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morgnicole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fucked up and depressing. Loved it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Grief
emilycharter's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A mix of “Harry Potter” and “Narnia” but with adult characters who make much worse decisions. Compelling story-telling, easy to keep reading for the most part, a couple slow sections. None of the characters endeared me to them very much. This first book of the series covers at least 6 years of time, which made it feel like some parts were rushed. Will still likely read the rest of this series to find out what happens next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content
Spoiler for description of violent injury:crescentsays's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I went into The Magicians hoping for an immersive and magical experience, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. The main character, Quentin, is insufferably whiny and self-centered, making it hard to root for or even care about him. His lack of growth and depth made the journey feel like a slog.
On the positive side, the setting of Brakebills was captivating. The magical school had so much potential to shine as the central focus of the story. Unfortunately, the plot sprawled beyond the school into areas that felt unnecessary and less engaging. If the book had just focused on the school and its intricacies, I think it could have been something truly special.
Instead, the narrative leaned heavily on plot over character development. I found myself detached from the characters, unable to form any real connection to their struggles or triumphs. The emphasis on moving the story forward at the expense of deeper emotional engagement left me cold.
While some readers may enjoy the darker, grittier take on fantasy, The Magicians just didn’t work for me. If you’re looking for a more character-driven or school-centered story, this might not be the one for you. That said, I am too curious not to at least try the next book.
On the positive side, the setting of Brakebills was captivating. The magical school had so much potential to shine as the central focus of the story. Unfortunately, the plot sprawled beyond the school into areas that felt unnecessary and less engaging. If the book had just focused on the school and its intricacies, I think it could have been something truly special.
Instead, the narrative leaned heavily on plot over character development. I found myself detached from the characters, unable to form any real connection to their struggles or triumphs. The emphasis on moving the story forward at the expense of deeper emotional engagement left me cold.
While some readers may enjoy the darker, grittier take on fantasy, The Magicians just didn’t work for me. If you’re looking for a more character-driven or school-centered story, this might not be the one for you. That said, I am too curious not to at least try the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
csmall73's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
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
3.0
Its a strange story. Quentin is swept into a magical world of breakbills and magical college essentially. His entire time at breakbills is encompassed in the first part of the book. There’s no threats or quests. Seems more like a diary of his time there.
Reading about some of the sexual encounters of his peers was odd and detached. I found Quentin’s and Alice’s fox encounter weird and borderline SA. I say borderline because it appears so but also he was unprepared for his animal brain at the time. Then the ensuing relationship seems detached like a friends with benefits but not?
All seem lost in fucking, philosophical discussion, wine and lack of real motivation. Like bunch of rich kids that never had a job or purpose in life. Existential crisis. Amidst this existential crisis Quentin cheats on Alice.
Fillory, keeps popping up in passing as well as other worlds but no real connection with the story other than a childhood fascination with the world. 300/402 pages with nothing insight. Then all of a sudden a forgotten side character happens upon a way to Fillory. Out of the blue. I don’t understand why penny would come to them specifically after having issues in school with one another and distancing himself from them specifically.
Alice is an underestimated queen. Quentin is a petty asshole about the breakup and the consequences that come his way.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
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
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Infidelity, and Alcohol
distractible's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, and Violence
Minor: Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Sexual content
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
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
minechatz's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-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
2.0
I really loved Eliot. Wish I could airdrop him out of this book and into one that understands like, addiction and homophobia.
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.]The clearest manifestation of this is saying that one character was molested by the author who wrote down his magical adventures for publication. This is a clear pass at James Matthew Barrie, who didn't actually do that. Even if he had -- there's something to actually explore there, about the exploitation of childhood even by beloved adults. Grossman isn't interested in any such exploration.
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?
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?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, and Pedophilia
Minor: Child abuse
haleyrayreads's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The concept of this book is great, the characters are okay, but the plot drags a bit. I appreciate not being dragged through separate books for each year of school but the transition between years could be abrupt and unclear at times.
The story is mainly driven by character who are pretty one note and their motivations are questionable at best. Their main quest is motivated by ‘well we aren’t doing anything else right now.’ and it takes forever to get to that point. This first 2/3 if this book was so slow. However, once they’re off on their quest the story moves at a more brisk pace that’s refreshing until the main antagonist is taken care of. After that it goes on several chapters too long. It felt like every time a chapter ended I thought that was the end, then there was even more story that served no purpose than to allow readers to wallow in our narrator’s sorrow. This could have been cut in half or more and gotten the same point across.
The concept is great and it’s a fun story with some adjustments, but the pacing, character development, and casual use of ableist and fatphobic language would make me hesitate to read this particular book again.
The story is mainly driven by character who are pretty one note and their motivations are questionable at best. Their main quest is motivated by ‘well we aren’t doing anything else right now.’ and it takes forever to get to that point. This first 2/3 if this book was so slow. However, once they’re off on their quest the story moves at a more brisk pace that’s refreshing until the main antagonist is taken care of. After that it goes on several chapters too long. It felt like every time a chapter ended I thought that was the end, then there was even more story that served no purpose than to allow readers to wallow in our narrator’s sorrow. This could have been cut in half or more and gotten the same point across.
The concept is great and it’s a fun story with some adjustments, but the pacing, character development, and casual use of ableist and fatphobic language would make me hesitate to read this particular book again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, and Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship