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Girls of Paper and Fire Book Review

By Natasha Ngan

Chinese- Malaysian

Non US-Centric: England

TW: rape, sexual assault, physical and emotional violence.

From the book:

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most cruel.

But this year, there’s a ninth girl. Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after–the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. She must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.

My thoughts:

This books was...harsh. I associated my feelings with those I had while reading Ember in the Ashes, it's cruel and raw, it made me cry because of the situation these girls were facing, it made me angry at the injustice and audacity, of The King specifically, that I actually screamed at the book. And I was saddened by the fact that this things do happen in our reality. The author's note said something that stuck with me: "These are hard discussions, especially for teens, it is of vital importance we have them. Books can be safe places to explore difficult topics." That's exactly why I read and it's also how I felt about this book, it was hard to read it but it was also impactful and inspiring to read about this fearful girl who falls in love and finds her strength. I cannot wait to know what happens to these characters I now care so deeply for.

#girls of paper and fire #Natasha Ngan #book review #aapiheritagemonth #aapibooks #aapiauthors #asian readathon

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The Kiss Quotient Book Review

“So different, but in perfect rhythm. They were making music. Together.” Own Voices Adult Romance Finished my second book for the #asianreadathon hosted by @readwithcindy. Autism rep., Vietnamese rep.

From the book:

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has autism and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position... Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

My review: This reread was everything I needed, a cute steamy swoon-worthy romance that is diverse, fast paced that also talks about race, neurodiversity and has wholesome yet troubling family dynamics. A story about self-acceptance, family and passion for one’s calling. Stella is such a strong character I always find myself inspired by her, she’s so smart and kind. Michael is different from all the male characters in romance I’ve read, he’s just so amazing, supportive, sensitive and I love him. I cannot wait to dive into The Bride Test and The Heart Principle later this year!

#thekissquotient #helenhoang #romancebooks #bookstagram #bookreview #aapiheritagemonth #aapibooks #aapiauthors

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IG @quirinerose

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Virginia Woolf ― The Waves

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Instagram: bibliophile.belle

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Instagram: anastasia.marrch

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Instagram: danielapardor

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it’s a sign that summer is nearly here when the golden hour light lands on my bookshelves

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Firekeeper's Daughter Book Review

Own Voices YA Mystery Contemporary

TW: rape, use of drugs, dead of a loved one

Author: Angeline Boulley

“Some boats are made for the river and some for the ocean and there are some that can go anywhere because they always know the way home.”

From the book:

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she is thrust into the heart of a criminal investigation.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.

Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

My review:

Think Breaking Bad but better. This was like any YA book I’ve ever read, granted I don’t read a lot of mysteries so I might be biased but oh my god, what an amazing book. It was griping, it was educational, it was emotional, fast-paced, action-packed, amazingly written Own Voices novel I’ll be recommending everyone to read. Daunis is such a strong female character in charge of herself and her choices, passionate and brave, she inspired me so much. There were several plot twists I did not see coming and some others I predicted but even so it was wonderful to read through. The family dynamics and sense of community in this book were beautiful to read, the importance of having the support of your loved ones and of belonging and finding your tribe and protecting each other at all costs had me crying my eyes out. I loved learning about Native American culture through the eyes of Daunis and the voice of the author, not only the beautiful traditions, the language and teachings but the struggles they face and have faced as well. Boulley created an immersive cultural experience and I’m forever grateful for it.

Please go pick this one up.

#bookstagram #book📖 #book review #book recommendations #angeline boulley #firekeepersdaughter

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“There's no such thing as dead languages, only dormant minds.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

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Tiny details and the aesthetics aren’t merely a side note, they’re as important as anything else.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

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Instagram: folkenrose

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Everything I Never Told You- Book Review

A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing. A sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

An intricate novel about the importance of speaking up, of being true to yourself and of how or past can shape us but ultimately we have the power of choice.

There's so much to untangle that I don't even know how to put it into words.

The writing style of this book was exquisite. The descriptions of the town, Lydia's bedroom, the house are enrapturing. I could write and essay about they way Celest Ng describes smells.

This is one of those books that makes you wanna stop and savor the deliciousness of sentences and words. Makes you wanna think about what you just read.

What the book is about:

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet" So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio.

Let's stop here.

This novel begins with the dead of a beloved child, when the parents first realise she's gone they think she's missing and so it begins the quest to find out who their child really was only to discover she kept secrets.

Living as a Chinese family in the 70s in America was hard to read about, the racism the father and his children encountered just because they looked different was sad to witness more-so through the eyes of the father himself and how his experience shaped the way he raised the kids, specially Lydia, and his relationship with his son, Nath, his wife, Marilyn, suffered because of the hatred society taught him.

Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfil the dreams they were unable to pursue.

Getting to know Lydia through the eyes of her siblings and her parents hit deep, but later on in the novel getting to know Lydia and the burden she carried destroyed me.

Sometimes parents don't realise the amount of pressure they put on their children, the way Celeste was able to convey the suffocating atmosphere Lydia lived in, how she was pulled tighter and tighter until she snapped, was painful to witness but at the same time I admire the skill it requires.

More over, being able to experience the parents backgrounds, how they were raised, how society shaped them and labeled them made you understand them and feel for them because no one taught them how to be parents, no one taught them how to raise children, how to get rid of their own expectations and frustrated dreams, how to let children lead their own lives. Parents often want what's best for their children, they don't want them missing opportunities or making the same mistakes they made but in trying to protect the children they harm them, they leave a mark, a scar, that can't be erased.

As a woman, watching Marilyn make her choices and regretting some of them, trying to do her best with what she was taught by her own mother and then realising she missed out on so many things, trying to make amends with her dreams and going after them, the sacrifice it took of her to see for herself when already having a family, struck a chord, I saw my own mother, my grandmother, thinking their dreams are long gone, that it's too late when in reality it isn't. Witnessing how her own desperation cracked her relationship with one daughter and was inexistent with the other reminded me that often we are so blinded by our own desires we fail to see the whole picture until it's too late or sometimes, just in time.

Overall this book taught me a lot, about forgiving not only others but also ourselves. Because we are flawed and we are all trying to do the best we can with the life we've been given. It taught me compassion, a reminder that we all carry our past but there's strength when we don't let it define us.

Favorite quotes:

"Where did it go? The mattress, the photographs, the emptied-out bookshelves? The same place people went when they died, where everything went: on, away, out of your life."

"How had it begun? Like everything: with mothers and fathers."

"Looking up at the sky, she felt as if she were floating in space, completely untethered. She could not believe that anything was impossible."

#book review #everything i never told you #celeste ng

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A little orange interruption..

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alone, in a coffee shop. 💌 Instagram: kokokourtney

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[Golden dawning]