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br1sr3alm's review against another edition
4.0
Really loving this series. Not a big fan of the love story, but apparently that's been a sticking point for me in many of these modern series - it's like the contrived love stories of the old 80s adventure movies. I feel like the author is doing it b/c that's "what the audience wants." Sometimes it's not the right fit for the overall story. Nonetheless, Charlie has hooked me, and I look forward to seeing what Ceony does next.
sailaranel's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
freevortex's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely better than the first, but still a short, superficial read. For what it is, I enjoyed it.
onyxx's review against another edition
Pierwszą część książki jakoś przecierpiałam, bo to było jedyne co miałam do czytania podczas pracy. Kiedy mam jednak znów czytać romans uczennica-nauczyciel w wolnym czasie w domu to jednak jestem zbyt mocno zniechęcona i nawet ciekawie wykreowany świat mnie nie zachęci so lektury.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
ddaypunk's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this just as much as the first. All three (spoiler-ish) are very nicely sized novels, about 250 pages a piece. I really enjoy the characters and the feel of the setting. I also really like the magic inherent in origami and how they have expanded that to have real magic!
lakediver's review against another edition
1.0
One-starred for blatant racial profiling.
Ok. So. Overall, this is a light, fun read. It's fluff, but I read the first book, and that's exactly what I expected - a fun romp in 19th century England + magic. What I did NOT expect was the blatant racism that happened early on.
"Across the street, however, one person did stand out. He wore normal clothes, but his dark skin contrasted with the rest of the bystanders. He was a tall man - Indian, or perhaps Arab. His dark eyes met heres, and then the crowd filled in and he vanished from sight.
Ceony sucked in a deep breath. What decent person would look askance at a foreigner, even if he had been looking her way? Plenty of foreigners lived in England. Delilah was a foreigner, for heavens sake. Ceony's mother would be appalled if she knew Ceony suspected a man merely because he was different."
At this point, I stopped reading and said to myself, please tell me that you didn't really just do that. And then I thought, maybe Ceony will redeem herself. Maybe by the end of the book, Ceony will have learned a valuable lesson about the evils of racial profiling.
But no. As it turns out, Ceony's assumption of guilt entirely on the basis of skin color turns out to be completely justified. Because not only is this Indian man a bad guy, but he's a really bad guy. The kind who murders every child at an orphanage, just for fun. And sure, it's not against the rules to have POC who are villains. But when this is the only POC in the entire series ... sorry, no. That's not ok. Yes, her friend Delilah is a "foreigner" too. She's French. And white. With blond hair. Which means that Ceony's suspicion of "foreigners" is all about skin color and has fuck-all to do with country of origin.
That's not the only issue that this book has. It's just the one that pissed me off the most. The student/teacher romance is weird, at best. I found myself rolling my eyes on more than one occasion when Ceony flushed because Emery looks at her, touches her, etc. Ceony spends a lot of this book flushing, and frankly, it gets annoying. And then there's the Harry Potter complex that she develops in this book. And then there's the fact that Holmberg wraps up the book by breaking all of the magic rules that she established in the first book.
So, in short: Nope, I'm out. I won't be finishing the series, and I will never give Charlie Holmberg another penny of my money.
Ok. So. Overall, this is a light, fun read. It's fluff, but I read the first book, and that's exactly what I expected - a fun romp in 19th century England + magic. What I did NOT expect was the blatant racism that happened early on.
"Across the street, however, one person did stand out. He wore normal clothes, but his dark skin contrasted with the rest of the bystanders. He was a tall man - Indian, or perhaps Arab. His dark eyes met heres, and then the crowd filled in and he vanished from sight.
Ceony sucked in a deep breath. What decent person would look askance at a foreigner, even if he had been looking her way? Plenty of foreigners lived in England. Delilah was a foreigner, for heavens sake. Ceony's mother would be appalled if she knew Ceony suspected a man merely because he was different."
