Reviews

The plastic magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

sebbyroth's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-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? N/A

4.0

maraarsonjade's review

5.0

Having not read Holmberg's original series I wasn't sure what to expect or if I would be lost. I was happy to discover that reading the Paper Magicians trilogy was not mandatory. This book was an easy and enjoyable read with an air of intrigue and suspect and a hint of romance. Alvie is a wonderful lead that I immediately felt kinship to, I cannot wait for the next in the series!

fishsticks26's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.25

kay_slayerofbooks's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 Although it was not about Ceony and Emery, I'm glad we got a glimpse of what their life has progressed into. And Alvie is adorable and just as bad ass as Ceony. I enjoyed this. 

helalost's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

melanie_books's review against another edition

3.0

Alvie is a brilliant & rather nerdy magician in training who is given the opportunity to leave her home in Ohio to go to London as an apprentice to Magician Praff. As she travels to the Polymaker's home, she encounters two men: one older gentleman who seems disgruntled about her apprenticeship and one younger man who kindly helps her navigate her travel difficulties. As she settles into her studies, she experiences the joy of discovery and how she can help people by using her new-found knowledge.

This book was a fun spin-off of The Paper Magician trilogy, featuring one of the characters from the third book. Alvie is a quirky character which made her entertaining to follow throughout the story. Of course her relationship with Bennet was cute. I liked how the author used magic in this story as a way to help people - not just to serve the magician's interest (and what happened when a magician is self-serving with his magic.) In general, a good encore to the original trilogy!

linyarai's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

tracy_reads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

squirrelsohno's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but it was like a beginner Scooby Doo mystery where you know that the heroine will be ok and the bad guy will be caught, and pull a bad guy thing and confess his motives, tactics, and everything to the heroine before she escapes. And then the ending was very, very rushed into a few pages that wrapped very little up and instead asked even MORE questions that, surprise, were just crammed into the end.

I just wish these books were more developed. It seems like the quality has just gone downhill since The Paper Magician, which I REALLY enjoyed. Hrm.

2.5/5

jesslynh's review against another edition

5.0

Charlie Holmberg is a treasure and so is this book. I sincerely hope that this isn't the last we see of this world. I didn't want to start this book since I'm in the middle of another series because I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down until I was done and that's exactly what happened.

I'm putting both the author and this series on my auto-buy list.