Natasha Ngan

Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest, 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 taken away by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after.

Chicas de Papel Y de Fuego

Representation: sapphic couple; british author with asian heritage

TW: violence, sexual abuse, animal cruelty

Girls of Paper and Fire tells us the story of a young girl that is forced to abandon her family and become one of the king’s concubines in order to survive. Each year, Ikhara’s king chooses eight girls of the paper caste, the lowest tier of society, to become Paper Girls (his personal concubines). Lei, our protagonist, is one of these girls; she is stripped away from her home and forced to leave everything behind in order to start this new life, a life she does not want. She promises herself that she will do everything to escape, but then she falls in love, and the biggest problem is that she loves the one she shouldn't. 

Natasha Ngan’s writing is absolutely beautiful. The way she describes everything that’s happening in each scene made me picture it with such clarity that I rarely have. It’s not so detailed to the point where it’s excessive, it’s just the right amount to be able to construct wonderful scenarios. 

Her characters are so realistic and so well made; they're very far from being perfect, but it’s exactly that what makes them so credible, it’s the fact that they are flawed. The two main characters, Lei and Wren, have very distinctive personalities that make them unique and recognisable; I can easily know in my head what each would do when presented with a situation. Even the side characters are very fleshed out and I feel like they are their own person, and not just a bunch of actions to move the plot forward. 

The plot of the book is a very nice balance between action and pause. It’s not one of those books in which there’s always something going on but it’s also not a book where nothing happens. The pacing is very good and it makes you want to continue reading without even realising you want to continue reading. The major plot points are very well spaced out so it doesn’t get overwhelming or confusing. There is quite a lot of information but it doesn’t feel info-dumpy at all, she does a very good job to make you understand the amazing world she has created without it being too much. 

I truly enjoyed this story. She builds an incredible world and I was able to perfectly picture every creature and every scene while I was reading, and that’s not something that happens very often for me. I felt what the characters felt and I deeply cared for them. I feel like the love in the book was very healthy and unconditional and I truly root for the couple. I cannot wait to discover where this story goes in the next books.

Chicas de Papel Y de Fuego

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