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A review by charliebriggs96
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
This book was so immersive and enthralling that I was captured and transported in every page to beautiful settings, smells and textures that can only be felt by an author who is good at what they are doing. But the storyline to this book is what makes it a brilliant fantasy read!
I loved that this book is an open discussion about the harms that some traditions can do to women. Especially younger, possibly easier to manipulate girls who know no different, and never have had to. Lei’s character brings those questions, questions that show this negativity in traditions, to light, opening the eyes possibly to many. I loved this, although Lei herself is naive in certain topics, her fight and her drive is admirable to say the least.
Class is another discussion in this book that I feel is handled well, it isn’t too far away from current discussions in our world, albeit we don’t have a Bull/Demon King in ours. It’s still believable and relatable to me, something I feel is very hard to do in any book especially in a book with magic and humanoid creatures.
TW: this book does have a king who essentially SA’s women every year in the name of tradition, one is as young as 16. His age isn’t verified, but he’s at least nearly 30 I think. He also at one point rapes a character but it isn’t heavily described. He also openly beats these women to the point that they have shamans to heal them every time they ‘visit’ him.
Finally, the romance in this book is utterly pure and delightful although they have to hide it for their safety. They communicate well, and discuss things that I think leads to a healthy relationship. And it’s sapphic, what’s not to love!? Wren and Lei are my new OTP, I hope the second book fairs well for them. (Yes I am buying the second book ASAP).
Read this book, it’s so good. With a small shaky start this book blooms into a fantastic read.
I loved that this book is an open discussion about the harms that some traditions can do to women. Especially younger, possibly easier to manipulate girls who know no different, and never have had to. Lei’s character brings those questions, questions that show this negativity in traditions, to light, opening the eyes possibly to many. I loved this, although Lei herself is naive in certain topics, her fight and her drive is admirable to say the least.
Class is another discussion in this book that I feel is handled well, it isn’t too far away from current discussions in our world, albeit we don’t have a Bull/Demon King in ours. It’s still believable and relatable to me, something I feel is very hard to do in any book especially in a book with magic and humanoid creatures.
TW: this book does have a king who essentially SA’s women every year in the name of tradition, one is as young as 16. His age isn’t verified, but he’s at least nearly 30 I think. He also at one point rapes a character but it isn’t heavily described. He also openly beats these women to the point that they have shamans to heal them every time they ‘visit’ him.
Finally, the romance in this book is utterly pure and delightful although they have to hide it for their safety. They communicate well, and discuss things that I think leads to a healthy relationship. And it’s sapphic, what’s not to love!? Wren and Lei are my new OTP, I hope the second book fairs well for them. (Yes I am buying the second book ASAP).
Read this book, it’s so good. With a small shaky start this book blooms into a fantastic read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence