Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
Uncover a riveting story of palace intrigue set in a sumptuous Asian-inspired fantasy world in the breakout YA novel that Publisher's Weekly calls "elegant and adrenaline-soaked."
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 learns 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.
Girls of Paper and Fire is the first installment in author Natasha Ngan's Girls of Paper and Fire series. In
Ikhara, where 17-year old Lei lives, there are three castes:
Moon, the reigning caste that is entirely demon; Steel, who are endowed with both demon
and human elements; and Paper, the downtrodden
caste that is wholly human. Every year, the Moon caste’s king selects eight
Paper Girls as his concubines. This year, there will be a ninth chosen.
It has been 8 years since Lei's mother was dragged away and disappeared without Lei knowing what happened to her, or if she is even still alive. So, when soldiers once again invade her quiet part of the world, Lei, who has unusual liquid gold eyes, is dragged from her small village to be a Paper Girl. Lei's only salvation is hope in finding word about what happened to her mother, while at the same time, fighting off a ruler who uses the Paper girls as sex objects.
The 8 chosen girls will spend an entire year in the palace, living somewhat in
the life a luxury, waiting to see if the King will call one of them to
his chamber. Paper Girls are trained in obedience as well as seduction. Some of the girls are more eager to please the King than others like Lei who does everything in her power not to be forced into doing something she doesn't want to do. Things become even more confusing when Lie finds herself drawn to another Paper Girl named Wren who has a few surprises and secrets to be revealed.
I don't normally post trigger warnings, but one might consider that this book involves deep, dark sexual situations, including the apparent use of rape to put a character in her place after she rebuffs him the first time she is called to have sex with the Demon King. It is fair to say that Lei finds herself in a dark place and does everything she can to keep her father and others from being hurt or killed.
Even though being a Paper Girl brings wealth and prosperity to the families of those who are chosen, there's no way not to say that these concubines are well dressed, well educated, and well fed prostitutes. One of the curious storylines is Lei and Wren's romance knowing that at any time one of the other Paper Girls will betray them, and they will be severely punished for their transgressions. But, then, love grows from the most unlikely of places and from the most dire circumstances.
The ending obviously leaves questions and more storylines for another book. I will be eager to see what the author comes up with next, and whether she can top what she did in this book.
“We
might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title
we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what
the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is
flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.”
No comments:
Post a Comment