A review by sammymilfort
Girls of Paper and Fire, by Natasha Ngan
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
1.0
I’ve had this book on my radar since I started watching booktok and no one told me how drained I would feel after.
I liked the authors writing style and the pacing of elements was good, but this book was traumatic and there was little to no reprieve.
I appreciate the author putting trigger warnings before her story to warn readers, but no one tells you how graphic the SA scenes get. I was enjoying the story in the first part (about 100 pages) but then it got to be too much for me.
I felt like many of the characters and world were underdeveloped and the only time I enjoyed this book was during the romance of Lei and Wren
The plot in itself is vague and kind of predictable, but other than that I kept thinking so many times as I read this how can this be marketed as YA?
The amount of times I was deeply disturbed from this book and had to take multiple breaks was astounding because that is how dark and truly horrible this reading experience was for me.
I know abuse is an important part in stories and highlighting it in stories is sometimes needed and important, but with this it felt cruel and unnecessary
I kept thinking to myself how could a teenager read this without being affected emotionally in some type of way. I know if I was still in my young teens I could not grasp or be able understand this in a way I do now, but this book is trauma based and I think it’s important to note that.
This story had so much potential but instead I am getting a therapy session out of this
Please if you are thinking of reading this book- CHECK TW and be prepared for graphic SA of minors and more
TW: Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Branding, Graphic SA and Rape, non consensual, physical and emotional abuse
I liked the authors writing style and the pacing of elements was good, but this book was traumatic and there was little to no reprieve.
I appreciate the author putting trigger warnings before her story to warn readers, but no one tells you how graphic the SA scenes get. I was enjoying the story in the first part (about 100 pages) but then it got to be too much for me.
I felt like many of the characters and world were underdeveloped and the only time I enjoyed this book was during the romance of Lei and Wren
The plot in itself is vague and kind of predictable, but other than that I kept thinking so many times as I read this how can this be marketed as YA?
The amount of times I was deeply disturbed from this book and had to take multiple breaks was astounding because that is how dark and truly horrible this reading experience was for me.
I know abuse is an important part in stories and highlighting it in stories is sometimes needed and important, but with this it felt cruel and unnecessary
I kept thinking to myself how could a teenager read this without being affected emotionally in some type of way. I know if I was still in my young teens I could not grasp or be able understand this in a way I do now, but this book is trauma based and I think it’s important to note that.
This story had so much potential but instead I am getting a therapy session out of this
Please if you are thinking of reading this book- CHECK TW and be prepared for graphic SA of minors and more
TW: Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Branding, Graphic SA and Rape, non consensual, physical and emotional abuse
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
I’ve had this book on my radar since I started watching booktok and no one told me how drained I would feel after.
I liked the authors writing style and the pacing of elements was good, but this book was traumatic and there was little to no reprieve.
I appreciate the author putting trigger warnings before her story to warn readers, but no one tells you how graphic the SA scenes get. I was enjoying the story in the first part (about 100 pages) but then it got to be too much for me.
I felt like many of the characters and world were underdeveloped and the only time I enjoyed this book was during the romance of Lei and Wren
The plot in itself is vague and kind of predictable, but other than that I kept thinking so many times as I read this how can this be marketed as YA?
The amount of times I was deeply disturbed from this book and had to take multiple breaks was astounding because that is how dark and truly horrible this reading experience was for me.
I know abuse is an important part in stories and highlighting it in stories is sometimes needed and important, but with this it felt cruel and unnecessary
I kept thinking to myself how could a teenager read this without being affected emotionally in some type of way. I know if I was still in my young teens I could not grasp or be able understand this in a way I do now, but this book is trauma based and I think it’s important to note that.
This story had so much potential but instead I am getting a therapy session out of this
Please if you are thinking of reading this book- CHECK TW and be prepared for graphic SA of minors and more
TW: Violence, Blood, Body Horror, Branding, Graphic SA and Rape, non consensual, physical and emotional abuse