SapphicAThon: a book where the main character is a person of colour, a book with a cover you love, a book that fulfills your favourite prompt form the last sapphicathon (non-coming out story), a book that one of the hosts has read
Feminist Lit February: an #ownvoices book about an experience other than your own


content warnings: sexual assault, slavery, misogyny, violence, murder, loss of a loved one, themes of war, gaslighting
representation: asian-coded sapphic protagonist, asian-coded sapphic main character, f/f main relationship, asian-coded main and side characters


“I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.”


This book was receiving a lot of buzz when it came out, and for good reason. Girls of Paper and Fire is an Asian-inspired fantasy book in which there are three castes; the Paper caste, made up of humans; the Steel caste, who are half-human half-demon; and the Moon caste, who are entirely demon. The world within the book is ruled by a Demon King who every year gets eight new Paper Girls who are essentially his sex slaves. But the protagonist of the book, Lei, is a ninth girl who is noticed for her unnaturally golden eyes. Unlike many of the other Paper Girls who see their position as a thing of honour, Lei hates the Demon King and frequently rebels. One such act of rebellion is falling in love with a fellow Paper Girl.

I’ll admit, it was a bit hard getting into this book at first; the first 100 pages or so are quite description-heavy as Lei is taken from her village, journeying to the Demon King’s palace, and becoming accustomed with being a Paper Girl. But after that the story really picks up with the focus no longer being on description and instead being on Lei’s defiance towards the King and her romance with Wren.

Speaking of, I now have a new favourite fictional couple. The romance was built up really well and I literally screamed in my kitchen at some points when they were interacting. I loved seeing how much they both cared about one another, protecting and defending each other. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes in the next book, and I’m crossing my fingers the author doesn’t decide to add some unnecessary relationship drama.

The characters in this book are so interesting. Despite there being so many of them, all the Paper Girls felt very distinct and I liked that none of them were forgotten as the narrative went along. Lei has several moments with each girl, some more than others, and I really enjoyed seeing all of them whenever they showed up. There are a few side characters who were also really interesting, but the one I really want to focus on is the Demon King.

This book deals very heavily with sexual violence and sex slavery, and does so very well in my opinion. There was something I noticed in Lei’s first big scene with the Demon King and continued to notice as the book went along that I loved; the way that he gaslights the girls. When Lei is summoned to him, he is kind to her. He has organised for her favourite food to be served, treats her with something akin to respect, makes conversation with her. And then, right before ordering her to go to his bed, he says, “I’m good to my Paper Girls, if they are good to me”, which I think sums up his gaslighting perfectly. He acts as if it is a privilege for the girls to be with him, as if it is mutually beneficial, and unfortunately, as we’re shown with Aoki, it sometimes works; she ends up falling in love with the Demon King, saying that “he makes [her] feel special”. I absolutely loved how this book portrayed its abuser, with Lei’s disgusted perspective never allowing us to feel anything positive towards him but also showing us why others thought differently to Lei.

The world-building, for a first book, is pretty good. There are a few times when it feels a little info-dumpy, particularly towards the start and in some of Wren’s dialogue, but on the whole it works very well. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the portrayal of the types of ‘acceptable’ relationships within this society; relationships between men and women are accepted, and it’s mentioned that relationships between men are also fine. But relationships between women are unheard of. It’s never specified whether it’s something that’s simply frowned upon or if it’s not allowed, but it reminded me of several ancient societies (Greek, Roman, Japanese, etc.) and the history nerd in me liked that part.

Natasha Ngan has crafted a fantastic story with this book, inserting incredibly modern themes in her ancient high fantasy. While the world-building wasn’t always the best and the start is a bit slow, it was still a great read and I’m highly anticipating the sequel and any of her future work.