SPELLBREAKER Official Blog Tour (Charlie N. Holmberg) - Ten Facts Guest Post + Giveaway

 

Welcome to my stop on the SPELLBREAKER Official Blog Tour, where you can discover ten facts about the latest magical novel from Charlie N. Holmberg and enter to win a copy! Interested in an excerpt, review, or more author content? Check out the rest of the tour, links below!

TEN FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW 

ABOUT SPELLBREAKER:

1. It was inspired by a line in Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle, where the Witch of the Waste claims her talents only lay in breaking spells. 

2. It’s a late-Victorian fantasy, with a setting based on the series Lark Rise to Candleford. 

3. It’s in a similar vein as The Paper Magician Series. 

4. It’s a [clean] adult fantasy that’s suitable for teens. 

5. When a wizard is killed in Spellbreaker, their corpse turns into a spellbook . . . and anyone can use the spells contained within. 

6. There are four disciplines of magic: physical, rational, spiritual, and temporal. 

7. Part of the magic system was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. 

8. It contains both a slow-burn romance and a cozy mystery. 

9. This novel touches on issues of class, gender, race, and disability. 

10. It’s the first book in a duology, with the second novel, Spellmaker, releasing March 9th, 2021.

A world of enchanted injustice needs a disenchanting woman in the newest fantasy series by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. She always did love the tale of Robin Hood.

Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain. She’ll help Bacchus fix unruly spells around his estate if he doesn’t turn her in. Working together, Elsie’s trust in—and fondness for—the handsome stranger grows. So does her trepidation about the rise in the murders of wizards and the theft of the spellbooks their bodies leave behind.

For a rogue spellbreaker like Elsie, there’s so much to learn about her powers, her family, the intriguing Bacchus, and the untold dangers shadowing every step of a journey she’s destined to complete. But will she uncover the mystery before it’s too late to save everything she loves? 

ISBN-10 : 1542020093

ISBN-13 : 978-1542020091
Publisher : 47North (November 1, 2020)

Paperback : 303 pages

Praise for SPELLBREAKER 

“…romantic and electrifying…the fast-paced plot and fully realized world will have readers eager for the next installment. Fans of Victorian-influenced fantasy won’t want to put this down.” —Publishers Weekly

“Those who enjoy gentle romance, cozy mysteries, or Victorian fantasy will love this first half of a duology. The cliffhanger ending will keep readers breathless waiting for the second half.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Powerful magic, indulgent Victoriana, and a slow-burn romance make this genre-bending romp utterly delightful.” —Kirkus Reviews

You can purchase Spellbreaker at the following Retailers:

        

Photo Content from Charlie N. Holmberg

Charlie N. Holmberg is the award-winning author of the Numina series, The Fifth Doll, and many others. Her Wall Street Journal bestselling Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Charlie’s stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance. Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters, who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. She currently lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at her website.

WEBSITE  |  TWITTER  |  GOODREADS  |  FACEBOOK  |  INSTAGRAM

WEEK ONE - REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS

NOVEMBER 16th MONDAY Kait Plus Books INTERVIEW 

NOVEMBER 17th TUESDAY BookHounds GUEST POST

NOVEMBER 18th WEDNESDAY A Court of Coffee and Books EXCERPT

NOVEMBER 18th WEDNESDAY Nay's Pink Bookshelf REVIEW

NOVEMBER 19th THURSDAY JeanBookNerd INTERVIEW

NOVEMBER 19th THURSDAY Gwendalyn's Books REVIEW 

NOVEMBER 20th FRIDAY Author Kelly Risser EXCERPT 

NOVEMBER 20th FRIDAY Skye's Scribblings GUEST POST

WEEK TWO - REVIEWS

NOVEMBER 23rd MONDAY Casia's Corner REVIEW

NOVEMBER 23rd MONDAY J.R.'s Book Reviews REVIEW

NOVEMBER 24th TUESDAY Ya It's Lit REVIEW 

NOVEMBER 25th WEDNESDAY Wishful Endings REVIEW

NOVEMBER 25th WEDNESDAY The Bookwyrm's Den REVIEW 

NOVEMBER 26th THURSDAY Kalisbookishrambles REVIEW 

NOVEMBER 26th THURSDAY PopTheButterfly Reads REVIEW

NOVEMBER 27th FRIDAY Books and Zebras REVIEW 

NOVEMBER 27th FRIDAY Reading Adventures of a Book Dragon REVIEW

GIVEAWAY

Win one of two copies of Spellbreaker! Ends December 7, 2020.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DNF Review: The Paper Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg)

Title: The Paper Magician
Series: The Paper Magician Trilogy #1
Author: Charlie N. Holmberg
Publisher: 47North (Amazon)
Release Date: September 1, 2014
Genre: Adult Alternate Historical Magical Realism
Content Rating: Older Teen (Pages 1-130: violence, some language)
Format Read: Paperback (purchased)
Try It Again?: Yes
Find It On: Goodreads
Summary:

Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

*          *          *

DNF REVIEW
(Chapter 10, Page 130 of 214)

While it began interesting enough, my attention waned around the one-third mark until I sadly lost all interest at Chapter 10. Ceony's arrogance and self-pity were a bit off-putting at first, but as her opinion of Thane and paper magic changed, she grew on me. Paper magic is my favorite kind of magic, and here it was intriguing with original elements that I enjoyed, even if the lessons could be a little dull. It had a bit of a Howl's Moving Castle vibe so I eventually got quite into it, but once Ceony entered Thane's heart my enjoyment steadily declined. Overall I'm not really sure what happened - it should've been interesting for me, but it just wasn't. I will be holding onto my copy though, and plan to try it again.

