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tregina's review against another edition
2.0
I hadn't actually intended to continue reading this series, but, well, I'm a sucker for a good cover. No lie.
The thing about this series is that the premise is good, there's so much potential in it, but it just never reaches fruition. The idea of Excisioners is a terrifying villain, actually. But we never get enough into the magics themselves or, even more importantly, the characters and their motivations.
I was really uncomfortable with the romance aspects of the book, because Ceony and Emory—even aside from being teacher and student—are in such different places in their lives. Ceony still acts very young, and Emory has too much power over her to make them work as an equal partnership. Her having a crush on him makes sense, but reciprocation crosses a line.
The thing about this series is that the premise is good, there's so much potential in it, but it just never reaches fruition. The idea of Excisioners is a terrifying villain, actually. But we never get enough into the magics themselves or, even more importantly, the characters and their motivations.
I was really uncomfortable with the romance aspects of the book, because Ceony and Emory—even aside from being teacher and student—are in such different places in their lives. Ceony still acts very young, and Emory has too much power over her to make them work as an equal partnership. Her having a crush on him makes sense, but reciprocation crosses a line.
polarbearlvr's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
So simple as far as magic is involved. I think that's my favorite part, it isn't complicated. But the story line is great and the characters are easy to attach to.
oxlabyrinthxo's review against another edition
5.0
The adventure continues in The Glass Magician! Ceony Twill is an apprentice Folder to Magician Emery Thane who is struggling to keep her feelings for her mentor hidden. Ever since she trekked through Emery Thane's heart and rescued him from his ex-wife and Excisioner Lira, Ceony has found herself falling in love with her teacher. But she hasn't broached the subject with Emery even after reading his fortune with a Fortuity Box confirmed that she and Emery were destined to be together.
Soon Ceony finds herself in the middle of a cat and mouse game with the other Excisioners from Lira's group. Wanting to know what she did to defeat Lira three months ago, and how to reverse it. Ceony must find a way to stop the Excisioners and continue her studies in Folding, but it's hard to do when her mind is so focused on her feelings for Emery, and examining the possible feelings he might hold for her.
This book was amazing! I could have finished it in one sitting if I didn't have this pesky thing called life interrupting me. The slow burn romance between Ceony and Emery was perfect. It wasn't rushed and it didn't feel like it came out of no where like in some books. There was beautiful romantic tension à la Numair and Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Soon Ceony finds herself in the middle of a cat and mouse game with the other Excisioners from Lira's group. Wanting to know what she did to defeat Lira three months ago, and how to reverse it. Ceony must find a way to stop the Excisioners and continue her studies in Folding, but it's hard to do when her mind is so focused on her feelings for Emery, and examining the possible feelings he might hold for her.
This book was amazing! I could have finished it in one sitting if I didn't have this pesky thing called life interrupting me. The slow burn romance between Ceony and Emery was perfect. It wasn't rushed and it didn't feel like it came out of no where like in some books. There was beautiful romantic tension à la Numair and Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
erikajay's review against another edition
4.0
I am loving this series so far! I loved learning more about a different type of magician - obviously a glass magician in this one - and diving deeper into the spells from a paper magician.
Her friend Delilah is so great!
I can't wait to read book 3!
Her friend Delilah is so great!
I can't wait to read book 3!
bookph1le's review against another edition
2.0
I feel so ambivalent about these books. On the one hand, I'm interested in the world Holmberg has created and feel it has a lot of potential. I really like the idea of a paper magician because it feels fresh and unlikely to me, and I really like that freshness in a fantasy and/or urban fantasy novel, as they're both genres that seem to fall into using a lot of the same tropes. However, there are some serious issues that plague this series. Spoilers to follow.
While I do like Ceony, she annoys me to no end because she's just plain dumb a lot of the time. She runs into situations without preparing herself and without considering the consequences of her actions, and as a result, she often makes things worse. The books want you to empathize with her and believe her well-meaning, but that's hard for me to do when I'm angry with her for being so recklessly impulsive.
