A review by kissievendor
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like it, but... It has some issues I could 't overcome.

First of all, I think the world building is not really well done. There are some fun little details, but that was kind of it for me. Important things are not explained, and things I didn't care about were.

The characters felt really flat to me, even the protagonist. Despite spending the whole book in her head, I did not feel any real connection or personality.

The romance literally came out of nowhere. I get that she is exploring her sexuality, but both being gay or bi doesnt mean they belong together. Idunno, sorry for this rant.


Also, the protagonist is very passive.. Like the story, nothing happens. There was no foreshadowing, no consequences, and no answers.

I do like that the author wrote this as a story to cope with sexual abuse, and I think it is too normalized in YA, abuse or intimidation but it is supposed to be romantic? Yeah, I am looking at you SJM. So, kudos to that I guess?
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