Book 46 The Paper Magician

 

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg fulfilled the category “Book Set in Victorian Times” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. The Victorian era is from June 1837 to January 1901. This story almost qualifies as it takes place later in 1901. I’m counting it.

I read another book for the prompt, but I can’t remember the plot as I read it a year ago. PopSugar drops their list on December 1, and I read House of Shadows by Darcy Coats and enjoyed it. It’s so completely gothic. A young woman is forced to marry and move into a house that does not want her. Literally. Her groom’s new family does not want her there, but the house doesn’t either. What follows is a great haunted house, Victorian gothic tale with tons of ghosts and romance. But at this point, I can’t give you any more details.

I opted to read another for the prompt as I had only a few titles left on the list. I accidentally read the entire series, save one.

Oops.

The Paper Magician spoke to me in an odd way. Here’s what it’s about. Victorian England has magicians. People with the skill can convert man-made materials into spells. Disciplines include paper, rubber, plastic, metal (alloys), fire, and glass. Then someone realized that people are man-made! Uh, oh. And humans became a material, too. These excisioners (as they are called) are pure evil, having to kill to bond to their material.

The story follows Ceony Twill as she starts her training as a paper magician. She had hoped to be a metal magician and work charms on locks, jewelry, etc. No one wants paper. On the surface, it appears boring and useless. Ceony, with her unique memory (almost photographic), learns differently through a series of events that no apprentice should experience.

Her paper master is attacked, and his heart is ripped out by an excisioner. Ceony must step up and save her master using only her skill with paper, defeat the evil excisioner, and live through it all.

The first book was a fun romp through this new magical realm. The author did an excellent job setting up their rules of magic—but not completely. I liked the idea of only being able to use manufactured things instead of the elements. But the magicians could do amazing things with just paper or a piece of glass. I’m not sure all the magic was completely thought through with the world-building. But it worked (if you didn’t overthink it).

I liked that Ceony was not perfect. She was arrogant, hot-headed, and real. She wasn’t some perfect specimen of either womanhood or magicianship. She was a real girl who made rash decisions based on her emotions, as you would expect a twenty-year-old to do. Even for all her snottiness, I loved her. She tries, she thinks, she acts.

As I mentioned, I read the whole series. I loved it for the magic and the characters. The entire world seemed not complete. There was little explanation for why rubber buttons on your shoes can make you go faster, but no one ever tried paper wings on the shoes. The spells and magic seemed random and arbitrary. Of course, it could’ve been a device of the author, using a young woman who might not know all the details. I’ve read many intricate fantasy words for YA, such as Harry Potter, The Immortal Nicolas Flamel, The Infernal Devices. Those books have a solid backdrop for their worlds and book. The Paper Magician series needed a little more development on the magic rules and how it affects the people. BUT it was such a fun romp that I didn’t care. The series inspired me to create my own story, not in the same world but something similar.

I give The Paper Magician (along with the rest of the series, The Glass Magician, and the Master Magician) by Charlie N. Holmberg Four Paper Cranes to deliver this message.

Book 45 Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton fulfilled the category “An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Winner” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. The award is given to books that have had a “significant contribution to our understanding of racism and human diversity.” This title is an oldie, but still significant in its subject.

I tried a couple for the prompt. I’d already read There There and Hidden Figures. For some reason, I couldn’t get Infidel as an audiobook. I also tried to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. As you know, I like an audio. The narrator kept dropping the N-word. It’s fine because that’s his race and culture, but it was extremely hard for me to hear the word said out loud. I ended up switching to this book.

The story tells the tale of a pastor, Stephen Kumalo, from a town near Johannesburg, South Africa in 1948 when apartheid was the system of government. At that time, Johannesburg was starting to build up. Things were changing in the country. Kumalo’s sister, brother, and son have gone to the city and have disappeared. None of them had any contact with Kumalo for a long time. Finally, Kumalo decides to journey to Johannesburg to find out what happened. A lot of terrible things happen. Some good things happen too. Mostly, the book talked about the changes in the culture, the treatment of the native people, and the industrialization of Johannesburg.

In college, I read several Nadine Gordimer books, and my sociology professor was from South Africa. I wish I had pursued more information about the country and its history. I lived through the fall of apartheid, and Nelson Mandela’s becoming the president of that country. I feel like I miss the boat. There’s so much here. There’s so much more to learn. Reading this title, read by a lovely narrator, I cried six times. I was spurred on by the idea there’s an entire history of these various places I know nothing about. The history of South Africa is fascinating to me and its current culture. I love that the movie District 9 was set in South Africa. It reminds us stupid Americans that things are happening in other places besides here.

Though the book is seventy years old, I would still highly recommend it to anybody who wanted to learn about oppression, greed, and mistreatment by the government. This is still happening everywhere, not just in South Africa, not just in America. We tend to treat people like currency. People aren’t currency.

