This was both an easier and a harder read than the first book in the series. As Lei and Wren have now left the court of the Demon King, there is less structure, and a wider cast to deal with in the outside world (including some characters that I personally found irritating. Sorry leopard boy). I also still have misgivings about the whole caste system, but I can overlook that. The travelling plot, and three clans to visit structure, made this feel like the painfully slow second book in a series (and it was). However, the continued development of Lei and Wren as characters was excellent. Both of them are so well-fleshed out, and their relationship is so realistic that if this review was on character alone it would be 5 stars. However, like all decent second stories, this needed to happen, and it has set up a final show down in book three that I have every confidence will be EPIC.

<b>Verdict:</b> Middle book syndrome.

Travelling? Check. Cliche twins? Check. Shaky love triangle? Check.

I'm afraid this book is suffering from middle book syndrome.

Book two picks up where we left off, tense and fast with plenty to question: is Lei being followed, is the king alive, can Ketai Hanno be trusted? With luscious writing and a fiery romance, it promises a grand adventure full of political intrigue, battles, and romance.

But then it sort of withers away.

We see Lei become reckless and riled up at silly times, and quite frankly putting her spur of the moment needs in front of her friends' safety. But when she's not riled up, she's travelling or eating or having one too many drinks. This all equates to not a lot of progress for your pages.

A band of new characters are introduced, including twins. Hopefully this isn't considered a spoiler as not all of these things happen can happen at once, but are there any books out there with twins which don't either a) only speak in 'banter', b) become mortal enemies, or c) one of them dies. I'd quite like to read a book where the twins are on the same side but don't quite understand each other at times and both survive the whole series.

The word 'sluice' is used a weird amount. Yes, I'm aware that's a strange thing to notice, but I think this speaks to my level of interest at times. The sense that all the exciting plot points are being saved for book three is sewn throughout the whole thing, and if you pull at that thread as you idly read on, the story falls apart.

I've bumped it up to three stars as I still have a hope for the series. I love the whole birth blessing pendant concept and there are a couple of brilliant moments. I'll admit the banter adds character to the dialogue. The scrap of plot progression within the palace blossoms in a way that makes me want to know more.

So I was disappointed but it was an okay read. I think it comes down to the story being stretched out into a trilogy when two books might have worked better. Maybe we should change YA trends?

Source: With thanks to the publisher via NetGalley.com.

I don't think I could properly put into words just how fantastic this book was. The dealing of long term effects of trauma was heart wrenching and yet necessary. Lei's dealing with her time as a paper girl is very different from how Wren handles it. But they both are affected.

We meet new characters, come to love them as they go on their adventures and get to see more of this breathtaking world that has been built. Political undercurrents are stronger and I can't wait to see what happens in book 3, though, I'm not sure if my heart can handle it.

I didn’t like Girls of Storm and Shadow as much as I loved Paper and Fire. I raced through Paper and Fire in one sitting, but some of my favourite aspects of the first novel were missing from the second. Frustratingly, I couldn’t define exactly what that is. It’s taken me over two months to get this review written, because I’m really struggling to verbalise how I feel about this follow up to a book I adored.

Despite that, this was still a great book, with a more complex plot than the previous series entry and fascinating insights into the political world, and I settled on a 3 star rating.

As a rule, I’m a huge fan of series becoming more politically complex and multi-faceted in later books. The Hunger Games series is a typical example of this. But for me, unfortunately, it felt like there was something absent from this book for me. I still enjoyed it, and I’ll still definitely read the currently untitled third book when it comes out (probably 2020), but it might be a library pick up for me rather than an automatic pre-order.

Read me for the…
Much like with the first book:

F/F romance
Asian-inspired fantasy
Demon races
YA dystopia (caste system)
#ownvoices
But also, in this sequel, add on:

Political upheaval
Human rebellions
Queer boy demons 🥰
Trigger Warnings:
Kidnapping, sex trafficking, sexual assault, rape, violence, sex shaming, violence against animals, caste discrimination and racism, raids and mass murder. This is a heavy one again guys.

