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tbd24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Death, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Homophobia, Excrement, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Child death, Ableism, Suicide, Misogyny, Cursing, and Violence
minechatz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I generally find shitty book protagonists to be interesting with the caveat that they're written well. Quentin isn't written especially well. He's got like, the self-infatuation of Ged from Earthsea, without any of the nuance that made Ged interesting and, eventually, redeemable. Not that a protagonist needs to be redeemable -- but they do need to be interesting. Quentin just is.
My sense is that this book was written as a part of the "gritty fairy tale" tide that produced one good thing [i.e. Wicked] and many, many stinkers. Like many of those stinkers, The Magicians doesn't understand what made the original stories tick, and isn't actually interested in subverting them. Its interest begins and ends in being able to say, "Oh, aren't I cooler than you for not caring?" [TW: CSA.]
I don't super mind that the book sort of skipped through Brakebills, and at first thought it was maybe a good choice. Grossman assumed we were familiar with the notion of magic school, and only really showed us his innovations on the form. Fair play. The issue came in when the book never stopped skipping through things. Episodic stories can work, of course, but in Magicians it's simply disjointed. It felt like we were constantly speeding through a part of the tape to get to the good bit, but the good bit never came.
The way The Beast was described was compelling. It's just too bad he only showed up twice. Most of the really interesting and compelling bits -- the things that made me keep reading -- only show up once or twice. In my opinion, if Grossman had developed things like The Beast, and the notion of magic as G-d's tools, this book would have earned all the rave reviews on its cover. As it is, it's aged pretty poorly. I genuinely feel like if this had gotten some more structural edits it would be much, much better.
tl;dr It's compelling enough for me to get the next one from the library, but I would be a little annoyed if I had bought this. You know?
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Body horror, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse
giulianac27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Blood, Alcohol, Medical trauma, and Cursing
ireadinbed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Lev Grossman is a deeply weird person. There's way too many weird phrases about balls and people fucking animals. . .or being animals fucking. . .idk it's weird.
Also I fucking hate the main character. He's getting a bit more bearable at the end, and no one says the main character has to be likable(I love the poppy war and the main character is an insufferable drug addicted war criminal), but it's like reading catcher in the rye with magic and I can't explain how much I hated Holden in that book. They are the same.
I do however love some of the supporting cast and the way that the books never feel like they are going to let you see the point. The only dance around it. Interested to see where they go.
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual harassment
azebrareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit