The Paper Magician

Like many fantasy novels, The Paper Magician revolves around a character who feels small, lost, and powerless.

Although Ceony Twill desperately wants metal magic, she gets assigned to paper and decides to make the most of it. Since I’m half-Japanese, I immediately thought “origami!” when I read about the folding magic. It is the first book in a trilogy and I found the story to be a light, fast read.

Holmberg’s Victorian, gas-lamp world feels familiar, and though I found the characters a little thin (paper joke intended!), I enjoyed Ceony’s adventure. My favorite characters were two of the paper… show more.

It’s in my Rereads Club, what I return to when I need to escape to a fantastical yet familiar world. This is also the driving force behind my love for the genre. 

Set in an alternate-history Edwardian London where magic is something you specialize in like any other skill, Ceony’s arc was the first time I read about what happens after one leaves magic-school. And the directions a post-graduate magician can head in when they’re assigned something that, at first, appears to ruin their dreams, but instead opens up new opportunities and drives home why you should take a chance… show more.