Horn Book

In a society ruled by animal-human demons, fully human Lei is of the lowly Paper caste. She is stolen from her village to be one of the Paper Girls, concubines of the cruel Bull King (depictions of rape included). Lei reluctantly settles into court life but finds herself entranced by another young woman who shares her fate. A captivating tale with swoony forbidden romance and a rich, Southeast Asianinspired fantastical world.

Kirkus Reviews

Thrust into the beauty and horror of the Hidden Palace, will this Paper Girl survive?Ngan (The Memory Keepers, 2014, etc.) offers an amalgamation of Asian cultures set in a fantasy world reminiscent of imperial China. Individuals are separated into three castes: Moon, the ruling class that is wholly demon; Steel, who are human-demon hybrids; and Paper, the oppressed population that is entirely human. Seventeen-year-old Lei is dragged from her small village to become a Paper Girl, or concubine. Besides her long, raven hair, her only striking features are her unusual gold eyes. She reluctantly submits in the slim hope of finding her mother, who was abducted. While in the Palace, Lei lives as best she can, developing friendships and finding forbidden love in the arms of Wren, another Paper Girl, who possesses a feline elegance and is hiding secrets of her own. Lei's natural clumsiness and the requirements of learning court manners keep her out of the King's bed for a while, but sexual violence and the threat of it, though not graphically depicted, are prevalent throughout the story. Lei can be painfully naïve at times and, unfortunately, does not have fire superpowers as the title might suggest. The setup and worldbuilding are strong, but many supporting characters are unfortunately more interesting than Lei.Setting up a strong foundation for a hoped-for sequel, this is ideal for those seeking diverse LGBTQ fantasy stories. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

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

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up-Seventeen-year-old Lei is kidnapped and forced into sexual servitude by the vicious Demon King who rules her country. Her land has three castes: the low-status Paper caste who are fully human, high-status Moon caste or demons who are half animal in form, and middle-status Steel caste who have some animal features. Lei and her fellow Paper Girls live in a special section of the magical Hidden Palace where they are subjected to forced medical examinations, abused by their trainer, and raped by the bestial ruler. While Lei's fear and disgust at her impending assault are thoroughly depicted, her mental state afterward is less well described. Her enslavement becomes more bearable when she falls in love with Wren, a Paper Girl on a mission to kill the king, and their tender relationship provides some of the happier moments in this brutal story. Ngan grew up in Malaysia, and the setting shows the influence of several Asian cultures: the Hidden Palace resembles China's Forbidden Palace, the king forces the girls to drink sake, characters wear Malaysian kebayas and Chinese cheongsams. Lei's fate echoes those of the imperial concubines held by several Chinese emperors, as well as the "comfort women" forced to service World War II Japanese troops in Malaysia and other countries. Lei and her allies have backstories and motivations that make their situation all the more disturbing. VERDICT A deeply unsettling look at forced prostitution for mature readers of fantasy. Consider for purchase where Ellen Hopkins's Tricks and Traffick are popular. Beth Wright Redford, Richmond Elementary School Library, VT