Girls of Paper and Fire

Starred review from August 20, 2018
In this rich fantasy from Ngan (The Memory Keepers), the citizens of Ikhara comprise three castes: the oppressed, fully human “Paper” class; “Steel,” a human-animal mash-up; and the reigning “Moon” caste, made up of anthropomorphic animals called demons. Every year, the Moon caste’s king claims eight “Paper Girls” as concubines. It’s an alleged honor, but when the military collects golden-eyed, 17-year-old Lei from her family’s herbal medicine shop, she’s devastated. Her father will suffer if she resists, however, and she wonders about finding her mother, also taken, so Lei relocates to the ruler’s Hidden Palace. Although she dreads being summoned to the brutal king’s bedroom, Lei finds comfort in the friendship of her fellow courtesans—particularly the secretive Wren, with whom she falls in love. Ngan’s plot is tense and tight, her action sequences are elegant and adrenaline-soaked, and her story’s stakes increase exponentially through the pulse-pounding conclusion. She champions self-empowerment while condemning classism, homophobia, and the
commod­i­fication of women. What most distinguishes this book, though, is how incisively and intoxicatingly Ngan writes about love. Ages 15–up.

Narrated by Allison Hiroto, this Asian-culture-influenced fantasy audiobook follows teenager Lei as she is kidnapped from her village and forced to become part of the demon king's harem of Paper Girls. Though living in opulence and splendor, Lei finds there are horrors awaiting her--as well as an unexpected love. While Hiroto possesses a pleasant voice, her narration leaves much to be desired. Her delivery is frequently unsuitable to the the action in the story. In particular, her performance lacks the appropriate emotion for the more intense scenes. Her slow pacing and lack of character differentiation further disengage the listener. This is a disappointing performance of what could have been a stellar production. A.L.S.M. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine