Girls of Paper and Fire is an intricately woven tapestry consisting of a three-tiered caste system, ancient wars, gruesome traditions, and political intrigue. Ngan weaves these elements together through the story of one girl taken from her home to become a Paper Girl and her fight for survival in a brutal court.

Ikhara is separated into three castes: Paper caste are fully human; Steel caste are human-demon hybrids; and Moon caste are fully demon, though they still have human form. I need to be clear here and say that demons aren’t the demons you’re probably thinking of—they’re not inherently evil and they’re not some form of servant for the devil. Ikhara is heavily inspired by Ngan’s experience growing up in Malaysia and its rich culture.

Lei’s infamous golden eyes set her apart from other Paper caste humans—they are said to be a blessing from the Moon Goddess herself. However, Lei sees them as a curse when she’s stolen from her family and forced to become the ninth girl sent to the palace to serve the Demon King. Each year eight girls are chosen to become Paper Girls, the king’s concubines, but this year Lei is the ninth, which immediately puts her at odds with the other girls.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire is considered a young adult novel, but that does not exclude it from delving into deep and dark subjects such as consent, sex trafficking, and racism, to name a few. But through it all there’s hope—Lei’s hope of reaching her family again, the budding hope of forbidden love (this is an LBGTQ+ story!), and hope of overthrowing the king. Even though Lei is only one Paper Girl, she’s determined to not let the king have her—in mind or body. And for the most part, she succeeds, though fighting against a Demon King doesn’t go well the second time around.

This book comes with a graphic content warning, including violence and sexual assault. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a book, YA or otherwise, that includes something like that, and I think it’s an amazing step in the right direction. Books need to reflect the world we live in, but not everybody can or should read scenes of sexual assault if they’re not prepared for it. I applaud Ngan and the publisher for including that warning.

To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. I devoured it in four days. Usually it takes me a week or ten days to read a book, but I was so engrossed in Ngan’s storytelling and invested in Lei’s fate that I shirked my household chores to read. I haven’t done that in a long time. Though Girls of Paper and Fire is technically young adult fantasy, I think readers who enjoy any kind of fantasy would find something to love about this book. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m adding Ngan’s backlist to my library ASAP.

Thank you to Jimmy Patterson Books and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing a review copy.