Rebellious female protagonist leads to riveting read

Girls of Paper and Fire brings an exciting plot line with women leading an uprisal against the kingdom.

Published earlier in November, “Girls Of Paper And Fire” is a book written by Natasha Ngan with a foreword written by James Patterson. 

The story starts out introducing the reader to the main character, Lei, as she works in her family owned and run herb shop in her hometown. Everything seems perfect, more or less, as the reader follows Lei through her job of the day, when suddenly it’s not. 

After Lei explains the castes or the ranks of the citizens in her country, things start to take a turn.

“A low carrying horn blow … I freeze where I am, arm still outstretched. Only my mind moves, lurching back, returning to that day. To fire.”

The story moves quickly then, as our main character is kidnapped by the king’s guards and is brought to the palace to become none other than a paper girl, a servant only to the king. The king and the others within the palace walls want only to tame this girl, but what they don’t know is that there is fire in Lei’s veins, a fire that will soon emerge and take it’s reign on the kingdom until it exposes all of the evil that lies there.

With the help of the other paper girls in the palace, each of them coming from different parts of the country, creating quite a diverse group of characters in the story, Lei must fight for what she loves most, the rights of the citizens and for the means of her own love.

As a fair warning, the book does start off with a warning for scenes of violence and sexual assault, so it is good to be aware of that before reading if you are uncomfortable with said topics. Though these parts in the story are undescriptive and short, the warning still lies at the beginning of the book for those who are wary of such topics. 

The book does stop at a rather interesting cliffhanger, leaving plenty of room for the very near future of a sequel. Even though it seems like it ends just as it’s getting started, it is still a great option to read, allowing the reader to be ahead of the task when the sequel comes out, foreseeable in the fall of next year. 

With 400 pages, “Girls Of Paper And Fire” is sure to peak anyone’s interest with it’s diverse character line-up and an intricate plot line.