Because of this, it annoys me that Emery is so tolerant of Ceony. I can tell from the setup of these books that it's inevitable that they'll get together, but it's so hard for me to watch him be so blind to such a major character defect on Ceony's part--not that he's perfect, mind. There was a scene in the previous novel that felt uncomfortably abusive to me, and that I felt should have been a deal-breaker when it came to Ceony's feelings for him, but I digress. Emery does get angry at her and shout at her in this book, but Ceony completely misses the forest for the trees, and I wanted to throw my hands up at the whole argument. Neither of them makes a coherent point, and neither of them grows in their understanding of the other, which leaves a serious ding in the romance for me. Blindness to a partner's flaws does not a good, grounded romance make.
These books do fall into one mega-trope, which is that of the super special bumbler who somehow manages to save themselves at every turn. Ceony is still an apprentice, which means she should be no match at all for the skilled bad guys she attacks. It takes an entire crew with a variety of skills to go after Saraj, but Ceony has somehow managed to go up against not only Lira, but also Grath. I find that irritating. Sure, dumb luck works sometimes, but I find it harder to suspend my disbelief when characters can do flagrantly idiotic things and still manage to come out on top. Wouldn't it be nice if things worked that way in the real world?
Some major peeves here of mine: the casual sexism embedded in these books, the racist portrayal of Saraj, and their excruciatingly hetero-centric view of the world.
The casual sexism comes through in a variety of ways. Ceony does all the cooking, laundry, and dish-washing. Well, okay, maybe she likes cooking. I could be okay with that; plenty of people like to cook. But, in this book, she cooks for another male character and promptly thinks he needs to get married so that he'll eat properly. Because apparently he can't learn how to cook himself? I mean, I know this is meant to be a period piece and all, but since pretty much nothing else about these books feels period-appropriate, it's a little hard to buy into that. I won't even get into Ceony's modesty philosophy, which is all kinds of messed up.
Early in the book, Ceony has an encounter with Saraj, and she notices him immediately because he's dark-skinned. Her powers of self-reflection are strong enough for her to recognize that it's racist for her to pick him out as suspicious simply because of the way he looks, but the book then gives her a pass by making him evil. Worse yet, he's evil just because the narrative needs him to be evil. Rather than fleshing him out and maybe providing some insight into why he acts the way he does, he's simply painted in broad strokes. This left me very, very uncomfortable. Perhaps a more skilled author could have painted a more nuanced portrait, but that's neither here nor there with regard to this book. It is what it is, and what it is is pretty disturbing.
Both in this book and the previous book, Aviosky outright states that she doesn't like mixed gender apprenticeships because of the potential for inappropriate relationships. Um, yeah. Apparently, every single magician in this world is a heterosexual, otherwise how can you not laugh at the thought that all Aviosky needs to do to prevent an inappropriate teacher/student relationship is assign male apprentices to male teachers and vice versa? The erasure of LGBTQ people in literature is annoying to me, and it's on par with portraying characters of color in simplistic, racist ways. Even if the author chose not to portray any LGBTQ characters, the fact that she basically erases their existence is plain awful.
There are bits and pieces of these books that I like, such as seeing different spells and how they work, but then major plot elements will interfere and I'll find myself feeling turned off by the books. And the more I think about some of the insidious messages playing out throughout the series, the more uncomfortable I feel. I was planning on reading the third book, but I think this may be where this author and I need to part ways.
While I do like Ceony, she annoys me to no end because she's just plain dumb a lot of the time. She runs into situations without preparing herself and without considering the consequences of her actions, and as a result, she often makes things worse. The books want you to empathize with her and believe her well-meaning, but that's hard for me to do when I'm angry with her for being so recklessly impulsive.
Because of this, it annoys me that Emery is so tolerant of Ceony. I can tell from the setup of these books that it's inevitable that they'll get together, but it's so hard for me to watch him be so blind to such a major character defect on Ceony's part--not that he's perfect, mind. There was a scene in the previous novel that felt uncomfortably abusive to me, and that I felt should have been a deal-breaker when it came to Ceony's feelings for him, but I digress. Emery does get angry at her and shout at her in this book, but Ceony completely misses the forest for the trees, and I wanted to throw my hands up at the whole argument. Neither of them makes a coherent point, and neither of them grows in their understanding of the other, which leaves a serious ding in the romance for me. Blindness to a partner's flaws does not a good, grounded romance make.