What did I love?
This book really expanded the universe that Natasha Ngan has created, and I adored that. The world is beautiful and vivid, with a caste system that is unlike any I’ve seen in other novels (I still love the bestial demons and their animal characteristics). Her descriptions were just as beautiful, and so detailed that I could feel the settings of every seen. I still remember many of the settings vividly two months later.

And I talked about the queer characterisations in my review of the first book, and I still love them here. In Storm and Shadows we get queer demons who are out there falling in love all over the place. If you like snarky banter, you’ll love them as much as I did.

What didn’t I love?
First, and this is my own tiny niggling irritation that won’t apply to most people, I felt like every character in this book was queer. And I mean every character. All the side characters, any and all characters introduced had their queer partners mentioned even when it didn’t necessarily make sense in the plot for their sexuality to be mentioned? I’m ALL FOR queer rep because I grew up without many role models like me, but it reached a point where it was kind of bugging me in a realism sort of way. Not everyone is queer. Straight people exist, and the majority of the straight rep in this book is from a sexual assault perspective. It’s not exactly a big deal, but it just felt unbalanced to me. Maybe that’s just my weird preference though, and it definitely isn’t a deal-breaker.

In my review of Paper and Fire, I talked about how much I love the dark fantasy aspect of the book. Here, I kind of felt it went too far the other way? This book was pretty dark, but not in an interesting twisty way. It kind of just made me sad. Everything is miserable for ages, and there’s love-interest conflict (why can’t we have sequels where we don’t have drama drummed up for the sake of drama) but honestly by the end of this book I’d started to become less invested in Lei and Wren’s relationship. I didn’t care any more, and for me that’s the biggest killer of a story because personally I need things to be character driven. Without delving into spoilers, a lot of characters do things I see as fairly unforgivable or unjustifiable, and I’d effectively tapped out of caring about them. I understand that ‘doing bad for the greater good’ was a big aspect of this book but it’s something I personally dislike so it meant that a lot of the characters felt… meh.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book delves into the story straight from the first few pages. Spanning across a long journey throughout this book, many things happen but because I devoured it it also seemed like not a lot happened too.
The build up to the ending of this book is fantastic and I cannot wait to read the final installment to this trilogy.
The characters are all amazing and worthy of a role in this book.

Wow, What a follow up! This book was an incredible sequel to my top read of 2018: Girls of Paper and Fire. This book has fear, action, grief, anger, love and adventure all in one book. The character development is amazing and is well rounded from the previous book. I felt like the caste system was very interesting as was the introduction of different animal characters. I really enjoyed the plot and all of the twists. I would highly recommend reading this series.

After failing to kill the Demon King, Lei and Wren barely escaped with their lives. But this isn’t the end of their journey, unaware their plot failed, the duo must travel the kingdom to gain support from clans from all corners of the world. But a heavy bounty on Lei’s head makes this even more difficult and when tensions begin to make Lei doubt what she knows, can she succeed in her quest or will the dark magic finish the war before its even begun?

After finishing Girls of Paper and Fire, I eagerly anticipated the release of Storm and Shadow. And I can say that I’m not disappointed, although I was a little underwhelmed. But I still found it a solid read.

I won’t lie, Lei, despite being our main protagonist, was not the star of the show for me. Lei and Wren are joined by others, some familiar, some new. Despite how fractured it all becomes at the end, I truly loved the moments of everyone banding together in their journey. I thought the brashness of Bo and Nitta would be off-putting, but their sibling banter was hilarious and I had come to love their sibling relationship a lot. Merrin got my attention the most, his anger and frustration with everything going on around them was admirable. My heart broke a lot during a pivotal moment in this book. Lei and Wren go through a lot in this. Wren, in particular, shocked me quite a bit. I won’t say too much, but I’m glad Ngan utilised Wren’s past a lot more in this book, a shocking revelation made a lot of sense and really amped up my excitement for whatever comes next in the finale.

In terms of world-building, Ngan definitely works hard to utilise this middle novel to branch out the world we see in the first. Due to their travels, we get a lot of new scenery. I absolutely loved the Wing Wings palace at lot, a mountainous location that was gorgeously detailed. Having seen a few novels I enjoy become webtoons recently, I’m secretly hoping this series joins the list. The visuals in the novel can work so well for a graphic novel interpretation.

