There were some things I liked about this book and some things I didn't, so I'm trying to go middle of the road and rate this a solid 3 stars.

I'll start with the things I didn't like:

• Lei had super special pretty beautiful eyes that made her super special and she was treated differently because of this, not because of any internal characteristics.
• Lei didn't have to go through the trials the other girls did to become a Paper Girl because of her super special pretty eyes, and that's because she would have failed.
• One of the characters told Lei she was the strongest person she'd ever met. Lei had done absolutely nothing to warrant this praise.
• Lei was the only Paper Girl ever who refused the king and he let her get away with it.
• Sometimes Lei said something that wasn't particularly cutting but the person in authority she said it to always looked like she'd slapped them, because the author was trying to show how brave/mouthy/spontaneous/witty Lei was, but the reaction seemed really weird and out of place.

What I did like:

• The romance was really well written, like really. It's probably worth reading for that alone. And not because it's LGBTQ, which I didn't know going in to this (I don't really move from my corner of the interwebz and I don't really feel any kind of hype because I'm not active on social media, so I legit had NO idea), but because it's just really well written. And as unprepared as I was, it didn't seem out of place. I can safely say this is NOT instalove, and maybe even a slow burn, and really enjoyable.
• The worldbuilding was kinda cool. The different caste systems, the magic. I mean, it's pretty easy to see the Eastern influences but I think it was solid worldbuilding. I've been reading a lot of diverse YA fantasy about oppressed women living in luxury lately (The Bone Witch, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, Grace and Fury etc) and it fit in really well with those books.
• I liked the descriptions of the clothing and food.

Other things to note:

The blurb is kind of innocent and mentions that Paper Girls 'serve' the king as a 'consort' and that it's a high honour, but it was actually [spoiler] sexual slavery[/spoiler]. This book was just as dark as Damsel by Elena K Arnold but definitely aimed at a young adult audience.

Lei complained again and again about how the demons treated her and the other Paper caste like they 'weren't even human' and that language doesn't work at all because the demons are superior to the humans, so to treat them like they're human would mean something completely different in this world where humans are little better than animals.

It seems that to most demons, being Paper caste already makes you less than human.

and

Think of all the Paper castes he has his soldiers capture as slaves and kill as easily, as if we weren’t even human.

I wish the author had thought more about this language when Lei made that complaint multiple times. I really hope this is changed for the final version.

I actually think that this whole story could have been more interesting if it was told from another character's point of view.

If you are more invested in the romance part of fantasy romance, you'll probably enjoy this forbidden romance as much as I did.

(I actually already own The Elites by this same author and I'm pretty keen to give it a read now!)

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I went into reading this one with minimal expectations, sounded good but wasn’t really expecting much as I have read so much fantasy this year, and most of it has been a mixed bag. The premise was interesting enough as was the Malaysian inspired premise – but reading in the blurb protagonist chosen to be part of a king’s harem and does the unthinkable – falls in love with someone else.

Initially there was a bit of eye rolling on my part and a guess – oh she’s going to fall for some guard or male servant or a prince who’s going to wind up helping her some way. Did I ever get a surprise on that department!

I found myself absolutely loving this book. I had started reading by ebook review galley, to find this was the book of the month in my Fairyloot subscription box and got a signed edition with the prettiest cover and pink sprayed edges. This is one of my top ten books of this year.

Trigger warnings – sexual assault. There is actually a warning for this on the inside cover of the hardback.

The world building is rich and well developed, in this fantasy there are three castes – Paper, the lowest caste, the humans, Steele – half human, half demons  - the middle cast – these people have demoneseque features and powers. Moon caste are the highest – complete demons form. The demon form is usually some sort of animal basis.

The heroine Lei lives a hard but happy life in her village with her father in his shop, they are both Paper, they live with her father’s assistant, a Steele class lady who has worked there as long as Lei can remember and is like family to them. Lei’s mother disappeared 10 years ago, taken by a demon army.

Every year a number of girls are chosen (read taken) by the Demon King’s army to be Paper Girls – the King’s Concubines – it’s not a request if you’re chosen. Lei finds herself taken by the army, she has unusual gold eyes – goddess touched – which earns her the army chief’s attention and he takes her thinking he can gain favour with the king.

Lei’s world is shattered. Lei has a strong voice and is fiery and determined. She was a brilliant lead, full of personality and promise, without being overly head strong or making stupid decisions and rash actions. She’s naturally completely against being a Paper Girl but figures once she’s at the Imperial Palace she might be able to find out what happened to her missing mother.

Paper Girls for this year’s crop have already been chosen so Lei’s addition is unusual. Her goddess touched gold eyes make her a viable option. Some of the girls there have been training for this for years and are from high class families, and your typical mean girls. Others are colder and more remote, and one girl is nice and friendly, if very naïve.

Lei reluctantly starts to settle into life at the Palace – an elevated life of culture and learning. The girls have a maid who helps them, and lessons, it’s very exclusive and luxurious – but there’s something quite oppressive about it as well. As there is always the threat of the reason why they are there – to serve as concubines to a demon king who doesn’t care if this is something the girls want or not.

The girls have to attend various Court events after they are presented to the King. The King makes his choices and one by one the girls are called on to perform their duties. The reactions they have after their night with the King is different for each girl. It’s very uncomfortable to read about.