I give Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Five Big Warm Hugs, and a Desire to Understand More.

 

 

Book 44 A Pho Love Story

 

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le fulfilled the category “A Romance Novel by a BIPOC Author” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. Loan Le is the child of two Vietnamese immigrants from Nha Trang. The book was a lovely tale about Vietnamese food, culture, and romance.

I’ve had the story on my list for a couple of years. It’s a YA romance between two high school students. They own competing Vietnamese restaurants across the street from each other. As the book goes on, we discover their mothers know each other from their own childhood. The rivalry has a reason. In other words, we have a Romeo and Juliet story without all the deaths.

The book explored some great themes, not only culture and food but additionally growing into your own skin. The heroine, Linh, is an artist, and her family worries she won’t make a living with art. The hero, Bao, isn’t sure what he wants to do, but his parents are much inclined to let him figure it out. I don’t know how much is a male/female cultural thing.

The two teens come together to review restaurants for the school newspaper. Bao discovers he is a talented journalist. Linh explores her artistic abilities, not only adding pictures to the newspaper with her drawing but also painting a mural for one of the restaurants. Oh, and the sparks fly.

It’s a YA. There is some angst, and unrequited love or longing. It pressed all the YA romance buttons, and the food sounded amazing that every time I read, I became hungry.

If you’re looking for a sweet, cute romance between two teens who finally find themselves and each other, get ready for all the subplots. The two must get their parents to deal with the horrible things they’ve been through. Both sets of parents are immigrants from Vietnam, arriving in America in the seventies. They’ve been through so much, and the book touches on their experience.

One thing I enjoyed about A Pho Love Story is the culture. No one ever talks about the Vietnam war. Nobody discusses the refugees who came to this country. No one talks about the soldiers who went there. I loved that the book examined some of the traumas of fleeing Vietnam. It wasn’t a deep exploration because the book was not about the parents. The story is about two teens whose parents have been through trauma. I love how the author touched on all these things. I knew kids in high school who had been through a similar experience. It wasn’t easy for any of them to flee their country, arrive in America, and start over. The parents in the book attempt to have a successful restaurant and maintain some of the cultural norms of their homeland. I’d love to see more about this topic.

I give A Pho Love Story by Loan Le Five Vietnamese Dishes including Pho, Bang Xeo, and Gui Cuon. (I must try these!)

 

 

Book 43 Malice

 

Malice by Heather Walter fulfilled the category “A Sapphic Book” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. Sapphic means a love story between two women. The novel is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty where the princess falls in love with the evil sorceress.

As per usual, I read more than one title for the category. The first book Love & Other Natural Disasters was a YA romance about a young woman who gets an internship at a museum with someone she used to date. Nozomi enlists another girl to “fake” date to make another girl jealous. There are a series of fake dates and weird feelings. In the end, we get a happily-ever-after. Unfortunately, the cute story was not enough. Nozomi made many bad choices. I had a hard time sympathizing with her because she was mean to the fake girlfriend. I won’t say it was an abusive relationship, but I didn’t care for it. Yes, she was a teen full of angst, but some behaviors are not okay. So, I read something else.

Malice hit all the buttons. I love a retold fairy tale. I wrote several myself (which you’ll never see because they’re buried on my computer). The system of magic is unique. Some people have special abilities when they’re born, thanks to an old truce with the fae. We all know how straightforward they are… Is this a gift, a blessing, or a curse?

There’s another type of magic, and our heroine, Alyce, has it. She is called the Dark Grace as her ability curses rather than heals like the other magic users. Alyce is alone and isolated because of her power. But the town won’t get rid of her because she’s useful. She has no friends, no understanding of her magic, and no one to turn to.

Enter Princess Aurora. The two of them meet, and sparks fly. But our heroine can’t be with the princess. The town is tolerant of same-sex couples, but the princess must produce an heir to continue the Royal line.

The story contained many big concepts. The conflict starts because two women are in a romantic relationship. People are still wonky about that, which is annoying. The heroine is an outsider because she was born different. We have a differently-abled character who is abused because of her powers. Alyce is alienated and alone because no one is like her in the entire town. That speaks to the racism and diversity issues ongoing in our nation. Getting these two women together is almost impossible in a society that restricts its leaders. And a little spoiler—her father might be conspiring against the princess. We have family issues, gender issues, body issues, racial issues, and more.

We have all these wonderful things, and dammit, it’s duology. I can’t get the second book yet! Malice was a good choice as these women have a lot to overcome to be together. The fact that Aurora doesn’t care that our heroin is different and not beautiful makes it a fantastic, fun story. and I love watching the build to see our heroin finally realize that someone actually likes her for herself.

I give Malice by Heather Walter Five Ancient Books full of Secrets.