My high rating of this book is mainly rooted in the fact that I love what this story could be, and the side character that really gave me a reason to push through. I’ll be honest and warn you all that this book is mainly one big journey of our main crew hopping from place to place and that initially deterred me a lot. I do believe Ngan did the best she could and actually made it less underwhelming than it could’ve been, but it’s still subject those certain aspects that come with writing the middle of a trilogy. I have to admit the first half had me bored out of my mind. The narrative was quite repetitive and Lei’s unreliability really hinders the plot that made it difficult to read. I love her moments of self-empowerment and her growth from surviving the hell the Demon King through. Ngan continues to take that violence Lei faces and reminds that trauma can continue to affect you long after the act. Lei is a force to be reckoned with. But Ngan makes her quite hypocritical and her relationship with Wren doesn’t feel like it developed from GoPaF.

There’s a whole lot of conflict, especially fight scenes which I absolutely loved, but the resolution felt lukewarm. The ending, however, piqued my interest a lot. As I mentioned, the beginning kicked off slow for me, but in the end, I am still genuinely interested in seeing this series to its conclusion.

Overall, I found Shadow and Storm quite polarising. On one hand, I found myself trudging along, but then on the other, there were moments of exhilarating action and the cast of characters were a highlight. I wouldn’t write this series off because of everything that happened in this one. I do believe this is a sequel worth reading, mainly because whatever comes next sounds damn amazing.

Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn't the end of the plan - it's just the beginning. A sequel that made me both nervous and excited, the new book is finally here, and it’s so good. (my review does have spoilers).

[This book really does lead well from the first book, with Lei and Wren in hiding from the people who are trying to come after them after killing the Demon King, or as we learn, maybe not so much. This book sees Lei develop as a character and the relationship between characters such as Bo and Merrin change and I liked that, even if this story hates me basically.

Though I feel this was a transitional book where we move from the last to the next as the group travel through jungles, tundra and deserts there is important development. Lei does learns to fight and of course unpack the trauma she had to suffer as a paper girl, and those things in this transition book I think are key to come to the last book - there are so many things left to be said and I feel this book makes it more clear - where Ngan goes after the cliffhanger is making me nervous but also very much looking forward to seeing the last book.

If you want to know if you should continue this series, for me the answer is yes, you can’t leave me hanging like that without taking my money first

This review contains spoilers.

Girls of Storm and Shadow, by Natasha Ngan, is a YA fantasy and the second book in a series called Girls of Paper and Fire. It is set in a fictional world called Ikhara, but the locations and names vary as the book progresses. The main character, Lei, is on the run after killing the King of the Paper Girls at the end of the first book. Along with her lover, Wren and her friends, they are on a mission to gain support from rebel communities after news spreads among the Paper caste about what Lei has done.

However, the plot takes a twist when Lei discovers something shocking, which changes the entire course of their mission. As the story progresses, the characters within the story, particularly Wren, Nitta and Merrin, undergo transitions which force Lei to question her choices and role within the group. The relationship between Lei and Wren also evolves, taking a path which twists and turns, leaving the reader unsure as to what will happen between them until the very end. Lei herself is a soft, warm character who has quickly had to grow accustomed not only to the demands of Paper life, but the harsh realities of the world beyond. As a result, she is deeply affected by what her actions may cost her.

When a death of a beloved group member occurs, the group as a whole is completely divided. Individuals are seen to have their own motives for wanting to join the mission, and they are not always with good intent. Throughout the story, Lei sees the consequences of not only her own actions, but the actions of those she believed to be good people, which lead to devastating losses for people she cares deeply about. Her own morals and judgment come into question, which leaves the reader wondering just how innocent Lei really is.

This book has been my favourite to review so far. I loved Girls of Paper and Fire, so I had high expectations for Girls of Storm and Shadow and the book did not disappoint. Ngan writes with a fluid, effortless style that makes the story completely immersive, allowing the reader to become lost in her fantasy world. All of her descriptions of characters, food, clothing and even setting use language which is rich and unconventional, but not complex.

If I had any further comments about the book, it would be the shifts in POV which occur at brief intervals throughout the story. In my opinion, they weren’t entirely necessary and the story could have been told just as well completely from Lei’s perspective. But this is a matter of personal preference and it certainly didn’t make the book any less enjoyable.

