Poor world building and character development

Her last few (non paper magician series) books have been very confusing to me. I really loved Followed by Frost and Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet. They were well developed worlds and I liked/could relate to the characters. This book confused me. Not enough world building. I don’t know why I was supposed to care about these characters or what was supposed to happen in this world. I guess there was supposed to be an underlying message about the greed of man destroying the world. But that really only works if you care about the world in this story. Which I didn’t.

I’m really disappointing that the main character turns to marriage to a man to fix her problems. Doesn’t seem like the great family sacrifice it’s probably supposed to be. It seems like a tired trope. Yes, this is a period piece so you could argue she is following conventions. But, um, there’s freaking magic so why not push the boundaries more with the main character instead of giving her this “woe is me, I need a man to save me” mentality.

7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Love Charlie’s Work

After stumbling across The Paper Magician I have been quickly working through all of Charlie N. Holmberg’s other books. I rarely write reviews but I enjoy her work so much I want everyone else to enjoy it too. The book is easy to follow along and Charlie comes up with some fun and unique magical ideas that I’ve never heard of or even imagined before. I only wish the books were longer and that there were more to read. Please keep writing Charlie!

As for the narrator, Piper Goodeve is one of the first female narrators I’ve heard, and let me say, I thought she was absolutely brilliant. She has a beautiful, soft voice that was perfect for the main character, and she even did the male voices wonderfully. I am interested in hearing more from her as well.
Bravo all around!

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Just ok

The performance is fine. The voice of Gentry rings authentic. The story is just ok. There are too many unexplored stories that are introduced, so many that the whole story seems inauthentic.

This is my least favorite of the Holmberg books, with the first three of the Magician books being my favorites.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

It was ok

Narrator is pretty nice, history it’s ok, at the end gets better, is a short audio, so I’ll say it’s a good time.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

another great story

I enjoy all of Homberg's stories and this one didn't disappoint. The narration was excellent as well. #magic #clever #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Goldberg's best book yet.

The main characters in this book are Earth and humanity. This story has depth not seen in previous Holmberg works. I have read them all. You go Charlie Holmberg!

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Truly Magical

Charlie Holmberg...... what can I say. You have yet again transported me to a magical world of wonder. I felt the magic flowing through my veins. Even though not all can feel or see the magic in the story the readers truly can. Thank you again for another magical story.

Mixed Feelings

I read a different book by this author and really liked it, so thought I'd try this. I liked the other book more, but this one was ok. I felt like it started slowly, but it got better. I never really warmed up to the magic system. Gold and earth and seagulls that turn into flying houses just seemed a bit discombobulated to me. Just as I was getting annoyed with it though it struck me that if this book were to be made into a Miyazaki movie I'd like it, so changing my perspective helped.

Enjoyable

Enjoyable listen, but never fully gripped me. I liked the story and the characters but it was just missing that extra element to make it a five.

This was a good book

Good book but not as wonderful as Ms Holmberg's Paper Magician books.
I just couldn't get into and enjoy this book as I did those.