These books do fall into one mega-trope, which is that of the super special bumbler who somehow manages to save themselves at every turn. Ceony is still an apprentice, which means she should be no match at all for the skilled bad guys she attacks. It takes an entire crew with a variety of skills to go after Saraj, but Ceony has somehow managed to go up against not only Lira, but also Grath. I find that irritating. Sure, dumb luck works sometimes, but I find it harder to suspend my disbelief when characters can do flagrantly idiotic things and still manage to come out on top. Wouldn't it be nice if things worked that way in the real world?
Some major peeves here of mine: the casual sexism embedded in these books, the racist portrayal of Saraj, and their excruciatingly hetero-centric view of the world.
The casual sexism comes through in a variety of ways. Ceony does all the cooking, laundry, and dish-washing. Well, okay, maybe she likes cooking. I could be okay with that; plenty of people like to cook. But, in this book, she cooks for another male character and promptly thinks he needs to get married so that he'll eat properly. Because apparently he can't learn how to cook himself? I mean, I know this is meant to be a period piece and all, but since pretty much nothing else about these books feels period-appropriate, it's a little hard to buy into that. I won't even get into Ceony's modesty philosophy, which is all kinds of messed up.
Early in the book, Ceony has an encounter with Saraj, and she notices him immediately because he's dark-skinned. Her powers of self-reflection are strong enough for her to recognize that it's racist for her to pick him out as suspicious simply because of the way he looks, but the book then gives her a pass by making him evil. Worse yet, he's evil just because the narrative needs him to be evil. Rather than fleshing him out and maybe providing some insight into why he acts the way he does, he's simply painted in broad strokes. This left me very, very uncomfortable. Perhaps a more skilled author could have painted a more nuanced portrait, but that's neither here nor there with regard to this book. It is what it is, and what it is is pretty disturbing.
Both in this book and the previous book, Aviosky outright states that she doesn't like mixed gender apprenticeships because of the potential for inappropriate relationships. Um, yeah. Apparently, every single magician in this world is a heterosexual, otherwise how can you not laugh at the thought that all Aviosky needs to do to prevent an inappropriate teacher/student relationship is assign male apprentices to male teachers and vice versa? The erasure of LGBTQ people in literature is annoying to me, and it's on par with portraying characters of color in simplistic, racist ways. Even if the author chose not to portray any LGBTQ characters, the fact that she basically erases their existence is plain awful.
There are bits and pieces of these books that I like, such as seeing different spells and how they work, but then major plot elements will interfere and I'll find myself feeling turned off by the books. And the more I think about some of the insidious messages playing out throughout the series, the more uncomfortable I feel. I was planning on reading the third book, but I think this may be where this author and I need to part ways.
agayprince's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
cpcromer13's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
deniset's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
actuallycandy's review against another edition
3.0
I would make this a 3 ⭐ read.
This one is a tough one for me. I love the world, the premise and the magic system. But Ceony, the heroine of the story, changed for me. Before diving into my review let's look at the plot itself.
Ceony continues her apprenticeship under Emery Thane as she strives to complete her apprenticeship within the minimum of 2 years. Along the way she has befriended another apprentice Gaffer (glass magician) called Delilah.
Each apprentice of every magical type is to learn about their counterparts. So an excursion to the paper mill is required until a massive explosion occurs. Ceony suspects a foreigner but quickly swipes her suspicion as being racist.
Delilah and Ceony are then dining at a bistro in London when Grath finds her. What does he want? To know how she did it. How did she freeze Lira. At this point we can only suspect that Grath wants to release Lira from Ceonys spell. Right... But this is where things get confusing?
There's also a buggy crash scene... Which in my mind is pointless and adds no value to the plot. Why wouldn't Saraj just finish the job? He after all was ruthless and non-empathetic - Classic signs of a psychopath. But no, the buggy just crashes into a river. Exposing Ceony's greatest fear... Blah blah... Not very interesting.
The story continues as the police, Hughes, Aviosky, Emery, Delilah and Ceony are all basically trying to find Grath and his partner Saraj. But Grath finds them instead through mirrors. Dun dun dun! He is a Gaffer. And so his true intentions are realised. He wants to release his bond to glass to become an Excisioner. This is the point of the story where I thought I knew why he wanted Ceony. I assumed that the purpose of why he kept tracking Ceony was so that her spell could release his bond from glass. A seemingly impossible feat to break a bond from a material, just as it had been impossible for her to freeze an Excisioner. But I was sorely mistaken.
