Novels and Necklaces: ARC Review: Girls of Paper and Fire

About The Book:

Title: Girls of Paper and Fire

Author: Natasha Ngan
Pub. Date: November 6th, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books
Pages: 336

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT

Rate: 4/5 stars

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:

Girls of Paper and Fire is the start of new fantasy series by Natasha Ngan. It stars Lei, who is forcefully taken from her small village in order to serve the Demon King as a Paper Girl. (Usually) 8 Paper Girls are chosen yearly to serve the King and all of his nightly desires. Typically only higher class paper-caste are chosen, but Lei's golden eyes captured the attention of royal consorts and is given as a gift to the King. A threat on the only family she has left is keeping Lei from escaping, but she looks for other ways to defy the royalty at every turn.

"The fear might be strong.

But my hatred is stronger."

Like nothing I've ever read before, this book was completely original. There are 3 castes in this book, Paper, Steel, and Moon. Paper castes, like Lei, are full human and considered the lowest of the low. The members of the Steel caste are a combination of demon and human, while those in the Moon caste have full demon traits. The demons in this book look part human/part animal. The Moon and Steel castes treat the Paper caste like trash, calling them horrible names and giving them away as slaves. The world building is so lush, it's absolutely phenomenal. Miss Ngan submerges you in this new world and it's so wonderfully horrifying that you won't want to get out.

When Lei is taken to the palace, she doesn't expect to fall for anyone, let alone another one of the Paper Girls. Girls of Paper and Fire includes a romantic f/f relationship and so much diversity. The characters are vibrant, even the secondary characters in this novel are so well-developed it feels like you really know them.

Girls of Paper and Fire is a beautifully written, Asian-inspired fantasy. It ties up many plot lines, but leaves some open for the next book in the series. One of those being the Demon Queen! I really want to learn more about her and her secret life. Considering this book is going to be marketed as YA, I was definitely surprised at the explicit content. It reminded me of ACOTAR in the way it has quite a bit of YA/NA crossover appeal. Anyway, I definitely recommend this book for all of those YA fantasy fans out there. I know you'll love this book as much as I did. Are you excited for Girls of Paper and Fire? Are you planning to preorder?