Reviews

Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan

itsryder_'s review against another edition

4.0

Imaginative magic system, dark and dreamy imagery, that readers who enjoyed The Poppy War Series will appreciate. The alluring LGBTQIA sapphic romance between Wren and Lei is a budding young romance that readers are compelled to root for.

If I could summarize Girls of Fire and Fury in one word: Redemption

Girls of Fire and Fury redeemed the series with its fast paced, blow-for-blow battle scenes, emotional reunions, emotional losses, and reaffirming that even mortal, Paper caste truths ring louder than a war horn in our world world-Qi or no.

Seldom does every book in a trilogy stand strong on its own, and the second book for me fell flat. Arguably, I would have converted the series into a duology and broke up Girls of Storm and Shadow, but the point is moot.

dani_1405's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

How can one be so elated and heartbroken all at once? This book has so much angst in it, it is constant with such little reprieve and yet I don't think it could have been any other way as it felt like I was in this story with the characters.

Every interaction between Lei and Aoki was like a punch in the gut and the struggle their friendship went through in this book is crazy. The loss of Chenna was also heart-breaking, I had to take a couple minutes after that chapter. As well as this, while I didn't fully understand how or why the Demon Queen was so ready to trust Lei, the ending that it brought was very fulfilling.

This final book was a brilliant ending of the series and brought all of the themes to a true crescendo.

aandrus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

anouk_reads's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars i’m gonna miss these characters

usuallyaudio's review against another edition

I’m usually one to always finish a book, whether or not I’m enjoying it. I’m not going to keep doing that! After the first few chapters of this book (third in the series) I could tell that it was going to be a repeat of previous plots. 

Oh no! We escaped the evil king’s castle in book 1, but now one of the leads has been captured again!

Also the reader of the audio wasn’t doing it for me.

evl204's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

calloe's review against another edition

4.0

4,25

hijabi_booknook's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

4.75

sapphocyra's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

i think what was essentially the epilogue could've been structured and condensed better but i really enjoyed this! also blue always gave off sapphic vibes to me so that's a win and i'm glad the full extent of what ketai put wren through was addressed

nokvi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

Oh I think book 3 is my favorite out of the three. As always with my YA reads, I remember I am not the target audience and assess them from that view point and Natasha really put her pen to work. 

I question the need for dual POVs but this version really had me thinking, especially in the context of Ketai's actions  

• "What is the moral line in war?"
• "At one point in the revolution do we become our oppressors in the very attempt to uproot them?"

Ketai Hanno really brings that into focus thru Wren as we navigate the resistance side. As Wren learns that she is more than the vengeance machine her father made her

even at the end of the book letting it settle that he was even willing to let her experience being raped by the Demon king to achieve his goal

. It begs the question of it is possible for the oppressed to go too morally far in their retaliation to their oppressors?

And I'm not talking about fighting, the basis of a revolution and resistance is violence; rights and equality irl weren't won in via peaceful measures. No what is examined how much of ourselves can we morally sacrifice to obtain our goal

as seen by Ketai asking Lei to sacrifice herself and other decisions he made along the way

Lei herself also faces her own issues as she realises how skewed the ideology she was preaching in previous books do not hold weight in these circumstances. As she battles with her own trauma paired with the responsibility (and consequences) that comes with being the Moonchosen, Lei comes to terms with how much persons have sacrificed and are willing to give up in the name of her protection

heavy topics with heavy themes and I just loved every second of it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture