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mrs_doechii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
But its not a typical fantasy action novel with romance, it doesn't shy away from the gore on realities of the violence, both sexual and nonsexual, so it's very dark. It's a beautiful beautiful beautiful book and I love how this author writes. But its very dark so if you're looking for sapphic fantasy in a way to feel happy, this isn't it. But its def rep of course. Just be prepared before you read. I'm the type of person that needs to be in the right mindset to read certain things so I wasn't expecting it lol
So this is a beautifully written book. I felt it could be a little flowery at first but I think that's just because of the slower pace at the start of the story. Not that big a thing though it's still gorgeous as a work of art. Based on that I'd rate it 5 stars. I took away 2 because of my personal enjoyment as a reader.
For me, the very last page ruined the whole book for me. Ill describe it without spoilers, and then below that ill describe it with spoilwrs.
NO Spoiling: I dont mind bleak stories. In a weird way sometimes the rawness is nice for me to read esp when I feel I can relate to certain things. But there's a certain point where the bleakness feels just exasperating. It exceeds the point where you're crying and are like nooo this can't happen but still can't put the book down; after a certain point it even loses the impact because it's just keeps happening, like you just gotta roll your eyes. Have you ever read a book where it felt like morbidly bad things happening to the character was just for shock factor and you couldn't even care anymore it was just annoying? This book doesn't reach that point, but the last page got me close to there, and it ruined the whole thing for me lol. I feel like if I was reading this review I'd read the book just out of curiosity because how does a last page ruin things? But the best way I can describe it is that the trust built between the writer and reader felt betrayed. Like how it feels when the synopsis of the book is one thing, and the book is absolutely not that. Not the case here but that feeling of betrayal that makes you annoyed and takes you out the story is three same. Just trying to describe it to the best of my ability
ok WITH spoilers!!!
SPOILING!!!!! look away
so they're oppressed right, there's a coup forming to kill the current king bc of how fucked up things are, and we meet some of said characters between the awful shit that our protagonists goes through. all of this leads up to the killing of the King. the plan was to kill him quietly without revealing just how orchestrated it was to avoid war and win over court too. we come to care about some characters too, great job of making us love them.
the issue comes at when it happens.. so there's a whole backfire in the plan, the rebellion is exposed along with the many people in the high ranks, meaning the ppl in high ranks who betrayed the King can't win over court to make change in the kingdom. but in a really violent altercation with the king, who is a violent rapist (and we get that gore violent scene when it happens to protag by his hands) and enslaver and murderer, the protag kills him at least. in the fight she's helped by a side character who we grow to love very much, and said side character is killed by one of the closest soldiers to the king. a different side character who is also a soldier fights to hold of the kings guard so the protagonist and love interest can run
they barely escape and have to go into hiding, and they've lost so much of themselves and the people around them through this whole book leading up to this, but even through all these losses, the King is dead at LEAST. we end off with them escaping and thr future is uncertain.
then the last page, we cut to the perspective of the kings soldier. loved character number 2 is dead and the king is actually alive, and survived the stabbing. that's the last page of the book. it ends
so after hundreds of pages of miserable event after miserable event, we end with: the rebellion being found out and the ones not captured / killed forced into hiding, and the king is just fine. so literally nothing has progressed at all. and this is on top of loved characters dying. mid book okay, but the end of the book, when we were leading up to one single win, it was just loss after loss, gut punch after gut punch, it just felt like I had to roll my eyes and I didn't even feel like reading book 2. it felt like there was no point anymore
and in hindsight, if that last page was even just the first page of book 2, or not included at all and it was a twist the readers figured out later into book 2, then I would've felt differently. same events, but it wouldn't have taken away from the book at least. but it just felt like there was no positive point even a little for the reader, it crossed the line of just loss after loss that I didn't even feel sad or depressed or gasped at the twist, I just.... was annoyed. as a reader it would have been better to not end off like that. we're also essentially left to only the main character and love interest, as we're stripped away from the entirety of the lovable cast. there's hints of a new group to love when they escape to the other rebels but because we don't know them it didn't feel like anything to me. and as someone who cares about characters I just couldn't care enough to continue anymore. especially when again, it feels like, as a reader, we're at square one... or square negative one since the rebels are exposed
this was hard to explain, but leading up to all of this, I was enjoying the book, even through the lowest of lows, but that last page just made me as a reader feel like there was no point to the story I guess. this is my personal preference obviously. if you like that miserable feeling when reading then you'll love it ig.