This is where i start to get annoyed. Because when all the magical allies are coming together to defeat the duo Ceony thinks it's a marvellous idea to defeat Grath on her own. The other more experienced magician's have concluded to get rid of Saraj first who posed as a greater threat seeing as Grath was not an Excisioner. But Ceony, the inexperienced Folder has thought she can talk to Grath to what? Sus out his plans? Negotiate? There was no thought into these plans. Which unfortunately led to me to not like our lead character very much. She started making very stupid decisions. This time for no particular reason other than its "her" responsibility. At least in the previous book her rash decision making made sense. She didn't want to fail being a magician, she wanted to save a life of her mentor, she was driven my a sprinkle of love. But here, there was nothing driving the decision. Making her look rather, stupid.
Worse of all she drags Delilah, which of course is just a pawn in the story to teach Ceony about glass spells. Which the character is quickly discarded of with not much backstory. So when the author offed her, I really had no emotion behind it.
All the other scenes where she's stuck in Belgium, the rushed contact scenes with Grath. Pointless...
I'm going to skip to the end scene... The big showdown between Grath and Ceony. Firstly, how silly was it to think that Ceony would be safe in a Gaffers house? One filled with mirrors that Grath could use to track her down? Not that he even needed Ceony anyway. This was the moment I thought he was going to spill his blood and force Ceony to cast her spell. Fell absolutely flat. Instead our villian figured it out all on his own, to disbond from glass! Soooo, what was the point of facing down Ceony? Did he harbour love for Lira and that's why he wanted to seek revenge? Surely it's not so he can force her hand to release Lira. He could have done so countless times. But no it's a simple backwards recital of the bonding spell. And he reveals it to Ceony by draining the life out of Delilah to become an Excisioner. In turn Ceony becomes a Gaffer to kill Grath... How convenient.
Seriously the most interesting part of the book was Emery's POV when he faces down Saraj. I would have loved it if Holmberg incorporated Emery more in the story where his magic made a big impact on what could have been amazing battle scenes. Ceony could have been quick witted with what she knew, Delilah could have countered Graths spells and Emery could have delivered more complicated spells. And surprise, Hugh's and Aviosky spun in last minute to assist when things got grave. But alas this will only happen in my imagination.
Let me talk briefly about the romance. Ceony thinks that the love is one sided. It's obvious that Emery is struggling to keep it professional, after all he is her mentor and she his apprentice. Aviosky attempts a few times to transfer Ceony but she throws a tantrum and says "No!" which is apparently enough for Aviosky to let it be.
Honestly I wouldn't have minded this book being a two POV book. Ceony and Emery. Delilah needed more fleshing out for her character for the reader to actually care about her demise. The villians needed some purpose. Once again I'm left asking, why? What does the Excisioners want exactly? What is there purpose? Just to be evil for the sake of being evil? There is no substance to them.
A quick one to address is the sexism other readers pointed out. Judging by the time period I think it was fitting. As much as people don't want to accept, cooking for men and dressing conservatively was the norm back then. I'm just more annoyed that more time was given to her chores rather than fleshing out a character properly or giving more weight to the plot.
I just wanted more from this book. There was sooo much potential. And because I'm so passionate about the world and magic, I think that's why I'm so critical of this story. Once again with only a mere 200 pages in this book I wonder if Holmberg could have done more if it were longer. Who knows?
I will finish this trilogy. But this book left me with so much wanting... Hopefully the last book can redeem these characters. I desperately want to like Ceony again. I want to see more of Emery and his abilities. And more fleshed out characters!
This one is a tough one for me. I love the world, the premise and the magic system. But Ceony, the heroine of the story, changed for me. Before diving into my review let's look at the plot itself.
Ceony continues her apprenticeship under Emery Thane as she strives to complete her apprenticeship within the minimum of 2 years. Along the way she has befriended another apprentice Gaffer (glass magician) called Delilah.
Each apprentice of every magical type is to learn about their counterparts. So an excursion to the paper mill is required until a massive explosion occurs. Ceony suspects a foreigner but quickly swipes her suspicion as being racist.
Delilah and Ceony are then dining at a bistro in London when Grath finds her. What does he want? To know how she did it. How did she freeze Lira. At this point we can only suspect that Grath wants to release Lira from Ceonys spell. Right... But this is where things get confusing?
