A review by iam
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

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

3.0

 Cute regency/victorian (?) era with an interesting magic system based on man-made materials.

The thought of paper magic was super unique and fascinating. The story of Ceony being forced into it and learning to appreciate it, as well as the (mis-)adventure's she's roped into due to her teacher's past and secrets, was fun too.

What I didn't particularly like was the romance. I'm not a fan of teacher-student/mentor-mentee romance in general, and it didn't feel particularly well developed either, given that for the biggest chunk they are not even spending time together, really. Ceony just finds out a lot about him through other means. Things that he never would have told or shown her otherwise. Idk, that just didn't feel like a good setup for a romance for me, along with the fact that he is her teacher and has a lot of power over her.