At this point, I stopped reading and said to myself, please tell me that you didn't really just do that. And then I thought, maybe Ceony will redeem herself. Maybe by the end of the book, Ceony will have learned a valuable lesson about the evils of racial profiling.
But no. As it turns out, Ceony's assumption of guilt entirely on the basis of skin color turns out to be completely justified. Because not only is this Indian man a bad guy, but he's a really bad guy. The kind who murders every child at an orphanage, just for fun. And sure, it's not against the rules to have POC who are villains. But when this is the only POC in the entire series ... sorry, no. That's not ok. Yes, her friend Delilah is a "foreigner" too. She's French. And white. With blond hair. Which means that Ceony's suspicion of "foreigners" is all about skin color and has fuck-all to do with country of origin.
That's not the only issue that this book has. It's just the one that pissed me off the most. The student/teacher romance is weird, at best. I found myself rolling my eyes on more than one occasion when Ceony flushed because Emery looks at her, touches her, etc. Ceony spends a lot of this book flushing, and frankly, it gets annoying. And then there's the Harry Potter complex that she develops in this book. And then there's the fact that Holmberg wraps up the book by breaking all of the magic rules that she established in the first book.
So, in short: Nope, I'm out. I won't be finishing the series, and I will never give Charlie Holmberg another penny of my money.
geektesse's review against another edition
4.0
Even better than the first one. I read the first one in German, and I guess with translation the book loses its charm.
For once I could relate to the stupid decision the MC made, I liked the suspense, the story, and even the romance.
Definitely will read the third book of the series.
For once I could relate to the stupid decision the MC made, I liked the suspense, the story, and even the romance.
Definitely will read the third book of the series.
mastersal's review against another edition
3.0
While I was mostly distracted while reading this (nothing to do with the book), I am glad I picked this up. This a cute, undemanding fantasy with a great magic-world premise - quite enjoyable.
The plot is about Ceony who continues her paper apprenticeship and gets into scapes along the way. It picks up soon after Book 1 so the main relationship between her and Emery continues to feel quite rushed - they’ve known each other for only three months during this book! I was still invested in them together however; mostly due to Emery who has this absent-minded professor air about him.
Ceony remains a bit of an idiot - rushing into situations where common sense would dictate she stay away. For me I forgave that (despite the dreaded first person POV which annoys me usually) largely because we see her work on other things. The magic system here - with its need for preparation - helps set this up. There is no magic wand waving in this system where material has to be prepped and spells readies. I like that the bag of tricks is finite.
The world also opens up here to feature Glass Magic through a new friend of Ceony - which was the best part in my mind. The central action plots and villain remain paper-thin which was a shame - unlike the first book, the villains were even less compelling here having little context or connection. They were the weakest part of the story for me.
Still - read this book for the world, the main characters (idiots and all). Quick fun time.
PS. Do not listen to the audiobook - I listened to the sample and the male voices that the narrator put on made me shudder.
The plot is about Ceony who continues her paper apprenticeship and gets into scapes along the way. It picks up soon after Book 1 so the main relationship between her and Emery continues to feel quite rushed - they’ve known each other for only three months during this book! I was still invested in them together however; mostly due to Emery who has this absent-minded professor air about him.
Ceony remains a bit of an idiot - rushing into situations where common sense would dictate she stay away. For me I forgave that (despite the dreaded first person POV which annoys me usually) largely because we see her work on other things. The magic system here - with its need for preparation - helps set this up. There is no magic wand waving in this system where material has to be prepped and spells readies. I like that the bag of tricks is finite.
The world also opens up here to feature Glass Magic through a new friend of Ceony - which was the best part in my mind. The central action plots and villain remain paper-thin which was a shame - unlike the first book, the villains were even less compelling here having little context or connection. They were the weakest part of the story for me.
Still - read this book for the world, the main characters (idiots and all). Quick fun time.
PS. Do not listen to the audiobook - I listened to the sample and the male voices that the narrator put on made me shudder.