Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

64 reviews

poppywarphan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

• 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

Characters: 5/10
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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

books_of_calypso's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Physical abuse, Infertility, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Violence

bookcaptivated's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Blood, Xenophobia, Animal death, Violence, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: War, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Outing

Minor: Bullying, Classism, and Infidelity

stardivine's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book, although it was a challenging read. It is incredibly dark and deals with a lot of heavy topics, much of which could potentially be very triggering. However, I found the characters well written and (with some big exceptions, for obvious reasons) sympathetic, and the story engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Grief, and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: War

planetshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Trafficking, Bullying, Gaslighting, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Outing, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

zoevjester's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

This is the second time I've read Girls 1. You can tell immediately when your read it that the author poured their heart and soul into the story, and it shows. The diversity is a breath of fresh air, the characters and the story, while dark, is woven and told with such care that my heart breaks. Lei is a brilliant character and her story, so very similar to some people's reality, is a reminder to live despite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Rape, Grief, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Classism, and Animal death

Moderate: Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Violence, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, War, Kidnapping, Infertility, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

sma_tsol06's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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? No

3.5

It's interestin  how it connects  several social problems such as misogyny, sexual assault, abuse , bullying etc with the magic of the world and the behavior of the main characters when they deal with these problems 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

nicoleceballos's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, Animal death, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Death, and Confinement

anaguana's review against another edition

dark emotional

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, War, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Blood, Alcohol, and Animal death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Homophobia