Note: This review contains spoilers for Girls of Paper and Fire. You can find The Nerd Daily’s review for it here.
When I finished Girls of Paper and Fire, I thought it a beautifully written book set in a fabulously intricate fantasy world whose plot had a few things that bothered me. My consensus: a good book that I’d definitely recommend but not necessarily rave about.
Then it kept intruding into my thoughts.
I found myself eagerly anticipating the release of Girls of Storm and Shadow. I wondered what events were triggered by the move against the Emperor. I wanted to dive back in to the lush, evocative world that Ngan crafts with each carefully chosen word. It’s why I requested to review it—I didn’t want to wait.
The book has two underlying central concepts: doing bad—possibly unforgivable—things for a good cause, and the way in which trauma haunts those who have been touched by it.
Sweeping across several locales from snowy mountaintops to tropical jungles, to arid desert, we chart Lei’s journey as she accompanies Wren and a band of rebels across the sprawling Ikhara as they try to secure allies in their coming fight against the Emperor. The variety of these settings give a clear sense of the geographical scope of the Ikhara, and offered free reign for Ngan’s powerful imagination. However, I was disappointed that the novel did not dive into the regional history of each setting in the manner that Ngan so spectacularly grounded her world in Paper and Fire.
To the backdrop of these locations, Lei undergoes significant character development that was deeply enjoyable to read; insisting on learning how to fight. This beautifully furthered her unwillingness to remain silent and compliant in the face of wrongdoing which was curbed by her limitations as a woman with no combat training, which limited some of her agency in Paper and Fire. It also beautifully intersected with one of the major underlying themes of the book; the way trauma lingers on a person as something indefinable yet inescapable.
After the horrific sexual violence she endures as the unwilling concubine of the Emperor, it makes sense that she would want to learn to defend herself. Similarly, all too often characters shrug off traumatic events from one book to another. Girls of Storm and Shadow does not shy away from the fact that enduring something horrific means you – and the world, for you – will never be the same again. As a survivor of sexual abuse, one of Ngan’s intentions in writing Paper and Fire was to prepare teens for the world as well as to tell the story for others to know they weren’t alone. The manner in which Storm and Shadow depicts the after-effects of trauma and the way the hands someone has laid on you without your consent remain on your skin, long after they have gone, provides a powerful narrative about what exactly the victims of sexual abuse endure.
Indeed, Ngan clearly outlays the difficulty of existing in a man’s world, leaving women subject to this kind of trauma. While Ketai Hanno, the leader of the resistance movement and foster father of Wren, is only ‘on stage’ for a few pages of the story, what he would make Lei into as the ‘moonchosen’, the paper (human) girl who nearly killed the Emperor, and how he would use her, are questions that dominate the book. Thus, his presence is a tangible thing, a counterpoint to the manner in which the Emperor, although only ‘on stage’ for a short time, dominates so much of Lei’s thoughts.
These complex depictions of how men use and manipulate those around them for their own ends, and how women as less powerful are the most vulnerable to this, are the strongest parts of the book, and the uneasy fear of how it will affect the lives of the characters meant I was virtually unable to put the book down. While these themes may seem somewhat clichéd, Ngan sidesteps traversing well-trodden ground by working through Lei’s empathy. Her pity for those who do the unthinkable because they have been taught to think such acts are necessary for the greater good offers a compassionate way of seeing such behaviour, and gives nuance to a delicate, complex narrative. It’s refreshing, not overstated, and gives depth to the book that means it’s lingered in my mind despite having finished it several days ago.
That being said, the second book in a trilogy is subject to certain pitfalls, and Storm and Shadow falls in to some of them. It is difficult to advance the meta plot of the first book, and set up the denouement to arrive in the third, while also offering a reasonably contained narrative. I felt very little, if indeed anything, was resolved in Girls of Storm and Shadow. Many questions were raised and none answered – not even the question of why Bo and Nitta were exiled from their clan.
Similarly, Ngan picks up the narrative thread of other characters to give us glimpses of what’s happening in the palace, yet doesn’t return to them. It means the plot itself didn’t feel particularly tight.
Fortunately, the strength of Ngan’s prose mitigated much of the frustration that arose out of the lack of resolution (and the fact that the book ends on a huge cliffhanger).
Girls of Storm and Shadow is not a perfect book. But then again, few are. For the second book in a trilogy, it has a few flaws that could have been avoided – I would happily have read a longer book for a bit more detail and resolution. That being said, I cannot wait for book three to come out, and you can bet that I’ll read it as soon as it is available.
Girls of Storm and Shadow is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of November 5th 2019.
Will you be picking up Girls of Storm and Shadow? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
In this mesmerizing sequel to the New York Times bestselling Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei and Wren have escaped their oppressive lives in the Hidden Palace, but soon learn that freedom comes with a terrible cost.
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. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei’s head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.
Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her?
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