Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

16 reviews

deathmetalheron's review

dark funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

jess02448's review

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Infidelity, and Alcohol

tbd24's review

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

• 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

I rather like this series, this is the second time i’ve read it and there are just really great turns of phrase in the prose. I love world building and this book embraces that times three, the magic system is cool and complicated and the characters are never just good people. Quentin is shitty and obnoxious but like what 17 yr old “gifted kid” isn’t? There’s a few questionable moments, the author loves to make women suffer viscerally a little too much in my opinion, but at least he still remembers to make them people. Overall, it’s a good read and an interesting series

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

lms33's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia

hyperashley's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Drug use

daretodream03's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Ableism and Homophobia

medini_l's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Sexism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

kyriross's review

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The story itself is amazing. The magic system is well realized, the elements of the story are wildly creative, and the prose is exceptional.  The themes and morals of the story are clear, but masterfully woven throughout so that they aren't obnoxious or pedantic. 

The issue is primarily with the pacing. The rapid shifts between chapter-long detail of one event and single-sentence passage of time tends to give a reader whiplash. There also just wasn't enough- of Brakebills or

Fillory

. The other sections were good and valuable, but I wish we had more time in those places. 

The characters are also extremely non-diverse, and uniformly unlikeable. It would have been nice to have at least one character who isn't deeply unlikable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zohannah's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

jmeier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I would give this book a five if it weren't for the mild to moderate ableism, racism, and overall attitude of white privileged. The characters are all white. The setting is all white. The narrator and protagonist us multiple disability slurs and is deeply judgemental of neurodiverse coded characters. I love the story, but it reads like something from the 80s at points, not 2009.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol