The Paper Magician had a first half that was incredibly promising with an introduction to a strange new world of magic, a historical setting (bordering on something steampunk-esk), and a main character with interesting motivations. It was slow, but it was feeling warm and cozy. Then the second half throws all of that away and sends the main character on what can only be described as a wild goose chase with no rhyme or reason.

The writing falls victim to the "and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened" style. It almost felt like maybe this had been written as a movie or tv script, with scene changes and action shots that only really work with a camera and not ink on a page.

I found it hard to focus because I didn't want to read a whole page of scene-setting, describing all the cobblestones, only for that setting to disappear immediately on the next page as we haul ass to the next plot point. Rinse, repeat again and again.

I was also not a fan of the student crushing on the teacher thing - it just feels weird. It would have been of more benefit to set up a better, longer backstory for the two characters and how they know each other. Instead we get this young girl, fresh out of school, risking her life for a man she has known for *a month*, for no reason other than him being normal to her? Like, why?

I don't think I will be continuing with this series. At least the cover art is nice!