This was magical and emotional and harrowing … and woah you should read this.
It’s such a dark premise and it’s handled so well. And may I just say the amount of Asian #ownvoices fantasies coming out at the moment is incredible?! Not only is GIRLS OF PAPER AND FIRE #ownvoices, it also features an f/f romance, demon kings and conquered realms, rebellions and secret assassins, empowering female friendships, and dresses that hide knives (YES THANKS). Also the cover…absolutely beautiful. I can’t even.
We have been blessed here tbh.
thanks to Hachette / @dateabook for the ARC…and I also got an exclusive signed edition from the November @owlcrate box!
➸ WORLD BUILDING!
dude, this was amazing. Complex and developed, with history and lore!! The world felt huge in scope and well developed (something I crave in YA fantasy but often find wanting?!) The author’s note said she drew inspiration from her own Chinese and Malaysian background and I think that’s incredibly special too. It was so easy to tumble headfirst into descriptions of the world, the politics, the palaces, the food (I’m so hungry now wow) — it made you feel IN the story.
➸ let’s talk about the dark premise, ok?
The Demon King takes teenage girls as concubines…so the premise is Lei being taken. Yes the book is about reap and sexual abuse and violence. (It also contains a content warning at the beginning of the book, which I felt was important!) It’s not graphic, but it is talked about thoroughly. At first I was like “This isn’t YA…” But you know what? I changed my mind. It is important to talk about these things with teens.
The author’s note sums it up brilliantly, where Ngan says: “While I realise these are hard discussions, especially for teens, it is of vital important we have them. Books can be safe places to explore difficult topics. While we cannot shelter young people from being exposed to sexual violence, whether through lived experience or indirectly, we can give them a way to safely engage with and reflect upon these issues. I hope Girls provides such a space.“
I couldn’t agree more. I think I read the stats somewhere that 1 in 6 women experience sexual abuse (it’s probably higher than that) and teens need to talk about it just as much as adults. And yes, this book is harrowing and it uproots your heart and makes you feel ill at times, it handles the topic so well. I still felt gutted reading it though afjkdslad I ached for these girls and I freaking hate the Demon king so viciously.
➸ a moment for our FAV GIRLS, Lei and Wren!
I loved Lei so so much! Her little snark quips gave me life. And she’s so real. She was emotional and unsure and made messy decisions and had messy feels (a true teen!!). I loved how she was fiery and brave, but also emotional and feminine. (This is NOTHING against stoic women, I just feel like it’s important to show books where girls don’t have to be “super super tough” in order to be brave and strong.) Also Lei @ seeing her crush? The dorky CUTENESS. It was perfect. I loved the romance, not rushed and yet not too slowburn either. Wren is mysterious and drop-dead gorgeous, and super badass. She has a Secret Thing going on too. (I really hope this, being a bestseller, brings more f/f romances into epic fantasy!)
➸ honestly this was just a Good Book™
Captivating and intense! It was a bit slow at the beginning, but eh, it took time to craft the world. I admit It didn’t give me all-the-feels-of-ever — but I am a tree stump. I acknowledge that. But, hello, the cast is like 80% women, with POC and queer leads, and the story was powerful. It’s not a light.
It’s heavy and unsettling but written very very well.
I want more from this world, this author, THESE GIRLS. I’m definitely pointing to this one ➸ very recommended!
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.
Goodreads | Hachette | Book Depository
When I think of YA book that deal with dark themes I think of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton which explores society’s obsession with beauty but in really disturbing ways that contrast the pink cover of someone in a dress (I think it’s supposed to be pretty but people on covers is always awful if they aren’t hand drawn or have firey hair like this one) and flowery writing.
Maybe I’ll read this eventually??? I’m just a little tired of YA fantasy right now, it’s not their fault it’s me, I just burnt myself out 😞
I actually have The Belles, so I should get onto that soon too…but yeah I really think these kind of topics are important to talk about in books! (Totally understand getting burned out though with some genres 🙈I get that sometimes!)
I’ve heard so much about this book and it sounds almost perfect! I’ve still not got around to reading it (I blame all of you authors for releasing more books, how am I supposed to catch up 😂). I’ve really got to get on it STAT especially with the more adult themes, something I’m really wanting more of in YA. Natasha explains it perfectly, ‘books can be safe places to explore difficult topics’ YES, YES, YES! The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and teens need to know that. By denying such topics in books, especially in YA, we’re doing a disservice to the teens of the world by trying to sugarcoat everything.
I know right?! There is just no possible way to catch up these days ahhh *long extended scream at TBR pile* But yea I hope you get to tackle this one! It IS so good that she wrote how books are safe places to explore darkness in the author’s note. I just was all inwardly like: yYES YES.
I’m so, so, so happy to hear you liked this one so much Cait! I’ve only heard incredible praise about it so far from everyone all around and I am so looking forward to reading it. That world-building sounds amazing and I love that the author added that important note and triggers in the book, too, that’s so important to do and I wish it was a thing for every book out there where some content might be triggering. Anyway! That was a fantastic review, I need this book right now haha. 🙂
Yesss, I hope you get to read it soon! The world was incredible and just SO well developed (which I always whinge about in fantasy, so this was a breath of fresh air haha.) But I’m really glad all the topics were covered carefully and with lots of heart. It was so well told.
Wait. Wait. Wait. This JUST came out?!? I swear people have been talking about it all year.
