Girls of Paper and Fire

CW: animal death, rape/attempted rape, graphic violence

I was so excited to read this book before its release but put it on the back burner when I read some mixed reviews and also realized the kind of content. But I'm so glad my Stars and Sorcery book club decided to choose this book as our January BOTM and it has been a great experience reading and discussing this very important book.

This is the author's debut but nowhere does the writing feel like that. The descriptions of the places that the MC travels are so vivid and especially the Hidden Palace is described so beautifully that I was surprised even I enjoyed it. If you know me at all, you are already aware that I'm actually not a fan of very descriptive stuff and tend to skim read, but the author made me like her style of writing and imagine all the places she was talking about. The story starts off a bit slow and the pacing can feel a little off initially, but it picks up once Lei reaches the palace and the training for the Paper Girls begins. We also get a unique blend of Asian mythologies, some I knew about and some unknown, but it was still very interesting to read about. This makes for some fascinating world building and I liked getting to know the various places within this world, the hierarchies and their history. I have a feeling we'll get a chance to explore much more in the next book.

The themes of caste division, prejudice towards and oppression of the lower castes by the upper castes and the extreme violence towards women are the major undercurrent throughout the story and I felt that the author handled them all with a lot of sensitivity. As all the Paper Girls are essentially playthings for the Demon King to use whenever he wants, we see first hand the affects of rape and sexual abuse on these girls. The author deftly tells us through the story that not everyone reacts or processes their trauma the same way, each one's PTSD manifests in a different way and every survivor has their own path to recovery. This is a story of the strength and resilience that these young girls show and how they try to take back at least some choices for themselves, step by single step.

Lei, our protagonist is very angry initially for being forcefully taken from her home and blackmailed to become a paper girl. This is where the story faltered for me a bit, but once she meets the other girls and the group dynamics are developed more, the plot became very interesting. Lei's experience is horrific and and she struggles with her trauma, but she also finds strength in herself, in her love for her family and in her determination to never let it happen to her again. Wren is a badass love interest and I would have loved to read her POV (I hope we get it in the next book). Her relationship with Lei is a delicious slow burn and I enjoyed every moment of it. It's also a very empowering one for the two girls because they choose to be with each other, they take control of their bodies and desires after having been violated multiple times and they find strength in each other. Aoki is another character whom I just wanted to give a big hug to, because she is naive and very sympathetic or maybe just that she is handling her trauma in the only way she knows how to - by embracing it as her choice. Blue is supposed to be the mean girl of the group but even she has her own story and reasons for being there and we can't really hate for trying to survive. We also have Chenna, Mariko, Zhin and Zhen - each of them have their own stories and I liked every one of them. When there is such a wonderful group of girls, we naturally get a good dose of friendship, jealousy, drama and betrayal but what stood out for me was that in times of need, they all helped each other - even if it was just in subtle ways.

This is a book where the story builds up slowly, character development is given major importance and everything leads up to a very action packed climax. The content can be difficult to read, so be mindful of it if you decide to pick up this book. However, I think this is a very important YA book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a reader of YA fantasy.

It ain't Beauty and the Beast. Or The Selection. Or a harem anime. But there are certainly moments that made me think of each. I would have rated this higher if the tone were more consistent. Most of the time it fits the setting and characters perfectly but the occasionally “modern teen” lines rip me right out of the story. Based on the final chapters, I worry the next book will have a lot more of those lines.

Not a particularly uplifting read - it's a dark book that deals with dark themes well enough. It's on a fairly short time-scale but I didn't feel like the characters developed all that much. Fortunately they're reasonably interesting characters to start with, but the characters do feel fairly flat. I don't think I'm really the target audience for this book, but I'll probably read the next one.

I knew I should've known better than to be taken along on certain people's hype train about this book. Uninteresting, shallow, stupid characters, flat villains, and an equally ‘eh' storyline that is just ... boring. The main character pissed me off with how much of a horrific dumbass she was, and all her glares/grumbles/whining/complaining/snarky comments are just cringe-inducing (apparently we're meant to find her funny or endearing or strong, what in the actual EFF). As an Asian person of similar ethnicity to the writer as well as the characters in this book, I sometimes want to have stories that feature those “like me” but I do NOT want them written with such amateur skill. It's fucking embarrassing.