There's also a buggy crash scene... Which in my mind is pointless and adds no value to the plot. Why wouldn't Saraj just finish the job? He after all was ruthless and non-empathetic - Classic signs of a psychopath. But no, the buggy just crashes into a river. Exposing Ceony's greatest fear... Blah blah... Not very interesting.
The story continues as the police, Hughes, Aviosky, Emery, Delilah and Ceony are all basically trying to find Grath and his partner Saraj. But Grath finds them instead through mirrors. Dun dun dun! He is a Gaffer. And so his true intentions are realised. He wants to release his bond to glass to become an Excisioner. This is the point of the story where I thought I knew why he wanted Ceony. I assumed that the purpose of why he kept tracking Ceony was so that her spell could release his bond from glass. A seemingly impossible feat to break a bond from a material, just as it had been impossible for her to freeze an Excisioner. But I was sorely mistaken.
This is where i start to get annoyed. Because when all the magical allies are coming together to defeat the duo Ceony thinks it's a marvellous idea to defeat Grath on her own. The other more experienced magician's have concluded to get rid of Saraj first who posed as a greater threat seeing as Grath was not an Excisioner. But Ceony, the inexperienced Folder has thought she can talk to Grath to what? Sus out his plans? Negotiate? There was no thought into these plans. Which unfortunately led to me to not like our lead character very much. She started making very stupid decisions. This time for no particular reason other than its "her" responsibility. At least in the previous book her rash decision making made sense. She didn't want to fail being a magician, she wanted to save a life of her mentor, she was driven my a sprinkle of love. But here, there was nothing driving the decision. Making her look rather, stupid.
Worse of all she drags Delilah, which of course is just a pawn in the story to teach Ceony about glass spells. Which the character is quickly discarded of with not much backstory. So when the author offed her, I really had no emotion behind it.
All the other scenes where she's stuck in Belgium, the rushed contact scenes with Grath. Pointless...
I'm going to skip to the end scene... The big showdown between Grath and Ceony. Firstly, how silly was it to think that Ceony would be safe in a Gaffers house? One filled with mirrors that Grath could use to track her down? Not that he even needed Ceony anyway. This was the moment I thought he was going to spill his blood and force Ceony to cast her spell. Fell absolutely flat. Instead our villian figured it out all on his own, to disbond from glass! Soooo, what was the point of facing down Ceony? Did he harbour love for Lira and that's why he wanted to seek revenge? Surely it's not so he can force her hand to release Lira. He could have done so countless times. But no it's a simple backwards recital of the bonding spell. And he reveals it to Ceony by draining the life out of Delilah to become an Excisioner. In turn Ceony becomes a Gaffer to kill Grath... How convenient.
Seriously the most interesting part of the book was Emery's POV when he faces down Saraj. I would have loved it if Holmberg incorporated Emery more in the story where his magic made a big impact on what could have been amazing battle scenes. Ceony could have been quick witted with what she knew, Delilah could have countered Graths spells and Emery could have delivered more complicated spells. And surprise, Hugh's and Aviosky spun in last minute to assist when things got grave. But alas this will only happen in my imagination.
Let me talk briefly about the romance. Ceony thinks that the love is one sided. It's obvious that Emery is struggling to keep it professional, after all he is her mentor and she his apprentice. Aviosky attempts a few times to transfer Ceony but she throws a tantrum and says "No!" which is apparently enough for Aviosky to let it be.
Honestly I wouldn't have minded this book being a two POV book. Ceony and Emery. Delilah needed more fleshing out for her character for the reader to actually care about her demise. The villians needed some purpose. Once again I'm left asking, why? What does the Excisioners want exactly? What is there purpose? Just to be evil for the sake of being evil? There is no substance to them.
A quick one to address is the sexism other readers pointed out. Judging by the time period I think it was fitting. As much as people don't want to accept, cooking for men and dressing conservatively was the norm back then. I'm just more annoyed that more time was given to her chores rather than fleshing out a character properly or giving more weight to the plot.
I just wanted more from this book. There was sooo much potential. And because I'm so passionate about the world and magic, I think that's why I'm so critical of this story. Once again with only a mere 200 pages in this book I wonder if Holmberg could have done more if it were longer. Who knows?
I will finish this trilogy. But this book left me with so much wanting... Hopefully the last book can redeem these characters. I desperately want to like Ceony again. I want to see more of Emery and his abilities. And more fleshed out characters!