PUBLISHER: Jimmy Patterson Books
DATE PUBLISHED: 06th November 2018
PAGES: 400
SUMMARY:
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 cruel.
But this year, there’s a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.
In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.
TW: violence and sexual abuse.
REVIEW:
A whirlwind of a book that had me hooked from the very first chapter. WHY! The brutality of the world was offset with the beauty with a stunning metaphor for the thorn behind the rose. The parallels to issues in our current world were tied in extremely well, allowing the reader to reflect on these issues whilst not taking away from the overall reading experience. I closed this book feeling conflicted and fulfilled. There are so many questions unanswered that has me highly anticipating the sequel.
The protagonist, Lei, is taken from her home as she has stunning eyes and she is to be a Paper Girl – a concubine to the king. Lei is now enmeshed in this brutal world and her journey is both beautiful and cruel. She grows as a character with the reader along for the journey.
In this world there are castes. With fully humans being the lowest caste and full demon beings the highest. The mixture of animals and human were intriguing and the prose allowed for the readers imagination to take flight.
Overall, I was wrung out after finishing this book and it will stick with me for some time to come. I loved that the main character grew in strength and she wasn’t instantly as strong as she needed to be. There was a progress that allowed for believability. Bring on Girls of Storm and Shadow.
I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Keep Calm and Read On,
Kati
To Be Read 