The Paper Magician by Charlie N Holmberg

A rather slight novel given the rather amazing magic system on display. I love the fact that magicians can manipulate man-made objects but bond to only one category, and thought the pseudo-Victorian era intriguing, but thought there was a lot of fast and loose played with the society’s rules. Ceony’s journey through the heart was pretty awesome (as was the entire scene that led up to and included the folding of the paper heart) but the romance felt a bit forced, tho maybe that was just my personal discomfort with the balance of power at play here. Perhaps I would have been more comfortable with it had it been paced better: as it was, everything happened so quickly that it was hard to suspend disbelief, particularly with Ceony’s magical skills, her photographic memory notwithstanding. An entertaining book, sure enough, but I’ve been told by a friend who’s read the rest of the series that the other books aren’t even as good as this, so I’ll likely pass on reading more.