Girls of Paper and Fire was an average fantasy, with average characters and average plot.

I enjoyed it, however, in my opinion and while I 200% value de representation and the themes present in this story, there is too much hype surrounding this book. Didn't find anything about it truly original or mind-blowing.

The big thing about Girls of Paper and Fire is the fact that is a Malaysian inspired fantasy with a f/f romance and those are both things that I do consider important and under-represented in "eastern literature" (UK, Europe and North America, because those are the authors I have been reading fantasy from and I can only talk about what I know and read), despite the fact that I cannot speak on a personal level for either representation, I found both aspects to be well done.

Our main character, Lei, was likeable enough. I really liked how she tried to reach all the other girls as a friend, how she cared about them and didn't let her situation and all the violence squash her kindness and worry for them (and people in general). On the other hand, I found her immature at times (sure, she came from a remote village and has no real knowledge of many things, but as she also had been trough a lot, I expected her to be more mature and rational in some situations). That said, there is some good character development by the end. The romantic relationship she develops was well paced for me, it didn't bother me (which is a win on itself), but honestly, it didn't make that much of a diference regarding the plot either.

As for said plot, the concept is not new, I felt it lacked a bit and I was not surprised with any of the twists. By no means it was bad, but it had potential to be better and the ending was underwhelming.

The King. The bad guy. Well... Again, had potential, but fell flat for me: he was simply a tyrant, a deranged spoiled child that basically no one liked but no one dared cross just because he was the divine all powerful king (reminded me of Joffrey, only there was no Tyrion to slap him good). I don't like characters that are evil just for the sake of being evil.

As for the castes, honestly, I am not sure how I feel... I could not picture the Demons clearly, all I could create in my mind were Zootopia (the movie) characters, and the concept bothered me because personally all I could see was a representation of "reverse" speciesism used to represent racism, xenofobia and classism all in one (and that is an entire discussion that could go on for days!). As the story went on I got used to it, but it was still weird and it didn't click with me.

The world and the cultural aspects were interesting and I quite enjoyed them, but I wanted more!! It all felt too confined to the palace and I think there were opportunities to explore them further through the other girls (whom I wish we had gotten the change to know more about). I really see a chance to create a rich, expansive and diverse universe in the next books.

Overall, giving all the merit to its accomplishments and representation, I guess I was expecting something more complex and hard hitting. It is great to see more diverse fantasy in terms of cultural and sexual identity representation, particularly if they are so successful - it means that there will be more and more people finding a story to relate to - but that shouldn't stop readers from being critical.

As a fantasy it was enjoyable, but average, a little above 3*, not enough to round it to a 4*. Do recommend for its original setting and LGBT+ representation. I will pick up the next volume and support Natasha Ngan's work!