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Made of Folded Paper
College friendships are supposed to last a lifetime… But this is a little more complicated…
Will, a daydreamer and romantic from small-town Iowa, starts his first year at Weston Academy of the Arts, where his peers nickname him “Iowa.” Iowa becomes acquainted with a charismatic thespian named LA, who introduces him to his two best friends—Cynic, a suave and sardonic musician, and Charlie, a reserved and enigmatic writer.
Over time, Iowa becomes increasingly fascinated with his three new friends in different ways, forming a brotherly bond with LA and a more complex connection with Cynic. Only Charlie remains distant, capturing Iowa’s intrigue most of all.
When Iowa catches a glimpse of an alarming scar on Charlie’s chest, he becomes obsessively concerned about him. He begins to view Charlie as a fragile, tragic figure—but when he finally breaks through Charlie’s barriers, he discovers that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As Iowa is overcome by intensifying feelings for Charlie, the group dynamic grows tense. It turns out Charlie and Cynic have a history, and seeing Charlie and Iowa together just might be enough to drive Cynic off the rails…
As graduation approaches, the four friends’ relationships are tested by jealousy, heartbreak and tragedy. Will love be enough to hold them together in the end?
Reader advisory: This book includes the death of a character in a drunk-driving incident. There are mentions of substance abuse, self-harm and depression, as well as mentions of suicide, homophobia, and transphobia.
Will, a daydreamer and romantic from small-town Iowa, starts his first year at Weston Academy of the Arts, where his peers nickname him “Iowa.” Iowa becomes acquainted with a charismatic thespian named LA, who introduces him to his two best friends—Cynic, a suave and sardonic musician, and Charlie, a reserved and enigmatic writer.
Over time, Iowa becomes increasingly fascinated with his three new friends in different ways, forming a brotherly bond with LA and a more complex connection with Cynic. Only Charlie remains distant, capturing Iowa’s intrigue most of all.
When Iowa catches a glimpse of an alarming scar on Charlie’s chest, he becomes obsessively concerned about him. He begins to view Charlie as a fragile, tragic figure—but when he finally breaks through Charlie’s barriers, he discovers that this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As Iowa is overcome by intensifying feelings for Charlie, the group dynamic grows tense. It turns out Charlie and Cynic have a history, and seeing Charlie and Iowa together just might be enough to drive Cynic off the rails…
As graduation approaches, the four friends’ relationships are tested by jealousy, heartbreak and tragedy. Will love be enough to hold them together in the end?
Reader advisory: This book includes the death of a character in a drunk-driving incident. There are mentions of substance abuse, self-harm and depression, as well as mentions of suicide, homophobia, and transphobia.
- GenresM M Romance
139 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2022
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 12, 2023
This is a tough one to rate because I think it was written for a highly specific audience, which is queer men. So I think if you’re a queer guy who loves coming of age stories, try this.
Review here:
https://youtu.be/2HPprNL7LCQ
I was commissioned to read this, (not by the author) however that does not affect my review or rating.
Review here:
https://youtu.be/2HPprNL7LCQ
I was commissioned to read this, (not by the author) however that does not affect my review or rating.
July 31, 2022
A wonderful blend of dark academia and romance with some spicy scenes. The cast of characters is diverse and loveable in spite of and because of their flaws. This book will both charm and wound you. Highly recommend for fans of Donna Tartt and Hanya Yanagihara.
