Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire, #1)

by Natasha Ngan

[tweetybugshouse]

This was a most anticipated read for me as it different own voice story that yes involves some trigger issues which are warned and told about upfront which I really appreciated. These trigger issues if I had not been warned they were in the book I probably would have stopped reading it, rape, is a strong trigger for a lot of people and a story that revolves around it can be pulled off wonderfully or very badly. In this case, it potrayed very well and really implants in you a desire to see the demon king taken down and hard. Another central part to the story is a female/female relationship I think this is the first teen book I read that it really is in the heart of the story. It central to how things play out in the final few chapters of the story. I, not one to shy away from the story just for that it was beautifully portrayed and worked well in the story. I did not feel it was forced as a way to get more readers, (i have seen this happen) nor did it feel wrong. I felt the world building in this story is rich and the author has drawn from her own background to make it stand out just that more for us. I really liked the descriptions of the chariots as we arrive at the palace, the description of the food, and you felt there was a lot to see within this world. The one major drawback for me is theme of the girls with the king felt kind of boring, what really drew me more was what was gonna happen to this evil demon king, I was not interested in if any of the girls were gonna be picked and I am glad that it went away towards the end from being a bachelorette kind of story to how are we saving the kingdom from this horrendous person. I want to see how the story continues and changes from where we started.