Buddy read met Céline van celinezoalszeis.be (@mybookishempire).

Ondanks dat de premisse en de opzet mij wel aansprak, kon het boek mij geen enkele keer echt naar binnen zuigen en helemaal overtuigen.

Het hoofdpersonage was mij iets te veel een typisch YA-tiener, dat irrationele, domme en egoïstische beslissingen maakt, waardoor ik mij eerder aan haar ergerde dan met haar sympathiseerde. Andere personages, zoals Wren, leken mij pakken interessanter.
Het magische aspect met het kastensysteem klinkt interessant, maar ik kon me geen enkele keer een duidelijk beeld van de demonen vormen, behalve Kung-Fu Panda-achtige personages (Kai iemand?), waardoor ik het nog moeilijk serieus kon nemen.

De plot begon veelbelovend, maar nam dan een nogal cliché, voorspelbaar en compleet belachelijke wending, met een einde waarvan ik echt luidop moest vloeken.

Over het algemeen apprecieer ik de feministische en kritische boodschap dat dit boek bracht, maar het verhaal op zich kon me onvoldoende engageren en ik voel me niet meteen verleid om het vervolg te lezen.

After a bit of a slow start, I ended up really enjoying this! The world is so interesting and the way the different ‘castes' are part human, part animal form based is so unique.

I do agree with some reviews saying the pacing was a little off and the relationship went from nothing to full on quite suddenly, but I still liked it overall.

Where do I even begin....o.O This was the hardest most fulfilling book i've read in 2020 so far hands down. Wow...The domestic violence and the grooming of these young girls not only made me sick to my stomach and cry on numerous parts but Lei's character made me shout out several times yeah you badass get it! I was rooting for Lei the entirety of this book and wren has got to be amongst the highest of my favorites. They are THE perfect duo and I loved both of them. Aoaki was my next in line of favorites when it came to the characters but I shook my head on how much she was brainwashed and gaslighted by her situation...I loved the progression of this story, I am so anxious to pick up the second one now in this series and the fact there is a 3rd installment in 2021 coming o.O!!!?!?!?! yessssssss! overall what a hard read but amazing overall story. So glad I binged this one! Everything moved at a pretty good pace, I was never bored with the details and just ugh definitely recommend!

This was a great addition to LGBT YA Fantasy! I did have some nitpicks with it, and I wish a lot of it had been more developed (a general complaint from me about most YA fantasy), but overall I enjoyed it and I'm so glad it exists.

Some thoughts:

• I appreciate that there was a sexual violence warning at the beginning of the book. I already knew that content was going to be in this book from goodreads reviews, but many readers won't have seen that before reading, and I think it's so important for books (especially YA) to have brief warnings like this one did.
• I loved that this book showed how girls can support each other, but also still disagree with and dislike each other. I do wish some more of the girls/women in the book (especially Blue and Mistress Eira) had been in on the plan to overthrow the king. Maybe in the sequels.
• The ending was very rushed and felt disjointed from the rest of the book.
• The romance was sweet but didn't really feel based on much of anything. I wish it had been more developed.

Although this was hard to get into at first I ended up really enjoying it. There are a few parts that are hard to read so fair warning to those who are sensitive to physical and sexual abuse. It is a small part of the story but plays a role in the girls' environment. This also has an undertone of Memoirs of a Geisha in the lifestyle and everyday ongoings for the Paper Girls. Looking forward to the next one.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW: I have been wanting to get more into books that have Asian influences or are written by Asian authors. So many recommended The Girls of Paper and Fire, and all I can say is that I read this in one sitting. Following a girl named Lei, the story is focused on the deep tradition of “Paper Girls.” Where eight girls of a lower class are selected to become the King's concubines. Selected from around the entire kingdom, these girls are taken to palace where they learn skills, including dance, court politics, and more. Although, this selection is seen as a great honor to be for the “Heavenly Master,” Lei and the other girls soon learn that they are only existing for the use of others. Come to a great sickness taking over the land, the cruelty of the court, and an assassination plot that is closer than anyone could imagine, follow these girls who are trained for obedience and submission, set the world on fire and change the world forever. Seeped in a fantasy Asian-setting, themes and underpinnings of class disparity, and a LGBTQ+ romance, I definitely recommend this title.