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A review by amiascah
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Girls of Paper and Fire was an unexpected great read. I had never heard of Jimmy Patterson books and after reading his forward and Natasha Ngan's note at the end it I will have to make sure I take a look at more of these.
This book is set in a world where there are three different castes of people, Demon, a strong blend between different animal clans and humans, Moon, less animalistic and more fragile and human, and lastly the Paper caste, completely human and as fragile as paper. It doesn't specify or I missed it but I'm unclear is the moon caste has come about as a mingling of Demon and Paper. There is one reference about it being difficult for a Paper girl to conceive a child with a Demon. The world is ruled by a Demon king from the bull clan and every year since the bulls took over they select 8 girls from the paper caste to to become 'Paper Girls'. Some see this as a privilege and honour, a few don't. A 'Paper Girl' for a year is the personal concubine of the king, to call on when he pleases and do with as he pleases. After the year the girls can be given as gifts to Generals, or people the king wishes or they are sent to be concubines for the general public.
spoilers below
Lei is a girl in a small town far from the capital and the king but unfortunately for her despite being completely human and Paper she was born with gold eyes. A General hears the rumours of her eyes and decides to go into her father's shop and take her as a gift for the king to try to curry favour. The rest of the girls have gone through a long selection process and 8 girls have already been chosen, but Lei's golden eyes are enough to get her added as an odd extra. A huge deal is made out of this so it's really weird to me that it was no problem it seemed to add her, then during an assessment one girl gets kicked out, so now theres only 8. I thought more would come from this but other than a few people nicknaming her Nine or the rough Mistress that watches over the girls making comments about Lei being better behaved and letting the king see her eyes, this whole issue sizzles away.
While most of the girls are fearful and nervous when they are called the first time by the king and then quiet and sad the next day, they all pretty much bounce back. Except for Lei, the king takes his time calling on her and when he finally does she denies him and gets punished. After this Lei struggles with girls she was bonding with and being friends with meekly settling into this life. She struggles to remember that unlike her most knew what they were getting into and some wanted to be chosen. Enter Wren, she is one of the other 'Paper Girls' but has been keeping her distance. Lei hasn't been able to understand but she's been feeling drawn to Wren this whole time. After months where the other girls get called and then things keep the king from calling on any of them, Lei falls into a false sense of security, deepening feelings with Wren, having those feelings returned and not being forced to see the king. Of course that all changes and everything comes to a head. Eventually the king does call for Lei again.
I very much enjoyed aspects of this book. I thought the caste system and the animal traits very interesting but I was also confused at times and have questions. I'm hoping in the second book some more world building gets flushed out and more things make sense.
This book is set in a world where there are three different castes of people, Demon, a strong blend between different animal clans and humans, Moon, less animalistic and more fragile and human, and lastly the Paper caste, completely human and as fragile as paper. It doesn't specify or I missed it but I'm unclear is the moon caste has come about as a mingling of Demon and Paper. There is one reference about it being difficult for a Paper girl to conceive a child with a Demon. The world is ruled by a Demon king from the bull clan and every year since the bulls took over they select 8 girls from the paper caste to to become 'Paper Girls'. Some see this as a privilege and honour, a few don't. A 'Paper Girl' for a year is the personal concubine of the king, to call on when he pleases and do with as he pleases. After the year the girls can be given as gifts to Generals, or people the king wishes or they are sent to be concubines for the general public.
spoilers below
Lei is a girl in a small town far from the capital and the king but unfortunately for her despite being completely human and Paper she was born with gold eyes. A General hears the rumours of her eyes and decides to go into her father's shop and take her as a gift for the king to try to curry favour. The rest of the girls have gone through a long selection process and 8 girls have already been chosen, but Lei's golden eyes are enough to get her added as an odd extra. A huge deal is made out of this so it's really weird to me that it was no problem it seemed to add her, then during an assessment one girl gets kicked out, so now theres only 8. I thought more would come from this but other than a few people nicknaming her Nine or the rough Mistress that watches over the girls making comments about Lei being better behaved and letting the king see her eyes, this whole issue sizzles away.
While most of the girls are fearful and nervous when they are called the first time by the king and then quiet and sad the next day, they all pretty much bounce back. Except for Lei, the king takes his time calling on her and when he finally does she denies him and gets punished. After this Lei struggles with girls she was bonding with and being friends with meekly settling into this life. She struggles to remember that unlike her most knew what they were getting into and some wanted to be chosen. Enter Wren, she is one of the other 'Paper Girls' but has been keeping her distance. Lei hasn't been able to understand but she's been feeling drawn to Wren this whole time. After months where the other girls get called and then things keep the king from calling on any of them, Lei falls into a false sense of security, deepening feelings with Wren, having those feelings returned and not being forced to see the king. Of course that all changes and everything comes to a head. Eventually the king does call for Lei again.
I very much enjoyed aspects of this book. I thought the caste system and the animal traits very interesting but I was also confused at times and have questions. I'm hoping in the second book some more world building gets flushed out and more things make sense.