Girls of Paper and Fire ~ Natasha Ngan

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Publisher: jimmy patterson

ISBN: 9780316561365

400 pages

Source: Owl Crate

I hadn’t heard a lot about this book before I started it.

In fact, I ended up with a copy thanks to my Owl Crate subscription so I hadn’t really even read the synopsis

I picked it up off my TBR shelf a few weeks ago because I wanted something new and different. When I looked at the back few pages to find the Author info, i noticed Natasha’s “author’s note” included contact information for the following:

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network

Call: 1-800-646-HOPE

Chat: oneline.rainn.org

Info: rain.org

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Love Is Respect —– National Dating Abuse Hotline for Teens

Call: 1-866-331-9474

Info and chat: LoveisRespect.org

Tex: LoveIs to 22522

💕💕💕💕💕💕

National Domestic Violence/Abuse Hotline

Call: 1-800-799-SAFE

Info and chat: thehotline.org

And I’m sharing those here because they are important and because they are what I spend my entire work week talking about.

I’m sharing them, for another reason, too.

So often, there are stories that have elements of rape or abuse and they are not acknowledged to the extent that they are in this story.

The book focuses on the tradition of royal concubines, one of the oldest and longest standing practices of sex work.

While some sex work is consensual (and the story touches on that), some of it is not and some of it certainly prime for abuse.

One of the best parts of this story is in the point of view of someone who is not interested in the position but finds herself trapped there to protect her family. In that light, her journey is one of defiance and rebellion which I absolutely loved.

Without saying too much about the story and its twists and turns, I can still say that this book has my heart and (with a firm content warning for sexual assault and abuse) I highly recommend it.