get that a lot of it was for readers—and Lei—to get accustomed to court life, but it also kind of dragged for me.
Overall, I highly recommend this book! It didn’t end the way I expected it to—which was in a clean-cut, story-wrapped-up, kind of way. (I thought it was a standalone and now I will be disappointed if it is.) Anyway, 4 stars and I look forward to Ngan’s next work!
The first thing that grabbed my attention about Girls of Paper and Fire—other than that cover—is how gorgeous the writing is without being overly purple prose-y. Ngan’s writing is flawless, both in describing the awful situation Lei is in and creating tension, to descriptions of food, setting, feeling. I was surprised by just how easy it was to fall into this book!
The writing, paired with the main character, Lei, is what kept me hooked the entire time. She—along with seven other girls—are all basically sex slaves to a demon king who only cares about power, in a court where everyone looks down at them for being what they are: courtesans, but also of the paper caste. I felt so much for Lei. Ngan handled her shifting, complex feelings extremely well. The guilt that shocked her when she found herself laughing, maybe even feeling happy in this place; her feelings for another Paper Girl. Lei herself was a very likeable character. Despite her traumas and tragedies, she never lets herself stop fighting in her own way. She never allows herself to be cruel to other people for it. I had so much respect for her!
The romance in GOPAF was amazing. A little slow in the beginning, but the build up was done super well. I loved both Lei and Wren—both characters were super well done—and how the two dealt with their issues, leaned on each other in times of hardship, and y’know, just made the best of what time they had.
There was some cattiness in the book. I hated it, but I felt that. By having other girls who did get along with each other almost made up for it. Blue might’ve been a mean character—even though Ngan added depth to her—but Lei’s friendship with the other girls was a nice change of pace.
And going off that, it was interesting to read about the different viewpoints. Clearly, Lei hated being there as a concubine for the Demon King, but it wasn’t so for all the other girls. It was something that was interesting to read about, how some of the girls were happy to be there, but others clearly had reservations.
My complaint would be the pacing. While well done, it took some time for the story to really get moving after Lei’s initial capturing. I get that a lot of it was for readers—and Lei—to get accustomed to court life, but it also kind of dragged for me.
Overall, I highly recommend this book! It didn’t end the way I expected it to—which was in a clean-cut, story-wrapped-up, kind of way. (I thought it was a standalone and now I will be disappointed if it is.) Anyway, 4 stars and I look forward to Ngan’s next work!
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