Girls of Storm and Shadow
I wholeheartedly love this series. I just do. It’s so good and I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about it. It has everything: fluid writing, beautiful imagery, an engaging plot, interesting characters, action, romance, and the most delicious sounding food I’ve ever heard being described in a book-it’s like seeing food in anime-mouthwatering.
So, Girls of Storm and Shadow is the sequel to Ngan’s Girls of Paper and Fire, an installment of both fiction, fantasy, and autobiographical elements that I found absolutely tantalizing. It was probably one of my favorite books of 2019, and the sequel, even with high expectations, did not disappoint.
The universe of this world is one of my favorites. Set in a fictional account of Ngan’s multicultural upbringing, it blends several aspects of Malaysian culture with other global influences to bring about incredible world-building and a caste system that is both unique, but not overtly complex.
The citizens of this world are split into different castes: paper, steel, and moon, and depending on the caste you’re in, depends on how similar you are to certain animal characteristics that give you advantages in either strength, speed, beauty, or size.
I won’t lie, picturing a man that is half human, half bald eagle is almost silly and odd to think about, as is picturing a man with bull legs or a woman with a beak for a mouth, but Ngan creates the world so beautifully that it seamlessly blends together so that most of the time you forget that it’s not a normal thing.
I admit that reading about it is probably better than seeing it visually (imagine the horror if Freeform got their hands on this).
This novel continues in the same manner of the first, with Lei as our warrior protagonist who is adamant about saving every single person she comes across whilst still trying to deal with
the trauma of her own sexual assault from the Demon King, along with her lover Wren-the actual warrior princess with magic, Merrin, the previously mentioned owl demon, Nitta and Bo, super annoying leopard siblings, a general, a shaman boy, and a slew of others who make casual appearances throughout the novel.
I like Ngan’s characters. Lei falls into the category of your typical YA hero a little too well, with the I-must-save-everyone-on-the-planet-mentality-even-if-it-puts-us-all-in-dangertype of deal, which gets real annoying, real fast, but as a whole, her character still has a lot of depth as PTSD and trauma are very real and very raw emotions in this book that Ngan delivers with both beauty and grace, as she draws from her own personal experiences and those of others who have suffered from similar situation in real life.
I was a bit confused on why these characters were together at times, however. It’s your very redundant YA element in which a group of teenagers must go out and save the world, and in this case, while it’s not all teenagers, the group is eclectic and eccentric and it was never fully explained why General Hanno-the man in charge of leading the rebellion against the Demon King to take on Ikhara-would put two teenage girls, one trusted general, a child shaman, and three others who, while entertaining, could not have been the whole of Ikhara’s finest.
You see this in YA books all the time, even Harry Potter, where the children must go out and save the day while the adults sit back and twiddle their thumbs at home. It doesn't make much sense, but I’m willing to overlook it considering all the other positives.
Other than the characters, which are great despite some stereotypical behaviors, I continue to be surprised, enthralled, and impressed with Nhan’s diligence to the emotional well-being of her characters and her plot, the horrible reality of trauma, the terrible nature of war and crimes, the grieving process of loved ones, the depth of anger and despair, the nuances of sexuality, the influences of culture and background, and so, so much more.
More than anything, I think the reason I love these books so much is because what Ngan has in spades is what other books are sorely lacking in: depth.
Everything in her book has depth and consequences. Something terrible and ugly might happen, and while the chapter in which it is occurring focuses on the action and the blood-pumping adrenaline of the actual circumstance, the next chapter will very nakedly show how the characters are dealing with the aftermath, and all in different ways at that.
She does an incredible job of showing how people deal with different things mentally and physically and the spectrum in which she does so is quite incredible and real. It makes me feel like I’m there, living beside the characters, fighting their fights, breathing their air, eating their food, crying their tears. I don’t remember the last time I was so emotionally attached to a book and I loved every second of it.
Lastly, man was this the movie equivalent of a Fast and Furious installment. The action in this book was constant without degrading the emotional impact and vulnerability of the characters, and while something was constantly constantly happening, it just put me on the edge of my seat chapter after chapter with the fighting, the running, the scheming, the lies, and it was honesty incredible.
It felt like a rollercoaster I never wanted to get off of. And to be able to maintain such palpable heart-pounding action along with the integrity of characters who aren’t just paper deep (heheheh get it?) is truly no small feat.
This book was great. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you’re probably aware that I generally try to be very candid in my reviews and that they more often than not turn out less than favorably for the book and the author involved. I’m very critical, and while I can almost find something I love about any novel, for every positive there usually follows more than one negative.
This book is the opposite. The few problems I have for it are measly and small compared to the enjoyment and fulfillment I get out of reading it. If you like rollercoasters, or, even if you don’t, this book will give you all the excitement you’re looking for coupled with the deepest of connections you’ve always hoped for, but can never seem to find.
Recommendation: Animals, fantasy, ships, blood, magic, friendship, love, sacrifice, culture, decisions, decisions, decisions-all of this can be found in Girls of Storm and Shadow and more-what are you waiting for?
Score:8/10
