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pandemonicbaby's review
- 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
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.
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).payneamorgan's review
- 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
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
caoimhemchugh_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Death of parent
Minor: War
poppywarphan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Plot: 6/10
Worldbuilding: 5/10
Writing: 8/10
This might as well have been a standalone. But it's not because of that extra page at the end. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm invested enough to read any further installments.
The idea was good, the execution not so much. The worldbuilding wasn't really explored. The plot and writing were simplistic. That's not a bad thing, but on one hand it read as a book for younger teens, on the other hand though it discussed mature themes. There's rape. It's not graphic, but there nonetheless. If there's anything that triggers me in books, its sexual assault. The girls are taken as mistresses and must have sex with the king against their will. Yes, they don't object, but it's either that or be killed.
The characters were underdeveloped. The king as a villain was just stupid. He's evil. OK, and? That's it? The paper girls were pretty indistinguishable. Aside from Aoki and Blue whose personality was being a bitch. The relationship between Lei and Wren didn't really have any foundation. It was pretty much just lusting and attraction.
Now, what I did like was what was done with Aoki's character. Not that I like what happened to her, but the book highlights how easy it is to fall victim to an abusive man. Aoki is the youngest out of the paper girls and naive. The king makes her feel special, so she starts having feelings for him. I like how it pointed out (although in a pretty juvenile way) that such a relationship is, in fact, not good (side-eyeing all the romance books that romanticize toxic relationships). Aoki is probably the most nuanced compared to the other two-dimensional characters.
Overall Girls of paper and fire wasn't a terrible book, just underwhelming.
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Child abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Body horror
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Racism, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Bullying, Death, and Genocide
karapillar's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Child abuse, Body shaming, Blood, Racism, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Torture, Stalking, Slavery, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Physical abuse, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, and Gaslighting
lajoy's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Body horror, Classism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
sammymilfort's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I liked the authors writing style and the pacing of elements was good, but this book was traumatic and there was little to no reprieve.
I appreciate the author putting trigger warnings before her story to warn readers, but no one tells you how graphic the SA scenes get. I was enjoying the story in the first part (about 100 pages) but then it got to be too much for me.
I felt like many of the characters and world were underdeveloped and the only time I enjoyed this book was during the romance of Lei and Wren
The plot in itself is vague and kind of predictable, but other than that I kept thinking so many times as I read this how can this be marketed as YA?
The amount of times I was deeply disturbed from this book and had to take multiple breaks was astounding because that is how dark and truly horrible this reading experience was for me.
I know abuse is an important part in stories and highlighting it in stories is sometimes needed and important, but with this it felt cruel and unnecessary
I kept thinking to myself how could a teenager read this without being affected emotionally in some type of way. I know if I was still in my young teens I could not grasp or be able understand this in a way I do now, but this book is trauma based and I think it’s important to note that.
This story had so much potential but instead I am getting a therapy session out of this
Please if you are thinking of reading this book- CHECK TW and be prepared for graphic SA of minors and more
TW: Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Branding, Graphic SA and Rape, non consensual, physical and emotional abuse
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
I’ve had this book on my radar since I started watching booktok and no one told me how drained I would feel after. I liked the authors writing style and the pacing of elements was good, but this book was traumatic and there was little to no reprieve. I appreciate the author putting trigger warnings before her story to warn readers, but no one tells you how graphic the SA scenes get. I was enjoying the story in the first part (about 100 pages) but then it got to be too much for me. I felt like many of the characters and world were underdeveloped and the only time I enjoyed this book was during the romance of Lei and Wren The plot in itself is vague and kind of predictable, but other than that I kept thinking so many times as I read this how can this be marketed as YA? The amount of times I was deeply disturbed from this book and had to take multiple breaks was astounding because that is how dark and truly horrible this reading experience was for me. I know abuse is an important part in stories and highlighting it in stories is sometimes needed and important, but with this it felt cruel and unnecessary I kept thinking to myself how could a teenager read this without being affected emotionally in some type of way. I know if I was still in my young teens I could not grasp or be able understand this in a way I do now, but this book is trauma based and I think it’s important to note that. This story had so much potential but instead I am getting a therapy session out of this Please if you are thinking of reading this book- CHECK TW and be prepared for graphic SA of minors and more TW: Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Branding, Graphic SA and Rape, non consensual, physical and emotional abusemaruu_t's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War
smoochinggirls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Outing, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty
sarah984's review
- 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
4.0
Heading into the ending I was expecting this to be five stars, but the actual ending feels rushed (I feel like almost as much happens in the last 20 pages as in the entire rest of the book) and one plot point, while not really surprising, disappointed me.
Overall though the book was great and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Vomit
There is a scene involving a public execution.