May 11, 2022
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
Made of Folded Paper is a contemporary novel from author Kai Wolden. It’s set mostly on a college campus in Michigan with a few scenes in Iowa, Boston, LA, and New York and told in first person perspective from Iowa’s point of view. Though the characters are all in college, their varied life experiences give the tone of the story a wonderful gravitas. Iowa and Cynic are the same age and about five years older than the average college junior. Both Iowa and Cynic seemed to have pretty detailed personal histories break through on the page. Conversely, I thought Charlie’s and LA’s backstories were only lightly fleshed out, but in a way that made it easy to conjecture that most of Charlie’s religious family probably rejected him when he came out as transgender and that LA’s total dedication to his art is likely a reflection of the Asian parent trope. Even Iowa feels so full and complete, despite having just a handful of concrete details about the character and how he uses his imagination to combat ennui. Wolden does a superb job conveying each unique character and writes them in a way that absolutely made me feel like each one was greater than the sum of his parts.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
Made of Folded Paper is a contemporary novel from author Kai Wolden. It’s set mostly on a college campus in Michigan with a few scenes in Iowa, Boston, LA, and New York and told in first person perspective from Iowa’s point of view. Though the characters are all in college, their varied life experiences give the tone of the story a wonderful gravitas. Iowa and Cynic are the same age and about five years older than the average college junior. Both Iowa and Cynic seemed to have pretty detailed personal histories break through on the page. Conversely, I thought Charlie’s and LA’s backstories were only lightly fleshed out, but in a way that made it easy to conjecture that most of Charlie’s religious family probably rejected him when he came out as transgender and that LA’s total dedication to his art is likely a reflection of the Asian parent trope. Even Iowa feels so full and complete, despite having just a handful of concrete details about the character and how he uses his imagination to combat ennui. Wolden does a superb job conveying each unique character and writes them in a way that absolutely made me feel like each one was greater than the sum of his parts.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
May 12, 2022
4,5*
This story gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. Which is told from the point of view of Will/ Iowa.
After saving and gathering courage he sets of to get a degree, as a slightly older student, in English literature at a university in Michigan. Once there he folds into a group of existing friends in the creative field; LA, Cyn and Charlie.
Iowa has to find his place and his confidence in this group. The characters are well built up, some more than others, but all well enough to relate to them through their actions and emotions.
All the characters have to go through personal growth and acceptance of actions by the others. I appreciate that we check in eith the characters several years after they left the university
Be aware that there will be a dead of one the named persons in the book and how the remaining persons all deal differently with that lose.
I was given a copy of the book through mmrr.
This story gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. Which is told from the point of view of Will/ Iowa.
After saving and gathering courage he sets of to get a degree, as a slightly older student, in English literature at a university in Michigan. Once there he folds into a group of existing friends in the creative field; LA, Cyn and Charlie.
Iowa has to find his place and his confidence in this group. The characters are well built up, some more than others, but all well enough to relate to them through their actions and emotions.
All the characters have to go through personal growth and acceptance of actions by the others. I appreciate that we check in eith the characters several years after they left the university
Be aware that there will be a dead of one the named persons in the book and how the remaining persons all deal differently with that lose.
I was given a copy of the book through mmrr.
July 15, 2023
Tiny jewel box
of heartsick love. Fine trans but
rotten grad school reps.
of heartsick love. Fine trans but
rotten grad school reps.
Read
February 3, 2025Accidentally found this author on tumblr and I laid down from 1am-4am tonight to read this book uhhhhhh
Anyways, I really liked the first half of it. I enjoyed the build up of Charlie’s mysterious distain for our narrator, (and I was really enjoying the writing overall) . However, I did start having some problems once the relationship develops. It’s like, after it starts, suddenly everything seemed rushed and haphazard. The tone of the writing completely shifted. The narrator is like “oh I’m dating” “oh our friend group is off” and then BAM totally literary cop out and the book is just over? What?
I thought the epilogue was good. A melancholic yet hopeful ending reminiscent of the one Richard Papen never got.
I think for concept, writing, narration, and character design I’d give this book 4-4.5 stars and for overall plot I’d give it like 2.5 maybe 3. Just hate when a death is used to draw everything to a conclusion idk. I enjoyed this book enough to stay up practically all night reading it though, so that should tell you something.
Anyways, I really liked the first half of it. I enjoyed the build up of Charlie’s mysterious distain for our narrator, (and I was really enjoying the writing overall) . However, I did start having some problems once the relationship develops. It’s like, after it starts, suddenly everything seemed rushed and haphazard. The tone of the writing completely shifted. The narrator is like “oh I’m dating” “oh our friend group is off” and then BAM totally literary cop out and the book is just over? What?
I thought the epilogue was good. A melancholic yet hopeful ending reminiscent of the one Richard Papen never got.
I think for concept, writing, narration, and character design I’d give this book 4-4.5 stars and for overall plot I’d give it like 2.5 maybe 3. Just hate when a death is used to draw everything to a conclusion idk. I enjoyed this book enough to stay up practically all night reading it though, so that should tell you something.
July 24, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this book. I got into it really quickly and found the characters to be interesting and well developed.
Kai Wolden is a good writer.
Kai Wolden is a good writer.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews