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fihli 's review for:
The Paper Magician
by Charlie N. Holmberg
The ghostly images lasted only a moment longer before fading away, as all unread stories were wont to do.
4 stars
This was a really lovely story. The first third was definitely the strongest and had the whole story been as atmospherical it would have been a solid 5 stars. I still really liked it nonetheless and I don't understand why it has such a relatively low rating on goodreads.
The characters were great, Ceony had her flaws and was reluctant to become a paper magician but not to the point of her being annoying. She also was quite smart and hardworking and brave and just a great person in general. at least that's what the book tried to convince the reader by telling us that Vhalla was so incredibly intelligent, but never showing . Both of them were reluctant in accepting their fate as magicians Although I'm not being completly fair to Vhalla since Ceony desperatly wanted to be a magician and just struggled with the idea of being bonded to paper and Vhalla didn't want to be a sorcerer at all, but oh well... Vhalla tried to be a strong female character and failed miserably, Ceony didn't try and still was. And Vhalla was way too overpowered so when she struggled with her powers it just felt forced and contrieved. Ceony's struggles felt real and were comprehensible because the book actually bothers to spend time on her training.
Mg. Thane/Emery was incredibly sweet and I loved him in particular. The romance between the two was just so cute.It did have its pacing issues though, being a bit too slow-paced in the beginning and moving along a bit too quickliy in the last 20 pages.
The page count was another positive. I do read books that are longer than a 1000 pages (think GoT or Terry Goodkind's Sword of Thruth series) but I also appreciate shorter books. While 220 pages is shorter than books I would normally read the story didn't feel lacking. And in any case I much prefer a book that is 50 pages short to a book that is 500 pages too long!
More world building and a more thorough explanation of the different kinds of material magics would have been great though. (Hopefully the next books in the series deliver in that aspect!). Especially since the setting is quite interesting, with the story taking place in Victorian England although the story was (excluding the magic, obviously) not that historically accurate with the characters using modern slang and there not being rampant sexism around.
My only other trifle with the story was, that the flash backs felt a bit lazy in terms of Ceony learning about Thane. It didn't bother me that much though.
The ending was saccharine, almost too much so and made sure that the story was finished. I seriously hate it when you have to read other books in the series because at least the first book can't be a completed story in and of itself. I'm definitely checking out the next books and hope to see more of Ceony and Emery together!
Also I thought that (well, the first third of) the story would make a great studio ghibli movie!
The Glass Magician: 3 stars
The Master Magician: 2 stars
4 stars
This was a really lovely story. The first third was definitely the strongest and had the whole story been as atmospherical it would have been a solid 5 stars. I still really liked it nonetheless and I don't understand why it has such a
The characters were great, Ceony had her flaws and was reluctant to become a paper magician but not to the point of her being annoying. She also was quite smart and hardworking and brave and just a great person in general.
Spoiler
The last book I read was Air Awkakens and I was amused how different the characters were although they shared a lot of traits and both books resemble each other (as in being quite light on the fantasy, AA even more so than PM, and having the romance play a big part in the book, again in AA more so than in PM). Both main characters were intelligentMg. Thane/Emery was incredibly sweet and I loved him in particular. The romance between the two was just so cute.
The page count was another positive. I do read books that are longer than a 1000 pages (think GoT or Terry Goodkind's Sword of Thruth series) but I also appreciate shorter books. While 220 pages is shorter than books I would normally read the story didn't feel lacking.
More world building and a more thorough explanation of the different kinds of material magics would have been great though. (Hopefully the next books in the series deliver in that aspect!). Especially since the setting is quite interesting, with the story taking place in Victorian England
My only other trifle with the story was, that the flash backs felt a bit lazy in terms of Ceony learning about Thane. It didn't bother me that much though.
The ending was saccharine, almost too much so and made sure that the story was finished.
The Glass Magician: 3 stars
The Master Magician: 2 stars