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385 pages, Hardcover
First published November 6, 2018
We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable.
And there is a fire catching among us.
No one's paying attention to us, their focus all on the stage, and I need her right now, need the familiar warmth of her hands to ground me, to calm my already frantic heart from spiraling so far out of control that it breaks free - and me with it.
We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we’re given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable.
And there is a fire catching among us.
It stuns me how vast the palace is. Not just a palace really, but a city—a labyrinth of streets, courtyards, and gardens, like the veins and arteries flowing through a giant creature with the King nestled at its core, its own living, beating heart.
“When the world denies you choices, you make your own.”
“We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.”
“Demon men can take what they want. Our homes. Our lives. Our bodies.”
“But perhaps the gods have forgotten us, or grown bored with our small corner of the kingdom. Because here I am, about to share the last thing I’d ever want to offer the King. Myself.”
“Order was restored the only way the King knew how. Bloodshed.”
“Her kisses heal the parts of me that the King broke. They tell me: You are strong, Lei. You are beautiful. You are mine. And, always, most important: You are yours.”
“Our kingdom believes words have power. That the characters of our language can bless or curse a life.”
I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.
“Our lives here are defined by others, every decision made for us, every turn of fate pushed by the hands of others. But you stood up and said no. Even though you knew what it would cost you.”
Her kisses heal the part of me that the King broke. They tell me: You are strong, Lei. You are beautiful. And, always, most important, you are yours.
When the world denies you choices, you make your own.
// buddy read with my least gayvorite person
Thank you to Jimmy Patterson Books for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review! This did not affect my opinions in any way.
All quotes were taken from an unfinished copy and may differ in final publication.
“I know what it means to dream about the past.
To dream about things you have loved, and lost.”
“Remember, even that which seems impossible at first can be overcome by strength of mind and heart.”
“Understanding arrives then the way twilight falls: instantaneously. Just a blink, a skip in time, leaving only the before and the after, and the inescapable ripples of change.”
“When the world denies you choices, you make your own.”
“(…) I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.”
In this fantasy world, every year, the violent and oppressive Demon King—the strongest of a caste of people marked by their animal-like appearances—takes eight Paper Girls (of the plain, human Paper caste) to become his concubines. Lei never expected to become one of those girls, but even more shocking was the twist of fate she met upon her arrival at the palace—her unstoppable and desperate fall into a forbidden love with another Paper Girl.
Perhaps the gods have forgotten us, or grown bored with our small corner of the kingdom. Because here I am, about to share the last thing I’d ever want to offer the King.
Myself.
The word itself—home—is a blade in my gut. It’s a call, a song. One I can’t answer anymore.
“When the world denies you choices, you make your own.”
I’m cast in the shadow of that night with the King. The memory of it hovers close, a constant presence at the edge of my consciousness, like moon-shimmer on the surface of a lake.
It doesn’t matter how beautiful the cage is. It’s still a prison.
I don’t want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.
We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.
In my village, the story of the Paper Girls is told in whispers behind closed doors. We lost too much in the raid seven years ago to want to share anything more with the court.
Her kisses heal the parts of me that the King broke. They tell me: You are strong, Lei. You are beautiful. You are mine. And, always, most important: You are yours.
Demon men can take what they want. Our homes. Our lives. Our bodies.
”We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we’re given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable. And there is a fire catching among us.
We might be Paper Girls, easily torn and written upon. The very title we're given suggests that we are blank, waiting to be filled. But what the Demon King and his court do not understand is that paper is flammable.
And there is a fire catching among us.
“I don't want an easy life. I want a meaningful one.”
“Fire in, fear out”
“Her kisses heal the parts of me that the King broke. They tell me: You are strong, Lei. You are beautiful. You are mine. And, always, most important: You are yours.”