Starred Review Kurara lives a lowly life as a servant in a floating sky city, hiding a secret ability. As a Crafter, she can control paper to make anything she wants, including fantastical paper beings called shikigami. When her best friend, Haru, suffers what should be a fatal attack, she discovers that he is a rare shikigami in human form d while his paper body was destroyed, his core remains intact. Accompanied by a mysterious stranger named Himura, Kurara sets out on a journey to learn about Crafting and impress the dangerous and mercurial princess who holds the knowledge to reviving Haru. This debut, the first in a trilogy, creates a fascinating world based on Japanese mythology and has a unique magic system. The characters are thinly developed and inconsistent e particular character's behavior is shocking and disappointing, although their motivations may become clearer as the trilogy progresses. Despite this criticism, the uniqueness of the world created in the story makes this a book adventure fantasy lovers will enjoy.

Steampunk meets fantasy in this thrilling debut from Sei Lin, inspired by Japanese history and culture. Teenage Kurara—who is a Crafter, a person born with the rare ability to bring origami to life—and her childhood friend Haru work as servants aboard the Midori, an airborne way station floating over the Mikoshiman Empire. When the Midori is attacked by a shikigami—or paper brought to life—in the form of a dragon, Kurara and Haru team up with stoic and sharp Himura, a fellow Crafter, to survive. But Kurara loses sight of Haru in their perilous escape. Her only chance to save him is to hunt shikigami for Princess Tsukimi as one of her elite Crafters. As Kurara trains with Himura and his ragtag crew, she delves deeper into the secrets of the empire, questions what the princess truly wants with the shikigami, and struggles to determine where her loyalties and magical responsibility lie. Sei Lin expertly weaves themes of longing, grief, and courage among visceral worldbuilding, which is conveyed via intricately detailed prose. Distinctly rendered characters debate nuanced questions of morality against a backdrop of white-knuckle action sequences in this suspenseful series opener. Characters cue as being of East Asian descent. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Gr 7 Up— The first installment of a Japanese-inspired steampunk fantasy for fans of Elizabeth Lim's Six Crimson Cranes and Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away . Himura is a Crafter, able to control paper and the origami creatures it creates, a power inherited from his ancestors. Shikigami can be the size of a mountain or as small as a mouse, while the crafters who make and control them serve the imperial family—or live in hiding. Kurara, a servant in the Midori flying banquet halls, serves sailors by day and practices her Crafter abilities in secret. Kurara's world is turned upside down the day Himura finds her and the Midori is destroyed by a shikigami. During their escape, Kurara's best friend Haru is revealed to be a shikigami in human form. Himura manages to save Haru's heart, but the only way to restore him is for Kurara to enter Princess Tsukimi's service and hope to impress the mercurial royal. The unique magic system and worldbuilding are neatly integrated without heavy-handed exposition, engrossing readers in flying cities and origami-wielding soldiers in a world-spanning adventure. Lin cultivates high-octane action sequences and layered, character-driven mysteries, moving effortlessly between different points of view. The character arcs feel incomplete, but there is hope future installments will flesh out what feels thin. Characters read as East Asian. VERDICT A diverse fantasy adventure about power, responsibility, and hope. Strongly recommended for YA collections.— Emmy Neal