I also really liked the incorporation of LGBT characters. Whilst inclusive, it didn’t detract from the storyline and the sexuality of the characters didn’t feel forced.

The book’s ending hints that they may be more, and I really hope there is. I highly recommend the Girls of Paper and Fire series to anyone who enjoys fantasy.

“Action, reaction
Fear in, fire out” -Natasha Ngan

eArc provided by Hodder & Stoughton for review

The second instalment of GoPaF series picks up two weeks after we left off. We’re introduced to the Hannos, Lei family and a whole host of new characters, at first it was hard to know who was who and I felt some characters could have been better developed but by far my two new favourites are bo and Nitta

The story follows the moonchosen, lei and their new comrades as they set off in hopes to gain allies in clans that aren’t wholly loyal to the king. There is a lot more political intrigue in this book and I really enjoyed seeing how the world outside of the the hidden palace worked. Seeing Wren being independent and growing into a little warrior and how that effects her was also a really great piece of character development

However, I think this book suffers a little from second book syndrome, while there is a lot of action, I found myself skimming quite a bit, I think my lack of attachment to the new characters and then being randomly pulled out of the story to get POV from other characters in the palace a little jarring.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first book, you’ll like this. It builds on Lei and Wren’s dynamic and does introduce some great new characters but It was lacking a little in development for me

Such a great sequel, and a very emotional read, I found myself in tears several Tim’s throughout the book. I think this book is actually better than the first and I’m desperate for book 3 now. Natasha has done it again, wonderful character development, world building is expanded on even more. It’s just fabulous. Highly recommended read

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Girls of Paper and Fire was one of my favourite books of 2018, so Girls of Storm and Shadow was always going to be high up on my list of anticipated reads. This, I know, makes it sound like I was disappointed by it, combined with my four-star rating compared to five stars for GOPAF. But I really liked this book, the characters, their development and where the story was heading. The lower rating is probably more a reflection of, if I reread GOPAF, would I like it as much.

But anyway.

Girls of Storm and Shadow picks up two weeks after the first book ends. Lei and Wren have escaped the palace, believing the king to be dead, but little do they know he still lives and wants revenge. Much of the book plotwise is taken up with the main characters gathering support and allies for the upcoming war against the king. So I can see why this book has been described as just a filler book.

But, honestly, to suggest that that’s all it is is disingenuous. Girls of Storm and Shadow is about what happens after a traumatic event, about recovery and healing, about responses to it, full stop. To reduce that to “filler”, when it’s the next stage in Lei’s journey (and a welcome one to see in YA fiction, particularly fantasy, where it feels sometimes like big events can happen without any sort of impact), feels like missing the point. Besides, the story doesn’t yet need to be about revenge and tearing down a regime. The route it takes, and the questions it raises, are the perfect direction for it to go in for me.

And much of that is helped by Natasha Ngan’s wonderful writing and characters. As in book 1, they are what drives the story. The writing in particular is as gorgeous as ever and, even when the story might have dragged, the writing holds it up (and also Lei and Wren being soft). Basically, I would read anything Natasha Ngan wrote at this point, just because her writing is that good.

If there was one thing I didn’t like about the book, though, it was the following (spoilers for rest of paragraph). I had to see another gay character die. Yes, in this case it furthered the story, it wasn’t just to elicit straight pain, there were other LGB characters so it’s not like he was the only one. But the pain of a gay character dying is hard to separate from BYG for me, and I do wish I had had some warning that it was coming.

However, like I said, it serves a point. And I ended up really liking how the story unfolded from that moment, even if I hated the moment itself. Because it brings up the discussion of what happens when the “good guys” aren’t so good as you think, and are almost as ruthless as the bad guys. (On a side note, I loved the development of Lei and Wren’s relationship regarding this. But that’s spoilers. Basically, the more I think about the book, the more I love the direction it took.)

So now all that’s left for me to do is wait impatiently for the final book.

Oh gods. I think I'm gonna need decades to get over this book. Girls of Paper and Fire was good but this one? Even better. It was just so intense all the time with little moments of softness well needed and so many revelations. I mean, with the numbers of secrets there are in this book who's surprised? Me. I was surprised every single time like “wait what???” and it truly is A Lot™.

