Recent Reads: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Source: From Netgalley and James Patterson Books in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Series: Girls of Paper and Fire #1
Publisher: James Patterson Books
Publication Date:  November 6, 2018

 

Format: Ebook 

Rating:







Goodreads Synopsis: 

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most cruel.
But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.
In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after--the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable--she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

Review: 
Trigger Warning: This book contains scenes of violence, cruelty, and sexual assault and abuse.

I picked this book up not knowing too much about it, the cover is gorgeous and the tagline for the book had been popping up and it was enough to make me want to read it. 

The tagline: 

We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.

After reading the book, I had mixed emotions. This book was a lot... I knew going in that there would be violence and I also knew about the sexual assault aspect, however I was very surprised to find a F/F relationship. I am perfectly ok with it being there but it was so hidden, and that makes me a bit sad. There was no mention of it in the synopsis. Other feelings about this book, was that it was very intense, all the way through. There is a kidnapping and then the slavery of these girls and their job to please the king, it you don't like intensity in this way, this book will not be for you.

I enjoyed the book, but I feel weird saying that since it had so many violent aspects, but the plot was pieced together enough for it to all come together pretty well. I was not completely in love with it though and I had trouble understanding the world. In the first few chapters it seemed like we were going to get this vibrant exploration of this new world with humans and animal human hybrids and then once the girls arrive at the palace, all of that pretty much fell off. There were no more details about the overall world, and while this may be a symbolic way of making the reader fell like the girls who are imprisoned, I still wanted more as a reader. There is a war coming and I feel like I don't know enough to want to pick up the next book in the series.

The characters were interesting and only a few fell flat for me, but they were not so strong that I need to be in their lives. I am interested to see where the romance leads though and so again it is sad that that aspect was left out of the overall synopsis. If I were looking for a book like this, I would have to find it via the words of others, there is no stumbling upon it (unless you have a wonderful librarian or bookstore helper to add it to an LGBTQ end cap because they happen to know). 

So if you are looking for this kind of drama and intensity, this may be for you. If these themes already seem too strong, do not pick this one up, it is very violent in all aspects.