Reviews

Nothing in this book worked for me at all. Honestly, it feels like nothing really even happened. The premise seemed kind of promising but it absolutely, completely let me down. Do not recommend it whatsoever. Wren and Kenzo were alright, but I hate the instant-love trope and truly believe Lei was an abysmal MC.

cipotalectora's review against another edition

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4.0

We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.

An own-voices queer characters story about two sapphic girls who fall in love while experiencing violence and abuse as they are held as concubines to the Demon King? I was sold.

Girls of Paper and Fire is about Lei, a 17-year-old made of fire and not paper who will not let herself be held by the Demon King.

Lei was born to two Paper members of the caste, the lowest and most oppressed in her world of Ikhara. She helps her father and lives in a small village where she can't forget the traumatic events of her mother being snatched and taken from her. The royals she saw, the royals she wants to forget, they're back, but this time, they're here for her, the Paper with golden eyes who have caught the attention of the Demon King. Lei knows the story of the Demon King, knows what he does and who he is. He sends his guards to take eight girls born under Paper castes and turns them to Paper Girls who serve him, become his concubines and wives of many wives. Some families and girls think of this as an advantage, a fortunate fate, but Lei holds nothing but hatred, and she can't possibly let herself be controlled by her worst nightmare.

During the weeks and months of training, Lei needs to meet requirements she has no plan on learning and during the process, she not only learns more about her mother, the Demon King, and herself, but she learns about what it is to let go, to let herself make her choices, to say no, and she learns about forbidden love. During the process, she also has to realize if it was worth going as far as she could for everything she sacrificed herself for.

Girls of Paper and Fire is about what it means to say no to what you don’t want. It is about self-love, acceptance, and what it means to set yourself free. It is about power, control, violence, and what advantage one can hold. It is about rape, abuse, friendship, and love and how one choice can make a difference.

Trigger/content warnings for sexual violence, abuse, rape, and an animal death.

In my village, the story of the Paper Girls is told in whispers behind closed doors. We lost too much in the raid seven years ago to want to share anything more with the court.

Natasha Ngan paints a beautiful world inspired by Asian elements from her own experience of being biracial, specifically Malaysian-Chinese, and she brings her vivid imagination into this world of Ikhara where you can imagine the world of it with the elements of it from drinks to food, buildings to clothes, houses to camps, its as if the whole world is in front of you. Ngan gives us many different yet common fantasy elements we see in fantasy, including the beautiful atmosphere she has crafted for us to visualize with its Asian mythology playing big roles. Natasha also talks about her own story in the end and how she encourages women, especially young girls, into speaking about their experience and providing us their stories about their survival of sexual violence, because that is what this story is about.

Sexual violence is a big issue and topic in this book and it makes you hate boys and love girls more than you already do, but Ngan also makes sure to provide us happiness, love, friendships, and hope in this. There are survivors, like her and many others, in this and the provide more hope and faith. It is about rape culture and the trauma and grief it leaves you with. It is also about what it is like to overcome this fear, this control you don't want to hold, and what it means to say No to your oppressor, to the person taking advantage of you because of who you are. The message in this is descriptively beautiful and heavy, but it fills you in with light.

Not only is it about being held, but it is about not letting this fear consume you and make you feel worthless. Ngan gives us a character that can bring light into us while reading this because of what she overcame, what she achieved. Lei is a character who did not allow herself to be let down, held down by the Demon King who made her feel like she was not worth everything that she was made of. But Lei found herself valuable, in herself and in others. Lei was able to make a difference in her life and in others, being a first of firsts. She was a character who was broken, wounded, and left with anguish she will never forget and want to experience again. But Lei was a different kind of character, and everything that she did was beyond beautiful as if she was the one painting her world for you to see it for what it really is.

Aside from Lei, Wren was my favorite. I mean, a rebellious, young and sapphic assassin warrior who will do everything she can to protect her family but also her sapphic lover because she can't stand the fact that her girlfriend is being tortured by the Demon King, a bastard who has nothing but power and control over girls and treats them as toys and objects because that is his enjoyment? Wren is also broken, but with the help of Lei, she heals from her, through her, and she shows Lei what love and friendship is, but healing through love is, and the slow-burn romance that Ngan gives us in this is truly one of the most beautiful in YA fantasy. Not only is Wren helping Lei, but she is helping herself. She has her story of anguish, of fear and loss, of abandonment, and it is heartbreaking to read about but it is also full of hope and strength. I really hope we get more beautiful moments of them together that actually have me living because there were not enough in this one.

Her kisses heal the parts of me that the King broke. They tell me: You are strong, Lei. You are beautiful. You are mine. And, always, most important: You are yours.

The world of Ikhara is misery and a society of misogyny. Women are treated as slaves, toys, objects, as people they are not but are wanted for. These Paper Girls are taken from their family to serve the King, to serve him with his many other wives and Paper Girls he does not love but use for himself. It is a society that is slavery and enforcement, attempted rape and abuse, wrecking and leaving torturous trauma into the minds and bodies placed into this.

It is cultural and a tradition for Demons in this world to be objectifying women as if they are nothing because, for them, they are nothing. It's as if they were a treat for themselves, given to them when they are obedient. Not only is there prejudice and discrimination, but there is also classification. Girls are taken depending on what they have to offer, and then they are forced into improving their classification to offer it to the King because they need to win his heart. One thing many of these girls who think they are fortunate enough don't realize is that the Moon King does not like them for who they are, he is simply materializing and using them as tools, for his comfort and amusement, and there is no self-discovery in these girls who are misplaced, obscured and assuming this is all a blessing, as if being married to a King who has multiples wives in his bed is a fortune.

Aside from everything I cherished, one thing that points to the 4 stars and not 5 is how Ngan decided to leave the plots ending until the end, even though we were given hints of what was to come. What I am trying to point out is that nothing blew me away because I knew what was gonna happen. One thing I hate about YA fantasy is that the author always gives everything away, not allowing and letting the reader experience it for themselves. It really blows the whole story away for me when the author decides to spoil the ending for us in ways they probably thought they didn't. Although the ending does end with a cliffhanger, it didn't feel enough.

Girls of Paper and Fire is about overcoming the shyness a girl can hold as she is experiencing one of her most traumatic experiences to date. It is about making a difference for yourself and your own little world and how beautiful it is to find someone who will accept and love you for who you are and not for what you have. It is about learning, accepting, and loving.

Demon men can take what they want. Our homes. Our lives. Our bodies.

leah_grace07's review against another edition

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4.0

Although this book was fantastically written throughout the middle and the end of the story, the beginning was dragging. The first couple chapters did take me a little while to get through, I just wish there had been more anticipation and action. The character development was well done although I had wished that some of the other girls were more often dived into... some of the paper girls were not given enough backstory to look back to. One thing I did really enjoy though was the contemporary issue of rape seen in a fantasy novel. I feel that’s rarely seen and I definitely enjoyed it!!

kaila2464's review against another edition

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4.0

This book tackled some difficult topics but they were tackled well. There was never a moment I was bored in this book

sarahboudereads's review against another edition

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5.0

4,5/5

lanasgrateful's review against another edition

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3.0

tropes:
🔥 feminismo
🔥 fantasía asiática
🔥 world building
🔥 sapphic romance

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