Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan
"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 demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.
In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king's interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge."
This book was really good, but it was also a really hard read. I actually listened to the audiobook and it was wonderfully read by Allison Hiroto. The world-building and mythology in the book is wonderful and rich. But it’s also dark and very violent. I think Natasha Ngan did a really wonderful job of showing the horror of this world without going into gory detail.
“Falling in love is the most dangerous thing women like us can do.”
― Natasha Ngan, Girls of Paper and Fire
I was really on the fence about this one, but I’ve heard so many wonderful things I kept with it. I’m glad I did. Because while it is dark and violent, there’s still a lot of hope in it. And in the end there’s a reclaiming of the power that the king and the court stole from Lei and I loved it! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
Genre: ya, fantasy, lgbtqia+
Representation: lesbian/queer
Content Warnings: Abduction, Assault, Death, Genocide, Harassment, Prostitution (forced), Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence
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