objectively the writing of the book is 5 stars, but the choice of that last page managed to ruin the experience completely so I was forced to give it a 3. I feel bad and like I'm such an asshole saying this because this is someone's work, I could feel the care and emotion put info it of course, but... yeah.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
pandemonicbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
And don't get me wrong, I think it's SO important how we are in a time period where we're able to have bestselling YA stories with central queer storylines, stories that deal with the theme of sexual assault but focus on the victims' journeys of healing, presenting these themes in a respectful way to a younger audience. I've been having an unfortunate streak with this type of thing lately, and 2 of the last books I've read have had explicit rape scenes which made me greatly uncomfortable. I was really shocked when this book (a YA novel) had the best, most respectful depiction of it out of the 3, and handled the topic with care, moreso than any of those other books I've read. It didn't have to describe it in detail to be impactful, and fully focused on the victim's feelings afterward.
That being said, otherwise, I think this book maybe wasn't exactly for me. People who know me know I LOVE sapphic romance, and will eat up basically anything, but this romance just felt sort of rushed and not really impactful. I wasn't really excited to see them finally kiss or confess their feelings to eachother like I usually am with any sapphic couple I read about. It just felt a bit, I don't know, spiceless, saltless, like the taste of food that you usually really love but in this specific casw it just feels bland. And I don't really think it has to do with the characters themselves, but more with the way the romance was written. Also, I don't know exactly why, but I felt like I didn't really enjoy the writing style. I'm not sure what I felt was lacking in it, but I just wasn't really digging it all that much.
Also, originally, I thought all castes were human, and had NO idea there were gonna be furries in this LMFAO. That *did* make the scenes with the king especially unbearable, though, and I feel like that was probably the intent.
Anyways, it wasn't really for me, but I really do hope that some readers are able to find something they love in this book. I just really really hoped I would love it too.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Racial slurs, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, and War
Minor: Body horror, Infertility, and Alcohol
Unconsensual sexual acts are mentioned various times in this book, some particularly violent. There is one explicit rape scene in this book (albeit not described in detail).sipnayan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, and Trafficking
am26's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
morganraine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
runes_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Death of parent, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit
cdoubet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
kassidyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, and Death of parent
Minor: Genocide, Homophobia, and Alcohol
poppywarphan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Plot: 6/10
Worldbuilding: 5/10
Writing: 8/10
This might as well have been a standalone. But it's not because of that extra page at the end. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm invested enough to read any further installments.
The idea was good, the execution not so much. The worldbuilding wasn't really explored. The plot and writing were simplistic. That's not a bad thing, but on one hand it read as a book for younger teens, on the other hand though it discussed mature themes. There's rape. It's not graphic, but there nonetheless. If there's anything that triggers me in books, its sexual assault. The girls are taken as mistresses and must have sex with the king against their will. Yes, they don't object, but it's either that or be killed.
The characters were underdeveloped. The king as a villain was just stupid. He's evil. OK, and? That's it? The paper girls were pretty indistinguishable. Aside from Aoki and Blue whose personality was being a bitch. The relationship between Lei and Wren didn't really have any foundation. It was pretty much just lusting and attraction.
Now, what I did like was what was done with Aoki's character. Not that I like what happened to her, but the book highlights how easy it is to fall victim to an abusive man. Aoki is the youngest out of the paper girls and naive. The king makes her feel special, so she starts having feelings for him. I like how it pointed out (although in a pretty juvenile way) that such a relationship is, in fact, not good (side-eyeing all the romance books that romanticize toxic relationships). Aoki is probably the most nuanced compared to the other two-dimensional characters.
Overall Girls of paper and fire wasn't a terrible book, just underwhelming.
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
brigid_reads_romance's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Death of parent