I read the first novel in the Girls of Paper and Fire trilogy by Natasha Ngan as part of my 2022 Calendar Challenge and only halfway through, I ordered part two already. There’s something about this story and its characters that gripped my attention and simply didn’t want to let go anymore.

Attention: I will be reviewing all three books in this post (gradually), but everything apart from the first book will be hidden so that you do not read any spoilers unless you want to.

Book 1: Girls of Paper and Fire

Girls of Paper and Fire

Girls of Paper and Fire tells the story of Lei, a young human girl with golden eyes. In a world split in three castes (Moon – Demons; Steel – half-demons; Paper – humans), this distinguishing feature got her selected as one of the so-called “paper girls”, a group of human concubines annually chosen to serve the demon king. Forced to pretend to be “honoured” by this selection, Lei has to leave everything and everyone she has ever known behind to go and live in the palace. But when she finds true love, will she be able to keep up the pretense?

Impossible love in harsh times

Girls of Paper and Fire opens with a note of the author addressing the trigger warnings and, what I had never encountered before, a list of emergency resources related to (sexual) violence. While this book is not at all explicit, references to non-consensual and dubious consensual acts are indeed a main theme seeing that it is set in a harem and given the fact that the main character did not become a concubine willingly. If that triggers you, this is definitely not the series for you. However, there’s only one one-page rape scene in the first book and it’s fade-to-black.

While I greatly appreciated the characters, I was most impressed by the worldbuilding in this novel (which is an unusual statement coming from me). I read the Fairyloot edition which starts out with a detailed map of the palace that is truly useful to locate events throughout the story. The world is inspired by Asia and I was very much fascinated by this magical take on caste systems.

The story itself is relatively predictable in the way that many YA novels are, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. It reads like a train and unlike many other YA fantasies, Lei is a “real heroine”, who is strong in a believable way for her seventeen years of age.

I absolutely cannot wait to start part two! Four out of five gemstones:

Age Category: Young adult, but also suitable for an older audience

Representation:  F/F relationship between main character and supporting character

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Warnings for sexual violence (fade-to-black), racism, misogyny, and general cruelty.

As you know, I try to learn a new word each time I read a book. This time, it’s “bovine” which is an adjective that means “related to cows or oxen (or family thereof)”. I somehow thought it referred to pigs. It was a good thing that I looked it up, though, as the demon castes have animal treats and I would have totally made a wrong mental image of the bovine demon king otherwise (to be fair, though, he is a bit of a pig nevertheless).

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores.

Amazon.nl: Girls of Paper and Fire Hardcover Edition

Amazon.nl: Girls of Storm and Shadow Hardcover Edition

Amazon.nl: Girls of Fate and Fury Hardcover Edition

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If you enjoyed this book as much as I did, I would very much like to recommend you Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao which totally blew me away. This NA Science Fiction novel inspired by China tells the tale of a concubine-pilot who decides that she is not willing to go down quietly like society expects her to do. Even if you aren’t into Sci-Fi (I’m not either), definitely give this novel a shot, it’s simply brilliant. Not sure yet? Maybe my review will help you make up your mind!

If you are into Asian inspired fantasy, you might also want to check out Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. This retelling of Chinese legend was a bit too poetic for my tastes, but might just be your cup of tea!