The King is a young man, very handsome, but brutal, a bully, he has moments where you think there might be more to him than a cold ruler who has very little thought for anyone else other than what he wants. But just as quickly as you get that glimpse – something happens and he’s horrible again. And gets worse and worse throughout the novel.

While regular Paper Girl life is going on Lei finds herself becoming enamoured with one of the other Paper Girls. This is one the best slow burn romances I’ve come across in a long time. It’s so so slow but the build of anticipation is brilliant as Lei gets to know the girl, Wren. Wren was one of the ones who was cold and dismissive at first, but Wren is as mysterious as she is beautiful. Lei’s yearning comes through so vividly, as she tries to figure out her ceilings, worrying about waiting for her own turn with the king.

As the romance slowly blossoms, Lei starts learning some of Wren’s secrets. The plot starts picking upwards the end. There’s a few mysteries and some plot twists and a good burst of action towards the end. And a really WTF cliffhanger at the end. Just when you think everything might actually be okay… of course it’s not!

I can’t find enough words for how much I loved this book. There’s not much more I can say without being overly spoilerly about the overall plot. It’s hard to read in some places and deals with some serious issues. It gets uncomfortable. Other places it’s beautifully written with a moving romance, and some lovely female friendships.

I can’t wait for more of this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for approving my request to view the title.

Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it :) Hope you have a fun but safe Halloween ! October has been crazy, and busy so crazy busy but I still got a lot of books in. I just need to find the time and motivation to get the reviews up in time, most the time anyway. 

One exciting thing happened, I was offered the ARC for Summoned to Thirteenth Grave the last book in the Charley Davidson Series for a book tour. It was soo, sooo good and I can't wait to share my thoughts with all of you soon ;) 

Other than that I got my ARCs done for the month and now just have two left that are not due until next year,so I got time :D  The Halloween Giveaway is still open until Oct 31 at midnight, so make sure to enter it for a chance to win some money and or some awesome book prizes and or swag.  I will add the copter down below again for you. 

November Goals? None really, just finish Kingdom of Ash and just knock some books of my never ending TBR. I think I will do that for the rest of the year, you know all two months that are left 

The key to making a believable dystopian world is giving it some basis in reality. No matter how strange, how new, how incredible this imagined world it, is has to be at the very least, credible, and I felt that the city of Neo-Babel in this book was poorly executed and depicted.

This book was plagued with problems, along with the mess of the a dystopian city that is Neo-Babel, we have an unbelievable system of "Elites" soldiers all of whom are young, ranging from ~10 to a their early 20s, which begs the question of "where the fuck are the adult Elites?", we have two main characters who are completely lacking in any personality. We have a romance that is completely emotionless. We have a plot that is confusing as hell, and actually, we have a book that is more action than plot.

This review and others can be found on http://www.bookishtreasures.blogspot.com

This review was a real struggle for me to write because The Elites is one of those books that is so good it is a struggle to put your thoughts into words.

From the moment I first heard about this book I knew that I just had to read it. The cover was amazing and the concept had me hooked. Over time my excitement grew and so did my expectations to the point where I actually didn’t think the book could live up. You know when your expectations are sky high? So much so that you are prepared for disappointment as you know that the chances of the book being as good as you have built it up to be are very slim. The Elites proved that slim chances don’t mean impossible.

I don’t normally mention the cover in reviews but just look at that beauty! Not only is it stunning to look at but it also matches the feel of the book perfectly. From the girl who is the perfect silver dressed in her Elite gear, to the jungle background with the rain type effect it is simply perfect. I wish I had this cover as a poster so that I could easily stare at it all day.

The Elites draws you in from the very first sentence.

“There is a rumour that the Elites don’t bleed.”

From the start this book promises action, intrigue and a riveting storyline that will leave you unable to stop reading for even the shortest moment and it really does deliver on those promises. Silver is a kick-ass highly trained fighter, an Elite. However she is also Chinese; a “red”, Part of a race that is looked down upon by all in Neo-Babel. This mixture of Silver being both considered scum and yet also one of the “ruling class” adds a very interesting element to the book.

The storyline is great, it has all the typical makings of a YA dystopian novel but with unique aspects that really made it stand out. There isn’t any already published book that this just felt like a retelling of. This book is pretty action packed and there are some very intense moments as Silver discovers what those in charge of Neo-Babel are capable of.

I loved the slight romance in this book and it was refreshing for it to be secondary to the storyline; the book would have felt complete without the romance and what we got just made the book a little extra special.

I really enjoyed how this book is told from several points of view. Not only does it give you a greater insight into the story and character motivation but it also means you get the thrill of knowing what is happening when a character doesn’t. Natasha Ngan also has a beautiful writing style; she could probably make a boring storyline into a good book simply from the quality of her writing. Everything is described and explained so vividly that you can picture what is going on clearly.

This is the best YA book I have read so far this year and the best dystopian novel  I have read since Divergent (and I have read a lot of dystopia’s since then). I couldn’t recommend this book more. I am highly looking forwards to reading more by Natasha Ngan and seeing what she can bring to future stories.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, this has not affected my opinions or rating in any way*