Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

5 reviews

emoryjoy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.0

This never happens... The show is better. That may be in large part due to the fact that in the show, you don't get Quentin's inner monologue. If this is what the average man's thoughts are like, then you can have me down as a certified man hater. He is a very sad man who needs more therapy than he would ever be willing to pursue. 

I've listened to this book twice now, (it's my cousin's favorite and I really tried to like it-) and I hated it both times. I will say this though, this book accidentally kicked me out of my reading slump. It was so awful that I needed a pallet cleanser and so I checked out all of my favorite childhood series and then was able to start reading all of these other things that had been on my list. I'm updating this review about 2 years later and I have not slowed down my reading since then. So it gets an extra star for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bookbelle5_17's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Review of The Magicians

By: Lev Grossman

Quentin Coldwater lives a mundane existence, and his only comfort is his favorite childhood fantasy series, the Fillory books.  During his college interview he finds out that not only is magic real, but there’s a school where you can learn magic.  Living a life as a magician might be more complicated and complex than he realizes and Fillory itself is real.

This is a fantasy series that is definitely for adults with its more mature themes such as depression and using magic as an outlet.  All the students depend on magic and use as a way to cope with their problems.  As a main character Quentin is selfish and is never satisfied. He hopes magic will make him happy, but when things become easy for him, he gets bored. He is a flawed character that has main character syndrome as he thinks the world revolves on his problems.  Each character we meet has issues outside that magical world of Brakebills and magic helps them cope.  Alice doesn’t have the best relationship with her parents and doesn’t feel like you can’t live up to the burden of magic.  She doesn’t want it take over her life.  Eliot is a black sheep in his family and as a gay young man he doesn’t fit in with. Brakebills and magic becomes his solace.  Janet seems like an angry, scared, and girl that plays the bitch to survive.  Josh is someone who has magic he can’t control or understand.  Brakebills treats magic a like a science and academia, and we see Quentin’s progress, but it does allow his opinion of magic to evolve. Grossman explores how magic isn’t as a sugary, fun as we think it is. The first part is like a messier version of Hogwarts and the second part is an edgier Narnia. I like how because there are so many stories about magic schools, Grossman doesn’t spend time focusing individual school but treats it like being in college.   There is a darkness and grittiness to this world that is kind of charming in its way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, 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

auteaandtales's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship

azebrareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Grief