I’m a big believer in don’t like, don’t read, so I do think that YA should cover all topics. That said, I’m not usually a lover of books with sexual themes, so I’m not too sure about this one. It was on my TBR before I read this review though. Maybe I’ll get it out of the library and decide as I go.
If you try it, I hope you end up liking it! I mean, it is dark so saying “like” is probably the wrong word ajfdkslad. Yeah but it’s been hyped up all year massively, right?!
Well, I’m going to have to read this book because I have a story addressing the same dark themes and I need examples of how to handle it in fiction.
Yes I totally recommend it! I hope you enjoy it!
YA books with dark themes . . . when I think of that, I think of Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. It’s about a Polish girl who is raped by Russian soldiers and it’s very, VERY dark, but the author does a good job of keeping the triggering stuff to a minimum while still presenting it as a serious issue that deserves a serious conversation. I really appreciated the way she wrote it, and found it to be somewhat healing for myself, actually. So yeah, I do think YA needs to deal with the dark/serious stuff, as long as it’s done in an appropriate way, like as a teachable thing, not as a LET’S SHOCK THE CHILDREN thing.
(Wowwwwwwwwwwww. Did I just call the YA audience ‘children’?? I AM SHOWING MY AGE. All of twenty-four. Lol.)
I really want to read Salt To the Sea (and just ANYTHING by that author?!) but yeah I feel like that sounds similar to this, and I’m glad authors are going to tackle these topics and discuss them. They’re always discussions that need to be had, and teens aren’t stupid. They want/need to talk about it too. I’m glad you found StTS healing for yourself too. 💛💛
(I call teens THE CHILDREN sometimes too omg what have we become.😭😭😭)
I think you will really love Salt to the Sea. Ruta Sepetys is a POWERFUL writer. <3
(we have become ADULTS APPARENTLY and I AM NOT READY FOR THIS *crying*)
I’m glad to hear about the hard issues this book deals with, and I’m glad that the author recognizes the power she has to teach teens the hard truths about sexual abuse. Books really are a great place to teach modern issues within a story! Hearing about this book made me really happy and I hope I get a chance to read this one sometime!
Fabulous review, Cait!!
Absolutely! And honestly topics like this are applicable in any century (unfortunately) and it is good that books can be a safe place to talk about it and really unpack it (especially some of the psychological reactions).
I must have been living under a rock these past few months as I hadn’t heard of this one, but it sounds awesome! There’s nothing wrong with heavy themes, and like the author says, books can be a safe place to explore them. Definitely moving this one to the top of my wishlist!
Yes absolutely! And it’s a good way to start a discussion in, like the author said, a safe place. I’m really glad this book exists.
Ahhhhh, f/f romance in a beautiful, epic fantasy where difficult topics are discussed with teenagers??? I am SOLD. I honestly probably would have read this for the cover alone, but your review made it that much more appealing. xD
YES YES PLEASE READ THIS! I’d love to hear what you think of it!
This makes me so excited to read it — and I’m ACTUALLY STARTING IT TODAY! Woo!!!
Yesss, Rosie! I hope you enjoy it!
UGH. I wanna read itttttt!!!! I LOVE these types of books, yet I never read them. I would… But it’s not really my decision. Yes kinda. But no.
I’m still a little traumatized from that one time when I was 12 I was reading a YA books because the books from the children’s was too easy. (I had a reading level of a college student when I was little) (not saying that bc I’m proud but bc it explains why all the books were easy.) So I was reading this book when I realized the main character was stuck at a skinny dipping party.
So I threw the book across the room.
And now I’m super cautious of books.
Even good reviewed ones.
Okay thank you for coming to my TED talk thank you and goodnight.
Aw oops! I understand though…sometimes we don’t know what we should/shouldn’t read when we’re little 🙈
I want to read this SO BADLY RN – this is legit everything I want in a book. One thing I have noticed in my voracious consumption of YA fiction is that there is a lot more of m/m romances than f/f (Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda, Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of The Universe, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue..). Especially in fantasy, any LGBT+ representation at all is through m/m (thinking specifically of Magnus Chase and Trials of Apollo) and there’s nothing wrong with that, I just think that lesbian and bisexual women and their romances with other women deserve to be represented just as much.
I also agree with your point about YA fiction addressing heavy topics – I think it’s really important for teens to understand.
I definitely think there is more m/m than f/f too! (And other types of queer romances.) Which is a shame, tbh, but I always make sure not to like…put down or criticise m/m while asking for more f/f if that makes sense! But this book is sUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. I loved it!!
Yessss, I thought the same when I first picked this up about the triggering content, but I’m really glad that the author didn’t shy away from these topics – particularly seeing as young girls had to deal with it in Ancient China! It was such a terrific #ownvoices read that I definitely couldn’t fault. Lovely review Cait!
Absolutely! And at first I was like…is this appropriate? But it is. It’s fantasy, but it still rings true for a lot of things that happen today…and, like you said, girls lived this in historical China too. it’s so chilling.
GAH I need to read this SO MUCH. I want to try to get to it by the end of the year. But if not I mean, 2019 for sure ahahha. I love dark books! I am trying to think of the last REALLY dark book I have read…. Probably The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín!
I’m kind of annoyed I haven’t read The Call yet! Blah I think I’ve had it on my TBR glaring at me reproachfully for ages.
I am glad you were able to really enjoy this book so much. The hype for it is crazy but it sounds like it is very well deserved. I like that it does talk about sexual abuse and yes, teens do need to be getting into the conversation because it can affect them as well. And yay for dragons and f/f romances!! It sounds lovely ^.^