This review does contain marked spoiler. However, the book has not been released yet, so read at your own risk.
I really enjoyed revisiting the much beloved world of the Paper Magician in this triumphant sequel to the original trilogy. In the Plastic Magician, main character American-German Alvie Brechenmacher, delves into the newly discovered magic of Polymaking, the magical discipline of plastic, and finds herself across the pond in England, apprenticing with world-renowned Magician Marion Praff in what is another quirky and dear adventure. This book has everything, a marvelous heroine, romance, magic, creative world-building, action and mystery, and an all-around positive message.
I love that Alvie is a sensible slacks-wearing American, complete with an accent, face-eating glasses and untamable hair. She is clearly a genius, adding large sums in her head, but is helplessly clumsy and so devoted to her new magic that she forgets what time it is. Alvie also has a heart of gold, choosing to volunteer in a hospital and using her new magic to create a prototype plastic arm for a friend who lost her arm in a factory accident. She is truly every bit as lovable and feels just as authentic and relatable as her Paper Magician counterpart, Ceony Twill, who even makes a wonderful surprise cameo or two that fans of the series will just love.
I also adore her romance with Paper Magician, and all around cutie, Bennet. The very description of the two’s developing romance makes the reader feel butterflies! “His eyes [find] hers and he smile[s] a bright smile that made Alvie feel like a magician already or perhaps something even better.” It is purely delightful that Alvie found an Englishman who loves her for all of the things that make her Alvie, something that didn’t get her many suitors back home. He forgives her for missing their dates due to working on her Magic, doesn’t blame her for running off mid-conversation to jot down a new idea or for wanting to take apart his Benz’s engine to simply appreciate it, and genuinely cares for her just as she is. Bennet even informs her early on that he had a feeling he’d never be bored with her. I thought it was utterly adorable that he told her not to wear a skirt to his graduation ceremony because “it just [isn’t] Alvie.”
Alvie’s relationship with his sister, Ethel, the one for whom Alvie is inventing the Plastic arm prototype, is just as precious. As a reader with multiple disabilities, this scene between these two really touched me:
“Ethel took her hand. ‘You’re a good friend Alvie. Even without all the magic.’ Alvie squeezed back. “’You are too, Ethel. Even without the arm.’ The older woman’s eyes watered just a bit. “I think that, today that’s something I needed to hear.”
This exchange demonstrates how magic touches all of the relationships in the book, but isn’t defined by it. In the magical world of this book and the others in the series, people travel by mirrors, send mail via Folded mail birds, text each other via Mimic spells, and see their imaginations come to life not on movie screens, but through Imagidomes. I love how Alvie’s growing up in America, showed the different laws traditions, and attitudes towards magic throughout different countries. For example, in England public transportation via mirrors is not allowed, but in the United States it is quite the norm. And as Alvie grew up as the daughter of the true inventor of the light bulb, she has a unique and grounded viewpoint on how technological advances may affect magic. But these are just two of the many ways author Charlie N. Holmberg builds a complex and immersive world that I would personally love to inhabit.
Though the book emphasizes that all Magicians should, “Treat [their] magic with respect and loyalty and it will do likewise. Leave this world a better place than it was when you entered it,” Alvie soon finds that not all Magicians uphold this creed. There is intense competition for new discovery, especially in the newest magic—Polymaking—leading to violence, and the stealing of ideas. I love that in the face of danger, Alvie is able to use her intelligence to stay quick on her feet, rescue herself repeatedly, and is able to put together the pieces to solve a crime even before the Police. She’s not even traumatized by her brushes with danger, but instead uses her experiences to hypothesize an entirely new field of magic, which I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of in future installments. After all she says, “It [isn’t] about the magic. It [is] about the discovery.”
And if you haven’t yet discovered the magic of the Paper Magician series, I urge you to do so at once.
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