There are so many things I could talk about but I'm just gonna talk about my Favourites:

▸ Lei and Wren's relationship. Gods I would die for them and they would die for each other and they love the other so much but with secrets and the war their relationship becomes more difficult and it feels so true. At some times it is complicated between them but that doesn't mean they don't love each other anymore. Oh no, their love is a main factor of this book and I think that's beautiful.

▸ Lei's development!! She has PTSD from what happened at the palace but she is trying to learn how to fight and, yes my girl here you go. Seriously she's became so strong physically AND mentally and I just,,,, love her so much. Lei you're doing amazing sweetie. (also thinking every girl she sees is beautiful is a big mood)

▸ The realisation that one side is not necesserally better than the other. That's one of my favourite trope and Lei is beginning to see that. Yes the King has done terrible thing. But that doesn't mean Ketai Hanno is a saint either. War is horrible from all sides.

▸ New characters! I loved their little group watch me adopt all of them

▸ We get a few chapters with someone else's pov which is good because 1) we're seeing things from a different perspective and 2) unlike book one where almost everything and everyone was at the palace, we got Lei and Wren out in the world while so many others still are at the palace. Thanks to that we can see what is happening there despite Lei not being there anymore.

I will end this review by saying this book was amazing BUT be ready to cry. A lot. Ahah. Also I can't wait for book three I need it to come out like, yesterday please.

The best word I can find to describe what went wrong with most of this book is "sloppy". A lot of good ideas, but to say that the execution left something to be desired would be an understatement, and this was true right from the beginning.

One of the first things that stood out to me about Girls of Storm and Shadow was the jarringly modern language - characters using words like "fanmail", or "B.O." to mean body odor, or saying "stealth mode activated" - out of nowhere, in what is very much a high fantasy setting. There are also some puns that, to work, would require the characters to be speaking English, which clashed with everything I know about the worldbuilding. Also, since we're talking about the puns: I didn't mind that they were purposefully terrible, but the attempt at funny banter involving Bo, Nitta and Merrin was so cringey I just wanted them all to disappear. There really isn't a character more annoying than the unfunny comic relief.

The jarring parts didn't stop there; no, soon I started to notice how awkward the dialogue was at times - always at the same very specific times. While every character has their own way to speak and it's usually easy to understand who is saying what without needing a dialogue tag, most of the characters seemed to have a thing for launching themselves into monologues about what bravery is and the costs of fighting back. In those monologues, they all spoke the exact same way. It was as if these parts were made to work out of context instead of in context, as if they were meant to be quoted and shared instead of actually belonging in the text. While I agreed with what the book said about resistance and what it means to be brave, abandoning all subtlety to deliver important lessons to the reader is talking down to the reader.

This is also a journey book.
I'm always hesitant with sequels of books I loved, because in a trilogy, the second book often turns into a journey book. If the first book wasn't one already, the second often fails. One of the things I loved the most about Girls of Paper and Fire was the atmosphere, at the same time dazzling and claustrophobic, and the way the f/f romance was framed as a light in the darkness for Lei. All of this is lost in the second book; we go from a developed, vivid setting that feels real to speeding through a series of locations we're told relatively little about, and everything feels so flat and fake. We go from a romance that was a source of strength for the characters to something that is mostly yet one more obstacle for them.

I appreciated how this book portrayed the way even a loving relationship can become really strained when two people are uprooted from the circumstances in which the relationship began and thrown into a very different but still ugly situation. Lei is suffering because she feels out of place; Wren has been raised by a family that mostly saw her as means to an end, and at times finds herself missing some parts of palace life, and this horrifies her. I wasn't annoyed by the way the main characters found communicating difficult - no, I think the miscommunication was realistic and necessary. These are traumatized 17-year-olds and Lei is clearly displaying PTSD symptoms. Of course they're struggling, and that impacts their relationship. This book doesn't shy away from any of that, and that's probably what I liked the most about it.

