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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ceony Twill wanted to be a Smelter, but she’s placed in a Paper apprenticeship with Magician Emery Thane instead. Emery’s past comes back to literally rip his heart out, and it’s up to Ceony to save him. Along the way she discovers more about Emery than anyone else knows, and that sometimes Paper is the strongest of the material magics.
I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but it grabbed me and didn’t let go. The writing, pace, plot, and characters were perfect. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about this book. I had a difficult time putting it down to go to bed, and if it weren’t for the fact that I had an exam first thing in the morning, I would have finished it in one night instead of two. The book’s version of early 1900′s England comes alive, and I wanted to be there and become a paper magician. This isn’t Harry Potter though, not even close. In fact, it didn’t remind me of any other Fantasy story I’ve read. On top of that, there are two events that occur towards the climax that made me gasp and cover my mouth in shock as well as cry.
Adding all of that up equals to The Paper Magician being one of the best Fantasy stories I’ve read this year, and quite possibly in my life. I’m adding it to my “Through the Magic Door” list of all-time faves (http://thereadingwench.com/through-the-magic-door/), and I recommend it for anyone who loves Fantasy in general, and especially for those who love Urban Fantasy. I’m giving it all the stars!
Ceony Twill wanted to be a Smelter, but she’s placed in a Paper apprenticeship with Magician Emery Thane instead. Emery’s past comes back to literally rip his heart out, and it’s up to Ceony to save him. Along the way she discovers more about Emery than anyone else knows, and that sometimes Paper is the strongest of the material magics.
I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but it grabbed me and didn’t let go. The writing, pace, plot, and characters were perfect. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about this book. I had a difficult time putting it down to go to bed, and if it weren’t for the fact that I had an exam first thing in the morning, I would have finished it in one night instead of two. The book’s version of early 1900′s England comes alive, and I wanted to be there and become a paper magician. This isn’t Harry Potter though, not even close. In fact, it didn’t remind me of any other Fantasy story I’ve read. On top of that, there are two events that occur towards the climax that made me gasp and cover my mouth in shock as well as cry.
Adding all of that up equals to The Paper Magician being one of the best Fantasy stories I’ve read this year, and quite possibly in my life. I’m adding it to my “Through the Magic Door” list of all-time faves (http://thereadingwench.com/through-the-magic-door/), and I recommend it for anyone who loves Fantasy in general, and especially for those who love Urban Fantasy. I’m giving it all the stars!
There was an opportunity for more magical descriptions, learning more about the possibilities of the different material magics and I would've liked to explore that more. I think the romantic actions came out of nowhere... Admiration, yes, but kissing cheeks and running fingers through hair after a month of just learning from him (with no romance) just felt a bit too much for me.
More descriptions of what is actually going on would've helped too.
More descriptions of what is actually going on would've helped too.
I had so much hope for this book. The first part set up the idea of a world that was interesting, unique, and had a lot of room to be expanded upon with magicians being able to manipulate man made material. Then the rest of the book happened.
About half way through the book, important parts stopped being explained and concepts that could have been used to build the world were waved away as unimportant. I'm still not sure if I missed a section or if it was never explained how two full sized people fit inside a regular sized heart with ease. A not ghost of the person's heart they were in also wasn't explained. Emery was in his heart and dying and sometimes partially aware of what was going on while other times he was completely unaware. His existence in most of the book was based on convenience and didn't follow any rule set which made it constantly feel like I was missing something.
The whole second section of the book was based on a metaphorical war for Emery's heart made physical which might have been interesting if the villain, Lira, wasn't his ex-wife and Ceony his young student who spends most of the book pinning for her teacher. It might be a personal preference but I've never wanted to read a book about a student and teacher relationship and now I have accidently done that.
About half way through the book, important parts stopped being explained and concepts that could have been used to build the world were waved away as unimportant. I'm still not sure if I missed a section or if it was never explained how two full sized people fit inside a regular sized heart with ease. A not ghost of the person's heart they were in also wasn't explained. Emery was in his heart and dying and sometimes partially aware of what was going on while other times he was completely unaware. His existence in most of the book was based on convenience and didn't follow any rule set which made it constantly feel like I was missing something.
The whole second section of the book was based on a metaphorical war for Emery's heart made physical which might have been interesting if the villain, Lira, wasn't his ex-wife and Ceony his young student who spends most of the book pinning for her teacher. It might be a personal preference but I've never wanted to read a book about a student and teacher relationship and now I have accidently done that.
Fun. I felt Ceony's journey into Thane's heart would have felt more natural if she had spent more time in her apprenticeship before the adventure. However, it still was a nice and enjoyable read. I wouldn't mind learning some paper magic myself.
**Warning: this text may contain spoilers** This book is so bad, I read it when I can't sleep. Would have had potential but the execution (and the ridiculous race through the heart) was just repetitive and boring. Too bad!
Maybe it’s because I’m a teacher but the whole apprentice falling in love with their older teacher is just super weird to me. I also felt like only 1/8 of the book actually had Ceony and Mg Thane even interacting. They knew each other for less than a month AND he was gone for a week of that time! So to me, it was super unbelievable that she would even know him well enough to be in love with him. To me, their relationship seemed like a father/daughter type of relationship since it seemed kind of innocent, so the love interest part was not my favorite.
I liked the magic in the book and I’m giving it a 3 because LOVED Fennel. Such a cute idea. The idea of Excisioners is super interesting as well. I’m open to reading the sequels to these books, but I really hope they are better and lean toward magical world building instead of weird power-dynamic romance arcs.
I liked the magic in the book and I’m giving it a 3 because LOVED Fennel. Such a cute idea. The idea of Excisioners is super interesting as well. I’m open to reading the sequels to these books, but I really hope they are better and lean toward magical world building instead of weird power-dynamic romance arcs.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated