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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
Took me a bit to get into it, but then it held me and I just wanted to finish it quickly. Fun.
The story line is pretty compelling, the main character very likable and somewhat relatable. The hints of romance are just enough but leave you wanting more. The thing that got to me was that the magic went from somewhat grounded in reality (or believable enough to relate to the story) to extreme fantasy that was hard to fathom. That may just be a personal preference for me but otherwise I found the story interesting enough to want to finish it (and now I'm beginning the sequel) though at times a little over-descriptive.
Cute and whimsical. I read it in a single sitting, but there's not a lot of substance, so I can't justify a higher rating. Still, recommended.
This has been on my wishlist for years and I never found the desire to read it until recently. It came highly recommended by a friend that has been very successful in her previous recs for me.
I loved this story. The narrator is witty and interesting and has just enough sarcasm to be funny but not sardonic. The story is elegant and the world is beautiful.
I loved this story. The narrator is witty and interesting and has just enough sarcasm to be funny but not sardonic. The story is elegant and the world is beautiful.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A solid book with a unique magic system. The tone does a neckbreak 180 and while it isn't a bad thing it is unexpected. Definitely curious about checking out the next book.
I enjoyed this book but it felt a bit unfinished to me. The premise was so interesting and I liked the characters but they weren’t fully realized. The plot took an unexpected turn about 1/3 of the way through that took way too long to play out. I would still recommend it but I feel like it had the potential to be better if the author had taken more time at the beginning to bring the characters and world fully to life.
It was trippier than expected, but not trippy enough to make me like it. Or rather, it has squandered its trippy premise, along with any chance of being a book I could genuinely like, by stuffing it with some run-of-the-mill content.
The premise is this: in a world where magicians can work their magic only through a manmade material they have sworn to, a fresh, ambitious graduate is forced to take apprenticeship with a Folder -- a paper magician, which effectively puts an end to her ambition of working with more exciting materials like metals. Just as she was warming up to her teacher and the paper magic, an evil ex -- moonlighting as the practitioner of one forbidden kind of magic, the manipulation of human flesh -- gatecrashes the party and steals the magician’s heart. Quite literally, by ripping it out of his chest. And so our heroine must journey to recover it while a handmade paper heart pumps in her mentor’s chest, keeping him alive until her return, and the journey lies through his heart. Again, quite literally.
That’s pretty much what the back cover blurb tells you right away. Below be some SPOILERS.
The paper magic, while often charming, was not very well-organized as a system -- too many items lumped together and not enough hard rules that a reader could follow and watch being tested. Even more chaotic, handwavy magical systems usually have some inner logic to them, but for a narrative centered around learning a magical craft usually can’t cut corners with magical rules unless it wants to undermine itself. But despite that, it was fun to explore: by combining handicraft and magic into a performance, it evoked some Night Circus nostalgia. Emery Thane, the magician (a unisex form of address abbreviated here to Mg., which I found neat), creates both whimsical and heartwarming magics, like an allergen-free animated paper dog, skeleton butler, garden of paper flowers, or enchanted to be frosty snowflake, and stuff that’s really cool and utilitarian: paper boats that won’t sink easily, paper cranes large enough to carry a person in flight, and even shurikens and explosives. Paper critters were cool, okay.
The cool trippy bits? Actually being trapped in someone’s still beating heart -- detached from the body -- and having to squeeze from one chamber to another through the valves, fighting back claustrophobia and general “ew gross”.
Uncool bits? Filling the heart with visions of rather ordinary hopes and fears of the magician, which our heroine, Ceony, navigates with the inner compass of self-appointed new love of his life. Oh my god but was this boring, especially when it came down to standoffs with evil ex-wife and shouting who he loves more. Dudes, it has literally been a week since she started the apprenticeship, can we please not escalate things into high decibels.
If fact, Ceony’s to blame for a lot of the uncool, she and the tedious guilt-ridden two-party love triangle that she self-assigns into. She tested my patience by being rude since her appearance, and terribly presumptions and invasive throughout -- and I’m not talking about the matter of walking one’s heart chambers here. She had spent so much time snooping around his house, poking into cabinets, correspondence, books, even fucking laundry (utmost side-eye for that, Ceony). And that whole “I’m going to appoint myself the new love of your life because you have a vague interest in having a family again” thing just made me roll my eyes so much. It’s been. A. Week. You are just out of school. He turned out to have been your Anonymous Benefactor (because of course), and generally a decent person but. Please don’t assume you already have joint property and custody of paper critters.