What really annoyed me was that this book thought it was necessary to include ex-girlfriend drama of all things, out of nowhere, 70% in. Now, I can have fun with this sort of thing in lighter reads in which I'm just there for the drama. This is very much not that kind of book, and I have no idea why this was done. To add conflict? As if there wasn't enough.

I also felt like nothing happened, even though a lot of things clearly happened, since the characters were constantly on the run or trying to convince people to ally with them. The problem is, the situation felt very stagnant, because the characters' goals were always the same, their relationship with the world and each other were always the same, the villains' goals were always the same - at least for the first three quarters of the book.
I quit 75% of the way through, because I realized that I wasn't actually liking anything of what I was reading anymore.

The sequel to the gorgeous and heart wrenching Girls of Paper and Fire. It is a hard act to follow and while it doesn’t quite kick you as hard as the first book, it still focuses heavily on how our characters are doing. It certainly did it justice.

The book starts a few weeks after they managed to get away from the ball. Unlike us as readers, our main characters are not aware that the demon king survived and that gives quite an impact to our reading. Because when are they going to find out. How will they respond. It is a heavy feeling of curiosity and stakes that you have alongside our characters where you don’t want this knowledge to destroy them.

Wren’s father gives them a new mission, to get others to join their fight against the demon king. A hard sell as it appears. When does one stand up to a dictator? But while this war threat is buzzing at the edges of the book it is all about the characters. This situations causes an interesting divide between Wren and Lei who only knew each other in the setting of the palace. Now they are outside of it and they are getting to know more about each other. Mostly about Wren. Lei is rather straight forward about who she is and where she comes from. But with Wren things aren’t always all that clear. Wren follows her father without a doubt and Lei doubts. There are many questions about morality and if the things this war needs won’t just make them just as worse as what they are fighting.

Lei also seems to have behavior that indicates PTSD. Certain things trigger her memories of the Demon King and make her freeze, and she constantly hears him in her head. She finds this hard to deal with and when given the chance she tries to drown herself in alcohol. Not only that but there is grief, betrayal and all other sorts of emotions that make this book incredibly real. It is heart wrenching in a very different way than Girls of Paper and Fire.

We also get some new side characters alongside the ride. Three mooncastes, a monk and Wren’s old fighting teacher. It was an interesting addition because the loyalties are clearly being torn at, especially in the second half of the book. Wren and her fighting teacher really stand by what her father wants. The monk seems to feel extreme loyalty too. But the others are more open to voicing critique. And Lei is stuck in the middle there.

Overall I enjoyed Girls of Storm and Shadow and I can’t wait for the next installment.

I was very behind on the hype for Girls of Paper and Fire and earlier this year I decided to finally give it a go. I absolutely loved it so when I saw an opportunity to get an advanced readers copy of Girls of Storm and Shadows I knew I would regret not trying.

This book was perfect in every sense. It made me smile, it made me laugh and it also made me cry. There are new characters introduced and I couldn’t help but feeling so attached to them all and their different personalities. I still love Lei’s character just as much as I did in the first book. She’s such a brave and strong woman who only continues to grow. This time Lei is struggling with finding love in the middle of a war where everyone’s motives are tested and doubt really starts to take a forefront.

Natasha Ngan has this amazing way with words and she has managed to build such an amazing and in-depth world that just hooks you in and makes you never want to leave. With its smooth flow and range of diversity its no wonder that this series is so widely loved.

There was never a dull moment in this book, which for me was honestly surprising because I find that the second book in some young adult fantasy trilogies tend to be my least favourite. While this book did do a lot of setting up for the next book in the series I never found myself bored, in actual fact I found it almost impossible to put down.

Honestly, I could sit here and talk about this book for hours but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. All I can say is that after fighting through the tears I found myself desperately needing the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I felt that GIRLS OF PAPER AND FIRE left the reader in a good spot. I started the second book, full of excitement about what was to come and full of hope for more in terms of the relationship between Lei and Wren, as this was something that wasn’t realised for me in book one.

I am sorry to say that GIRLS OF STORM AND SHADOW was a disappointment and a ball of reading frustration for me, probably exacerbated by the high hopes I had for this second in the series. The story started well with Wren and Lei in exile and hiding. It was a rather slow start but in retrospect I found this slow start preferable to the chaotic pace and storyline that ensued.

