From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire, #1)

Natasha Ngan,

James Patterson (Foreword)

Start date: November 1, 2022

Finish date: November 30, 2022

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What Members Thought

Dec 05, 2018 Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, fantastic-heroine, fantasy, look-at-the-pretty-cover, romance, 4-and-a-half-stars, f-f, great-side-characters, sapphic-favorites, young-adult

“Because if this is to be my fate, I'm going to walk boldly into it on my own two feet.”

4 stars. I went in with no expectations and I was rewarded in the end with a very unique and beautifully written story.

I loved the writing. It’s very lush and scenic and it had me sucked into the world and the setting of the palace. The pacing is even and the plot moves at a good pace. Not too fast but not slow enough to where I lost interest at any point. The plot isn’t the most original but Ngan puts su ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 07, 2018 Dr. Andy rated it really liked it

Shelves: changed-my-life, read-2018, bookclub-read, fairyloot, illumicrate

I read this book as part of a group read for The Booket List on Facebook.

"Our emotions. Our feelings. Our thoughts. None of them will ever be able to control the way we feel. Our minds and hearts are our own. That is our power, Nine. Never forget it."

This was such a wonderful read and I'm so glad I took the time to read it rather than rush through an audiobook of it. There was something about holding this story in my hands that made me connect with it even more. The culture and the world I read this book as part of a group read for The Booket List on Facebook.

"Our emotions. Our feelings. Our thoughts. None of them will ever be able to control the way we feel. Our minds and hearts are our own. That is our power, Nine. Never forget it."

This was such a wonderful read and I'm so glad I took the time to read it rather than rush through an audiobook of it. There was something about holding this story in my hands that made me connect with it even more. The culture and the world came alive for me. It was so easy to envision this world of demons, humans and those in between. I loved how the clothing was described as well, it really gave an extra oomph to the story.

"Because it isn't a man. For some reason, a trill of annoyance runs through me. Everyone's assumption is for women and men to be together, and yet here we are, human girls, the Demon King's concubines. Surely love between two women wouldn't be so strange?"

Lei was a pretty easy character to like. I loved that she was basically an ordinary girl, but she out of them all, was the only one to say no. I loved that when she made up her mind about what she would endure, she stood her ground and would not let herself be convinced otherwise. And even though she had differing views about the King, she was still best friends with Aoki, and got along with almost all of the other girls too. The romance in this is definitely a slow burn. Which I liked, but it also made me laugh because of how long it took Lei to realize what her feelings were.

"Yes, but I don't want an easy life. I want a meaningful one."

I did struggle with some of the middle of this book. The pacing is pretty slow in between events and Lei's turn being summoned to the King. But I was glad I stuck with it. Another thing that kind of confused me was the caste system. So the Moon and Steel castes are described as full or half demons respectively. But there were many times were it was mentioned that all of the castes are the same, including the Paper people. So are the Moon Steel castes actually demons or were they just called that because of their animalistic nature? I can't really wrap my head around humans and demons being the same.

"The shamans might have healed my bruises, but the King's brutality is still all over me. It lives in my skin. It breathes in my bones. More than anyone, I know how some wounds can stay hidden and yet still be felt so keenly, day and day, year after year." ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2019 Melanie rated it liked it

I started really enjoying this book at the very end and am interested in what happens next.

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2020 Elizabeth Aguilar rated it really liked it

Shelves: chinese-rep

RTC

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 26, 2019 Maddie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book is anywhere near as traumatic as I was expecting it to. So much of this book was described around the trigger warnings as rape, and I was expecting very graphic descriptions, or a lot of it, but to me I didn't see it live up to that. I'm a very strange person in the fact that I was anticipating it, anticipating such a different YA novel, and I don't want to say I was let down by it, but to be honest I was. While I loved the plotline, and the LGBT relationship, the plot of the book actu ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 31, 2019 Ellen-Arwen Tristram rated it it was amazing

Re-read time - random thoughts :)

This book is absolutely beautiful and I'm so happy to have reread it,
Some thoughts

Lei and Wren's relationship - beautiful slow burn. I'm not even a romance reader at all, but this was just right to me :) Great balance between the plot and the romance.

Lei's character development was definitely 'shown-not-told.' Even though she is sometimes lost herself, it all fits with her as a character. Really beautifully written.

The fact that the characters all felt real to me ...more

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Oct 02, 2021 Tbirdplanstoread rated it really liked it

Shelves: own-hard-back, z-2021-read

4⭐

I was sucked into this book from the get-go. I only had a couple of reservations about some things, but the majority of the story was amazing. Looking forward to the next one!

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