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aretz 's review for:
The Paper Magician
by Charlie N. Holmberg
3.5 Stars
I feel this book/series has a lot of potential. It just needed to be fleshed out more. 214 pages is really limiting the world of this book and I found myself wanting this to be much longer than it was because I liked the characters a lot. The premise and the details are very compelling and for the most part this novel delivered.
That being said there are a few things that did bother me, but not in a way that was detrimental to the story. For some reason, the author felt the need to nod towards faith/religion on page 134 and I think it could have done without. In the scope of the novel, it felt very out of place.
There's also a disconnect between the outward character of Emery Thayne and the one within his heart. The shadow - Emery is very jaded and dark and wracked with guilt, but actual Emery doesn't seem the least bit affected by this and if he is then it needs to be more overt. That being said, I liked both of these "sides", but darkness has a way of showing itself in at least a little way. The conversation in this particular part is a little stiff and needs to be a little bit more natural.
I do think too much time was spent within the recesses of his heart, but I liked several of the chamber backstories that I am unsure of how it should have been balanced to not feel so long inside of it. Perhaps too much time was spent in the idea of his wanted futures and that is why it felt long.
I wanted more from the ending because I really didn't want this to end. The action was well written and creative. There was innovation shown in the way she presented an alternate past and used paper and writing as a medium of magic. This book would be better served as being YA as its story is very strongly a feeling of teen--in a good way. Or, at the very least, the ages of the main tension characters make this New Adult.
I feel this book/series has a lot of potential. It just needed to be fleshed out more. 214 pages is really limiting the world of this book and I found myself wanting this to be much longer than it was because I liked the characters a lot. The premise and the details are very compelling and for the most part this novel delivered.
That being said there are a few things that did bother me, but not in a way that was detrimental to the story. For some reason, the author felt the need to nod towards faith/religion on page 134 and I think it could have done without. In the scope of the novel, it felt very out of place.
There's also a disconnect between the outward character of Emery Thayne and the one within his heart. The shadow - Emery is very jaded and dark and wracked with guilt, but actual Emery doesn't seem the least bit affected by this and if he is then it needs to be more overt. That being said, I liked both of these "sides", but darkness has a way of showing itself in at least a little way. The conversation in this particular part is a little stiff and needs to be a little bit more natural.
I do think too much time was spent within the recesses of his heart, but I liked several of the chamber backstories that I am unsure of how it should have been balanced to not feel so long inside of it. Perhaps too much time was spent in the idea of his wanted futures and that is why it felt long.
I wanted more from the ending because I really didn't want this to end. The action was well written and creative. There was innovation shown in the way she presented an alternate past and used paper and writing as a medium of magic. This book would be better served as being YA as its story is very strongly a feeling of teen--in a good way. Or, at the very least, the ages of the main tension characters make this New Adult.