One of the things I wanted and expected from this book was to truly feel the relationship and emotional connection between Lei and Wren. I did not get this and their intimacy was faded and jaded for me. I feel awful writing this and it is with no malice, but with this lack of tangibility in their relationship, I slowly retreated from my connection with them as characters.

The story itself was disjointed and kind of repetitive, from lull to battle again and again. I was bored reading it and began to care less. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, a very contraversial trope appeared and it sealed the deal for me.

There were some things I liked, the castes, Merrin, Bo and Hiro. I liked the glimpses of Lei’s nemesis and would have liked more of this. I will be back to read the final instalment because at this point, I have invested but it will be a read with trepidation. That said, I really enjoyed book one, so I know there is possiblity of full circle.

Thank you to Hodder Books for the early review copy.

Book one was beautiful, and brilliantly written, with incredible Own Voice and Queer characters. It was also brutal. Brutal and, traumatic in a way that stayed in the mind and resonated deeply.
Book two is all of these things PLUS ptsd, survivors guilt, and dealing with the expectations of people who want our characters to be symbols instead of people. They have just survived being considered the property of a cruel Ruler, now they are expected to belong to a rebellion that wants them to be perfect little symbols. This is not what our girls expected! Or at least, not what Lei expected. She just wanted freedom, and her beloved. Except Wren has been raised from infancy to be a weapon against the Demon King, and weapons don’t get to have love and freedom.
It took nearly everything that Lei had to survive the Demon King, but how will she survive the rebellion?

4 1/2 heartbreaking bittersweet stars with the understanding that Ms Ngan will NEVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN! (Spoilers!)

Preliminary thoughts (pre-coffee)
Thinking back to Girls of Paper and Fire I remember it being really fun to see a story that was quite tropey made queer. It was the kind of book I would have needed as a teenager. I don't remember being blown away by the writing or the worldbuilding but neither were they bad, they just haven't stuck with me. As far as the plot is concerned I remember it broadly but I'm aware I'll have to do some catching up at the start of this book. 

This summary seems cool! It's always tricky to go from a story that has a clear progression and put your characters into 'the real world' so we'll see how that goes. 

I mean, it's queer we can assume I will enjoy this. 

First I will obtain coffee.

Chapter One - Five
Ok, thrown into the thick of it, I like it. I'd forgotten how 'informal' the language between the younger main characters is and I really enjoy it. I've been reading a lot of hefty fantasy lately in a lot of very historical settings and it's a welcome change to have characters commenting on each other's 'B.O.'

We're mostly setting up the new setting and the main players for this sequel in these chapters - which is what I expected. We've got some good antagonists, our protagonists are being gay and processing trauma which is, so far, well written. We've had some 'meeting the parents' moments which were a splash of the ordinary in an otherwise fantasy novel. It's fun, and it's not difficult to read. In some of my reading lately it's been a struggle to stay focussed and get to the end of a page but those first 58 pages really flew by! 

Let's see how the plot develops in the next 50 or so pages.

Chapter Six - Nine
"This is our time, Wren. Let's show everyone what two human girls can do."

Yup, we've definitely started developing the plot a little more and I like where this is going! Where the first book was so focussed in on these few characters this seems to be more about building broader alliances which I here for. I just think it allows for more exploration of different cultures and details of worldbuilding when you expand your scope in a sequel. I like it a lot.

As I think most people were expecting, a lot of this book (so far) has included Lei processing her trauma (or not, as the case may be). There have been inklings of dulling the pain with substances and some moments in which Lei is triggered. While these aren't always the easiest moments to read, I think it's important - given how horrible the events of the first book were - to acknowledge that trauma doesn't care if you're at the forefront of a revolution, trauma won't wait for you to calm down. I can't personally speak to the accuracy of the portrayal but it certainly feels genuine. 

Chapter Ten - Fourteen
Ooof this 50 page (ish) stretch was a rollercoaster! At first, I was delighted because things were very queer and happy, and then they immediately became queer and sad and I'm concerned that Lei and Wren are going to break up for a stupid reason (urgh). Then there was a murder and suddenly we're back in the 'this is high stakes Judith stop focussing on the romance aspect' land and to top it all off...