2014 WoWs: Worth the Wait?

The Waiting On Wednesday meme hosted by Breaking the Spine is my favorite weekly feature to post. I do it rather religiously, really, and have barely missed a Wednesday since I started blogging seriously in January 2013. For those who don't know, WoW is the chance for avid readers to spotlight yet-to-be-released titles they are really excited to read. But when those titles finally release and we finally get to read them, were they actually worth the wait? Here's how my 2014 WoW picks measured up!

WORTH THE WAIT?

YES!!!

The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp (review)
Invisible by Dawn Metcalf (review)
Relax, I'm a Ninja by Natalie Whipple (review)
On the Fence by Kasie West (review)
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
The Unbound by Victoria Schwab (review)
Split Second by Kasie West (review)
Erased by Jennifer Rush (review)
Waistcoats & Weaponry by Gail Carriger (review coming soon)
This Shattered World by Kaufman & Spooner (review coming soon)
Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White (review coming soon)

IT WAS OKAY...

Time Killers by Kazue Kato (review)
The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt (review)
The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg (DNF review coming soon)

I WAITED FOR THIS?

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis (review)
Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard (review)
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
The Fourth Wish by Lindsay Ribar (review)
Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott (review)
Hungry by H.A. Swain (review)

It's exciting just how many were worth the wait this year!! Although unfortunately there were quite a few disappointments as well, most of them serious disappointments (I'm still sniffling over The Fourth Wish). The rest of my 2014 WoW picks are either 2015 titles I have yet to get my hands on, or reads I just haven't been able to get to yet. So many reads, so little time...

So have you read any of these? What did you think of them? 



Thank you to Inspiring Insomnia for letting me swipe the idea for this post!

Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week's topic: 

Top 10 (Well, 12) Books On My Winter TBR

A few Winter must-reads, 
a few Bloomsbury reviews, 
a few titles I've put off for far too long,
and a few manga series to continue!
All are already on hand or soon to be!

1. This Shattered World (Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner) - These Broken Stars was my favorite 2013 read, so this has been my most anticipated 2014 release!
2. All Fall Down (Ally Carter) - Love Ally's writing so I'm excited to begin her new series! And I just became an #AllyAmbassador, so you'll hear a lot more about this book from me in the coming months! 
3. Captive (Aimée Carter) - Enjoyed the first book (Pawn), so I'm looking forward to continuing the series!
4. The Imaginary (A.F. Harrold) - This looks like an awesome children's read - can't wait!
5. The Start of Me and You (Emery Lord) - Enjoyed Emery's debut so looking forward to more from her!
6. Soulprint (Megan Miranda) - Such an interesting concept, I couldn't resist!
7. The Paper Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg) - Paper magic is my favorite kind - so excited to dig into this series soon!
8. The Glass Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg) - As I have both, I can't read just the first book, right? ;)
9. Steelheart (Brandon Sanderson) - Love Brandon's writing and superheroes - how have I not made time for this before?
10. Vicious (V.E. Schwab) - Okay, world, okay, I'm getting to this already! Stop constantly reminding me that it's the best read since ever and I should've read it already! I hear you and my copy is on its way!
11. xxxHoLic Rei Vol. 2 (CLAMP) - So stoked to be getting more from the xxxHoLic world, which is my favorite from CLAMP!
12. Millennium Snow Vol. 4 (Bisco Hatori) - Sad to see the series end with this volume, but after so many years of waiting I also can't wait to see how it ends!

So what's in your winter TBR pile?

Waiting On Wednesday: The Paper Magician (Charlie N. Holmberg)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blogging event hosted by Breaking the Spine, in which one spotlights an upcoming release they are eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Title: The Paper Magician

Author: Charlie N. Holmberg

Release Date: September 1, 2014
Publisher: 47North

Summary:

Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic…forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

Add to Goodreads

Why I'm Looking Forward To It: Major thanks to Shae for putting this on my radar! It's exactly my sort of story - as a reader and a writer, paper magic is one of my favorite forms of magic! Love the cover, love that the second book comes out in November (no year-long wait - woohoo!), love that a GR reviewer said "[i]t has a lot of the same flavor as Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones", which is one of my favorite reads ever. Cannot wait!

So what book are you waiting on?