Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

38 reviews

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

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

briaellereads's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, and Rape

sipnayan's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Torture, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Homophobia, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Vomit, Cursing, and Trafficking

dezzella's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Rape, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

the_bookish_rose's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I binge-read this book in a day because it was super entertaining and the worldbuilding captured me. I don’t usually praise settings in a book, but this one did such a great job describing each location enough to where I could envision it without thinking too hard on it. It is a book with heavy topics so keep the warnings in mind, but I enjoyed the main character’s vitality and fierceness against the system around her. The plot was also well paced, and I loved the little cliffhanger it left off on, leaving me wanting more. I can’t wait to see where she goes next in the next book. 

OH! And the ✨🏳️‍🌈 sapphic representation?? Chef’s kiss. It was built up well and I’m so glad they didn’t just have them together and then one is 💀- I loved it and as a sapphic, I fell in love with their relationship and hope to see it continue into the series.

If fantasy, female empowerment with sapphic flavoring are your favs in a book, please read Girls of Paper and Fire!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Slavery

runes_reads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Medical trauma, Grief, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Kidnapping, Animal death, Trafficking, War, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Misogyny

Moderate: Outing, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death of parent, Mental illness, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

ly_do's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Classism, and Torture

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Grief

peach_haze's review

dark emotional sad tense 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

I love the end but I wish the MC had started learning martial arts sooner, rather than literally right before the attack. She definitely felt OP when she beat her trainer even though she had only been sparring for a very short time. I also wish we could’ve seen her fall in love more. We knew they would become a couple but I feel like there could’ve been more chemistry.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

sweetchocolatez's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Violence, Torture, Racism, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Death, Blood, Medical content, Bullying, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcohol and War