Girls of Paper and Fire

By: Natasha Ngan, James Patterson - foreword

Narrated by: Allison Hiroto

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 learn 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.

©2018 Natasha Ngan (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"This gorgeous book is everything I want in a fantasy. Beautiful, lush, lyrical with fantastic world building and an epic forbidden romance, I devoured every word and was left desperately wanting more." (Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy series and cofounder of We Need Diverse Books)

"This glittering commercial romance has real stakes, and the lavish, intriguingly conceptualized world will capture readers. Love stories between women are still disappointingly few in fantasy, and romance and action fans alike will find much to savor here." (Booklist)

"With deliciously deep world-building and a cast of fierce young women fighting to take charge of their own story, Girls of Paper and Fire cuts you deep and leaves you breathless for more." (Ashley Poston, author of Heart of Iron and Geekerella)

At first, loved it.

Loved the premise and the plot and the characters. But after a second read, especially towards the end, it all fell flat. While I understand that Lei probably isn't a fighter at heart and going through a lot, she is so damn whiney. Always concerned with what's going on with her things and only making small inquiries to others. I had hoped for a much different ending. I wanted Lei to find out her mother was part demon and that's why she was taken. I wanted Lei to take all the fire puns and the premonition the teacher had and just run with it, literally setting everything ablaze. I wanted her to fight like she fucking meant it. I wanted her birth word to be FIRE since that's the premise of the book. Again, loved it at first but then I looked closer.

Well written

The best book I've heard so far. New and exciting. Loved the mix of lesbianism, virginity, mystery, and action.

Great story, Sub par narrator

I was excited when I read the synopsis of this book. A F/F romance set in a fantasy kingdom is right up my alley. I really tried to get into this audio book but the narrator is no good. Her tone doesn't carry the emotion that the characters are feeling across effectively. I would recommend that if you're interested in this story to read the physical book instead.

Vibrant world, consuming story

Ngan has beautifully drawn from eastern lore to create a compelling story of bravery during times of upheaval. Though the characters stand out to leave a lasting impression and are enjoyable to follow, one of the best aspects to this work is the mythology of the universe. I look forward to further development in possible sequel(s).

not a fan of the reader

the narrator over enunciates and speaks very slowly. I am aware that the sound can be sped up, but for most books I don't have to. the story itself seemed drug out and didn't exite me like I'd hoped. it wasn't bad, it just was disappointing since I had high hopes for it. it's too predictable.

Enjoyable

There is a lot of hype and I enjoyed the book. It was good but not amazing. I was torn between loving it and meh but I will give the next one a go before my final judgement of the series.

not at all what I expected

I was looking forward to reading this novel. My sister read it and gave it 4 stars unfortunately this is a 2.5 star for me

Amazing!

I find this book so lovely and enchanting, so excited to continue to read the series and see what becomes of Lei and Wren!

unlike anything else, excellent

definitely not like anything I've ever read. such an unique story I love the creativity that was taken to form this book. a great story about the power of women.

No fue lo que esperaba

Para empezar debo decir que lo que más interesante me pareció del libro es como están divididas las distintas castas. Los de papel son la casta más baja y son 100% humanos; Los de acero son aquellos que tienen mutaciones entre humanos y demonios, y finalmente los reinantes, la casta de la luna, quienes son 100% demonios. ⠀
La idea del libro me sonaba muy interesante, y quizás pudiese echarle la culpa a mis expectativas de una protagonista que luchara contra la norma, que no se dejara bajo la presión, alguien con más carácter. Pero lamentablemente no. Si bien Lei se resiste un poco en un principio no tiene la voluntad realmente para hacer algo. Está llena de miedos, y su única fuente de seguridad será su relación amorosa (lo digo así por las dudas que fuese un spoiler. En la historia, será la pareja quien tendrá la historia interesante, quien dirigirá lo que uno realmente espera que suceda desde el inicio en la historia y se levanten contra el rey, mientras que a ella hay que "cuidarla" porque es "super especial" y solamente la dejan actuar cuando realmente no hay otra solución. En resumen, la protagonista se ve bastante desdibujada siendo más bien a quien hay que salvar, y no la salvadora.⠀
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Durante el libro hay escenas bastante perturbadoras. En principio todas las chicas son reclutadas para ser "concubinas" del rey, pero la realidad es que lo único que son es esclavas sexuales. Su único trabajo es esperar que el rey las llame para tener relaciones y asegurarse de nunca quedar embarazadas. El rey realmente nunca las considerará como esposas, simplemente son juguetes sexuales a quienes somete (en muchos casos violentamente) si no cumplen con sus deseos. ⠀
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Por supuesto que las chicas de papel tienen totalmente prohibido tener algún otro tipo de relación además de servir al rey, por lo cuál ya verán el problema que tiene la protagonista cuando se involucra en una relación prohibida, no solo porque no debe, sino porque además es con otra mujer.⠀
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Me gusta que el libro tenga representación LGBT+ pero al final del día, solo es otro libro con la mujer que necesita ser salvada porque no tiene las herramientas para hacerlo por ella misma. ⠀
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En resumen, el libro me decepcionó bastante. El principio enfoca mucho en la fantasía y explicación del mundo y amé esa parte, pero después se enfoca diría en un 80% en el romance y pierde la trama y los objetivos. Nuevamente aclaro que esto es a gusto personal, si prefieren una historia donde el romance sea el principal punto de la trama entonces seguramente van a disfrutar de esta historia. ⠀
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⚠️ Advertencias: ⠀
El libro contiene una escena de violación explícita y muchas escenas de violencia contra mujeres. ⠀
Además a mi parecer, hay un poco de síndrome de Estocolmo, ya que una de las chicas se termina enamorando del rey cuando lo único que básicamente es usarla sexualmente. ⠀