(Would the same quest have been more acceptable if it didn’t take place in span of a week? To an extend, probably. I’d still feel terribly leery of a person who assigned herself all the housemaid functions ever with a spelled-out reason of ingratiating herself to the dude while her job description says apprenticeship in magic.)
In short, this unevenness between some cool concepts and boring and annoying filling around them makes me I walk away from with this book dissatisfied. Goodreads tells me the sequels are all about Ceony losing her patience over the fact her budding teacher-student romance is not big on instant gratificaiton, finding out she is part-unicorn and part-avatar, the master of all elements etc etc, and I guess landing that joint custody of the house and paper pets. Good on ya, girl, but without me, please.
The premise is this: in a world where magicians can work their magic only through a manmade material they have sworn to, a fresh, ambitious graduate is forced to take apprenticeship with a Folder -- a paper magician, which effectively puts an end to her ambition of working with more exciting materials like metals. Just as she was warming up to her teacher and the paper magic, an evil ex -- moonlighting as the practitioner of one forbidden kind of magic, the manipulation of human flesh -- gatecrashes the party and steals the magician’s heart. Quite literally, by ripping it out of his chest. And so our heroine must journey to recover it while a handmade paper heart pumps in her mentor’s chest, keeping him alive until her return, and the journey lies through his heart. Again, quite literally.
That’s pretty much what the back cover blurb tells you right away. Below be some SPOILERS.
Spoiler
The paper magic, while often charming, was not very well-organized as a system -- too many items lumped together and not enough hard rules that a reader could follow and watch being tested. Even more chaotic, handwavy magical systems usually have some inner logic to them, but for a narrative centered around learning a magical craft usually can’t cut corners with magical rules unless it wants to undermine itself. But despite that, it was fun to explore: by combining handicraft and magic into a performance, it evoked some Night Circus nostalgia. Emery Thane, the magician (a unisex form of address abbreviated here to Mg., which I found neat), creates both whimsical and heartwarming magics, like an allergen-free animated paper dog, skeleton butler, garden of paper flowers, or enchanted to be frosty snowflake, and stuff that’s really cool and utilitarian: paper boats that won’t sink easily, paper cranes large enough to carry a person in flight, and even shurikens and explosives. Paper critters were cool, okay.
The cool trippy bits? Actually being trapped in someone’s still beating heart -- detached from the body -- and having to squeeze from one chamber to another through the valves, fighting back claustrophobia and general “ew gross”.
Uncool bits? Filling the heart with visions of rather ordinary hopes and fears of the magician, which our heroine, Ceony, navigates with the inner compass of self-appointed new love of his life. Oh my god but was this boring, especially when it came down to standoffs with evil ex-wife and shouting who he loves more. Dudes, it has literally been a week since she started the apprenticeship, can we please not escalate things into high decibels.
If fact, Ceony’s to blame for a lot of the uncool, she and the tedious guilt-ridden two-party love triangle that she self-assigns into. She tested my patience by being rude since her appearance, and terribly presumptions and invasive throughout -- and I’m not talking about the matter of walking one’s heart chambers here. She had spent so much time snooping around his house, poking into cabinets, correspondence, books, even fucking laundry (utmost side-eye for that, Ceony). And that whole “I’m going to appoint myself the new love of your life because you have a vague interest in having a family again” thing just made me roll my eyes so much. It’s been. A. Week. You are just out of school. He turned out to have been your Anonymous Benefactor (because of course), and generally a decent person but. Please don’t assume you already have joint property and custody of paper critters.
(Would the same quest have been more acceptable if it didn’t take place in span of a week? To an extend, probably. I’d still feel terribly leery of a person who assigned herself all the housemaid functions ever with a spelled-out reason of ingratiating herself to the dude while her job description says apprenticeship in magic.)
In short, this unevenness between some cool concepts and boring and annoying filling around them makes me I walk away from with this book dissatisfied. Goodreads tells me the sequels are all about Ceony losing her patience over the fact her budding teacher-student romance is not big on instant gratificaiton, finding out she is part-unicorn and part-avatar, the master of all elements etc etc, and I guess landing that joint custody of the house and paper pets. Good on ya, girl, but without me, please.
I was impressed with her inventive take on the magic premise and found the storytelling entertaining while moving well. It's young adult genre and I see some have mentioned gore. I found parts of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (especially with the younger brother) to be much more frightening than the small amount of gore in this book.