Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Magicians

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

7 reviews

simonas'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? Yes

0.25

This might be the worst thing I have read in like five years. Quentin is aggressively unlikeable, relentlessly objectifying and misogynistic, and incapable of growth or self reflection. The misogyny in this book is inescapable: if a female character’s breasts aren’t described in the first sentence, be assured they will be in the second. The plot is so fast-paced that it feels rushed, and while I can see the intention of genre satire in this book I do not care for it.

Eliot carries that 0.25.

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csmall73's review

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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.

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tbd24's review

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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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rc_boxnut's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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trekkifulshay's review

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dark mysterious tense 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

1.0

So much stuff lifted directly from Narnia. What wasn't isn't that great. I forced myself to read this. Worst book I've read this year.

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rxh05d's review

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2.0

If you can make it to the end of this book, you can start to see what Grossman is trying to do with it. The theme of the book is a good one and you can see that Quentin is an unreliable narrator, being self-absorbed and emotionally immature. The problems with the book are 1) it took way too long to get there with a lot of unnecessary stuff in the middle. 2) Plot holes, thin characters, and unnecessary trauma make it appear that Grossman was too enamoured by the *idea* of his book ("what if I took Narnia but satirized everything problematic about it and made it gritty and grimdark?") to actually think through and tighten up his plot. 3) It has copious examples of sexism, homophobia, and ableism (racism too but only by virtue of everyone being white) and it at least appears that these are not caused by unreliable narrator Quentin but are actually how Grossman thinks and believes humans think.

I read this because we're sheltering in place, my roommate had these from the library, and I want to design a d&d campaign set in this world so I wanted to understand the magic system better. But honestly... just watch the show. It's got everything the book doesn't and does a way better job with Quentin.

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kbabs88's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

2.0

This book was just not for me. Had friends who really loved it, I did not care for the tone of the authors writing style. Interesting darker take on magic system and how it affects magic users. Draws very heavily on influences to Harry Potter (magic school)- but read to me as this reference was only a means to position this story as being better than too juvenile Potter while this was edgy. Later book also had heavy influence from
CS Lewis, some aspects felt even a little ‘lifted from’.

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