DNF Series Review: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Girls of Paper and Fire (from Goodreads):

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most demeaning. This year, there’s a ninth. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

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.

Series: Girls of Paper and Fire
Author: Natasha Ngan
# of Books: 3 (Full Reading Order Here)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT, Romance
Heat Rating: cool
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Dates: November 2018 – November 2021
Source & Format: Public Library–Audiobook

Disclaimer: I stopped reading Girls of Paper and Fire (#1) at 41% (middle of Chapter 15) and have opted not to pick up the sequels. Find out why below…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

It was definitely the cover that drew me to this book but the synopsis was intriguing. I was hesitant though because it is published by James Patterson’s publishing group and I’ve had both great success (Stalking Jack the Ripper) and great failure (Gunslinger Girl) with the YA titles in the past.

What I Liked:

–Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha–

The story style here reminded me a lot of Memoirs of a Geisha. There isn’t a main drama driving the plot forward; rather we watch this young girl navigate this foreign world she never thought she’d be a part of.

What I Didn’t Like:

–Nothing Monumental Had Happened–

Honestly, I felt like we regurgitated the same things every other chapter. Lei learns something that she needs to do as a Paper Girl. She describes everything in sight in incredible detail. She gossips in her inner monologue about the other girls. Laments about her family/old life. Repeats it all again.

I wanted scenes with the King. I wanted petty pranks with the other girls. I wanted a forbidden angsty romance. I wanted court politics. I wanted Rebellion. I didn’t get that. And I know that those things take time, but even the promise of them seemed to be lacking despite how far into the novel I was.

I suppose you’d say this is more character driven but I was nearly halfway through the book and Lei was only starting to show signs of evolution.

–Romance Was Slow to Start–

I think the tag this book often gets for genres is a big giveaway about who Lei falls in love with. But if I hadn’t seen that tag, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you at all who this all consuming lover would be.

Here are some of the thoughts I wrote on Goodreads:

October 31, 2019 –

39.0% “I cheated and read some reviews about the forbidden romance because nothing seems to be happening (though my suspicion was right about who she will fall in love with).” (Audiobook Edition)

October 30, 2019 –

35.0% “I feel like I’ve dedicated too much time to this now give up…one more shot tomorrow” (Audiobook Edition)

October 29, 2019 –

27.0% “Something exciting better happen soon or else this might be the end of this book for me” (Audiobook Edition)

If you list a book with Forbidden Romance, you better drive that idea home for me. I wasn’t feeling it at all even if the idea in theory was something I loved.