Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

52 reviews

pandemonicbaby's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was really hoping I'd like this book more. I mean, a forbidden romance between two girls who fight against an oppressive system in search for a future where they can be together??? Sign me up!! I thought I was going to LOVE this. Instead, I just felt kind of lukewarm about it.
And don't get me wrong, I think it's SO important how we are in a time period where we're able to have bestselling YA stories with central queer storylines, stories that deal with the theme of sexual assault but focus on the victims' journeys of healing, presenting these themes in a respectful way to a younger audience. I've been having an unfortunate streak with this type of thing lately, and 2 of the last books I've read have had explicit rape scenes which made me greatly uncomfortable. I was really shocked when this book (a YA novel) had the best, most respectful depiction of it out of the 3, and handled the topic with care, moreso than any of those other books I've read. It didn't have to describe it in detail to be impactful, and fully focused on the victim's feelings afterward.
That being said, otherwise, I think this book maybe wasn't exactly for me. People who know me know I LOVE sapphic romance, and will eat up basically anything, but this romance just felt sort of rushed and not really impactful. I wasn't really excited to see them finally kiss or confess their feelings to eachother like I usually am with any sapphic couple I read about. It just felt a bit, I don't know, spiceless, saltless, like the taste of food that you usually really love but in this specific casw it just feels bland. And I don't really think it has to do with the characters themselves, but more with the way the romance was written. Also, I don't know exactly why, but I felt like I didn't really enjoy the writing style. I'm not sure what I felt was lacking in it, but I just wasn't really digging it all that much.
Also, originally, I thought all castes were human, and had NO idea there were gonna be furries in this LMFAO. That *did* make the scenes with the king especially unbearable, though, and I feel like that was probably the intent.
Anyways, it wasn't really for me, but I really do hope that some readers are able to find something they love in this book. I just really really hoped I would love it too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Police brutality, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, War, Grief, and Outing

Minor: Alcohol, Body horror, and Infertility

Unconsensual sexual acts are mentioned various times in this book, some particularly violent. There is one explicit rape scene in this book (albeit not described in detail).

lshort1230's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this book. Mostly I think it wasn't really for me - it was a bit heavier than I would like, though I appreciate the generally happy ending. The main flaw with the book is that the world building doesn't quite work, and I kept being distracted by that. At least part of the issue is that these girls are only in the harem for a year but they aren't allowed to leave the palace after and the crown compensates their family to the degree they complete to sacrifice their daughters *and* this has been going on for centuries. That aside the characters are interesting and the action is good. Choices that characters make mostly make sense. I'm happy with where the book ended and I wish I hadn't read the epilog, as it adds a cliffhanger and I have no intention of reading the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Death, Colonisation, Bullying, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

lottie1803's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Grief, Sexual harassment, War, Homophobia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Trafficking, Biphobia, Gaslighting, and Lesbophobia

jvalentine1386's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Xenophobia, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, War, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual content, Classism, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Rape, Alcohol, Pedophilia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

cass_ward's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Death, Grief, and Kidnapping

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Confinement, Blood, and Abortion

the dog dies< / spoiler>

allyreadsstuff's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Classism, Trafficking, Sexism, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Slavery, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Confinement

Minor: Vomit

payneamorgan's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking

rsb12's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal death, Classism, Homophobia, Murder, Death, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Outing

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

tinysierra's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Despite some of the dark content, I found the writing style easy to get through.

I enjoyed the moments that Lei founds strength in love and friendship. 

In spite of only getting a little glimpse of Lei’s family in the herb shop at the beginning, their bond and the coziness of Lei’s home came across well. 

I liked the cultures that the author set up. The world-building was fascinating. Not every character feels the same way about the situation as our main character does, so it makes them feel all the more realistic. 

The romance was cute! 

Sex work and same sex couples are stigmatized by some characters in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, War, Homophobia, and Pandemic/Epidemic

morganraine's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Rape, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Police brutality