I had forgotten Aoki. 

For those who, like me, may have forgotten Aoki or maybe for some reason you couldn't/didn't read the first book in this series Aoki is one of the Paper girls from book one who believes that she is in love with the Demon King and that he loves her. Essentially it's the 'friend in an abusive relationship is in denial about it' and it hurts me to my core. It is so well written and so true to life (demon aspects aside) that it makes me well up. I hope to all heaven that Aoki gets a good ending in these books...

Chapter Fifteen - Eighteen
These chapters would probably be best described as 'our main band of heroes against the world'. There's a lot of travelling and the classic banter which I've talked about at the beginning of this post, but there's also a lot of violence and fighting and people getting the wrong end of the stick. One of our villains (no spoilers here pals) has made a sudden appearance and I'm hoping we'll get more of them later on. 

Chapter Nineteen - Twenty-two
Some more training montage which, to be honest, I'm appreciating. There are some books where I get really annoyed at how long it takes characters to get to reasonable fighting strength, while others skim over it like it's possible to become a master sword-wielder in a week - this feels realistic in time but there's enough else going on that it doesn't drag. 

We've also had a bit more of the 'substance abuse as a coping mechanism' addressed. It's not the main focus of the book but, I don't know, I appreciated them recognising that it is a messy process and it's easy to find those unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

We're well over halfway now and I'm expecting a side character death soon...we've just had a battle at sea so maybe?

Chapter Twenty-three - Twenty-six
No spoilers for who but THERE IT IS.

"I loosen a breath I didn't know I was holding."

Firstly let us acknowledge the above quote which I'm choosing to believe is in there ironically.

Next, let's talk about how this book has started to stomp on my heart and grind me up into the dust. 

The closer we get to the end the less I can say because of spoilers but let me just say THESE CHAPTERS ARE EMOTIONAL AND DRAMATIC AS HECK. 

100 pages to go (ish)

Chapter Twenty-seven - Thirty
Ok, so, I could probably have predicted where this was going (and I can't tell you where because it would be a spoiler) but suffice to say I AM GETTING ANNOYED. 

Like, it's a great plot moment and great storytelling but IS NOTHING SACRED?

(on the one hand, I love when sequels pull apart the first book and on the other hand [redacted because of spoiler]).

Chapter Thirty-One - End
A CLIFFHANGER ENDING BUT A GOOD ONE. 

Final verdict
I liked this a lot, I think I might even have liked it more than the first book, that could be a result of reading mood but also I think this book just had a much wider scope. It felt like the exact kind of YA I fell in love with a few years ago and it was exactly what I wanted to read to remind me that I do enjoy YA fantasy. Definitely read the first book before this one - but if you, like me, enjoy more vivid worldbuilding and action then I think you'll like the sequel more! The writing has relaxed ease to it that just keeps everything accessible and fun even though this book will destroy you when you least expect it. I'm looking forward to the third book (as yet untitled). 

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Girls of Storm and Shadow publishes November 5th!

5 stars.

Trigger warnings: murder, violence, torture, alcohol dependence, rape, death, distressing scenes.

Wow. What a book! I loved Girls of paper and fire but I think I loved this even more! This series is turning out to be a firm favourite of mine and even though this is technically not out yet, I am already desperate for the third book!

Right, to review this without spoilers is going to be hard but I will give it a go.
This book was filled with adventure, danger, fights and battles, brilliant wit, new wonderful characters and love. It sees Lei grow and become less of a village girl and more of a soldier. I adore her character and getting to know more layers to her personality outside of the horrors of the palace is wonderful. The new characters bring a fantastic dynamic to the whole book and reminded me of aelin galanthynius and her crew!

What's more, I didn't call the twists and shocks in the storyline which was both wonderful to not know what was coming and utterly HEARTBREAKING. I also really enjoyed the multiple views (that didn't chop and change too much) throughout the book.
The ending leaves me on a massive cliffhanger and I am probably going to read these 2 books a ridiculous amount of times before the third comes out.
If you can't tell, I adored every single part and will reread ASAP! I cannot wait to get my pretty Fairyloot edition!!

Please note that this ebook was gifted to me from netgalley in return for an honest review.