Book Review of The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Goodreads Summary: Throughout her studies, Ceony Twill has harbored a secret, one she’s kept from even her mentor, Emery Thane. She’s discovered how to practice forms of magic other than her own — an ability long thought impossible.
While all seems set for Ceony to complete her apprenticeship and pass her upcoming final magician’s exam, life quickly becomes complicated. To avoid favoritism, Emery sends her to another paper magician for testing, a Folder who despises Emery and cares even less for his apprentice. To make matters worse, a murderous criminal from Ceony’s past escapes imprisonment. Now she must track the power-hungry convict across England before he can take his revenge. With her life and loved ones hanging in the balance, Ceony must face a criminal who wields the one magic that she does not, and it may prove more powerful than all her skills combined.

Goodreads Rating: 3.78 stars with over 4,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Magicians, Steampunk, Romance

Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
My other reviews for CHarlie N. Holmberg's books: The Glass Magician, The Paper Magician

Review:

Edited: 12/1/2016

The Master Magician is the final book in the Paper Magician Trilogy. I must say that I'm glad it is a trilogy and not going to be an endless series. I think I would probably tire of it rather quickly if it were a series. This one has a very sweet ending that I found fitting for the story. I don't think that this was the best book in the trilogy, though. I'll give that nod to The Glass Magician. I'm not sure if I would put this above or below The Paper Magician.

Throughout the series, I enjoyed that Ceony took things into her hands. She didn't wait around to be saved. The Master Magician was no different in that regard. While there was a decent amount of action, I feel like there was considerably less action than in the other books. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, as things happened when they needed to. I just felt the better part of this book was her studying for her exam for her Magicianship.

I feel that The Master Magician was a lot more predictable than the other two books. I wasn't surprised by anything that happened in the story. It would have been nice to have a few surprises here and there. With the way The Glass Magician ended, it's no surprise that Ceony tried to learn other skills. The spells were what amazed me in the other book. Aside from the spell she used to decorate for the party, I don't think I was enamored with them as I previously was.

While I feel that The Master Magician fell short, it did what it was supposed to do and ended the story, but there just felt like so much was missing from it. It was missing a certain humor to it, and just wasn't as whimsical as the rest of the series. It felt dry. Maybe this is because I keep comparing it to The Glass Magician, but I just wasn't as entertained by it.