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lauraew333's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Complete waste of time, honestly. The author doesn't do anything to world build, character build, or plot build. I found the characters flat and uninteresting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
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.
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.
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
anna_valdi's review against another edition
Takes too long to get to the point, wich I couldn't care less cos it seems to go nowhere. Sexualizing girls when it's not needed at all. I like the characters. They are real people making mistakes and doing shit but reading I feel like i'm constantly waiting for something to happen, idk, something to care for, and there is none.
Future me, if you try to read it again: there are too many books out there, fantastic books. Do NOT waste your time with this one. If you want to know what happens, just watch the series.
Future me, if you try to read it again: there are too many books out there, fantastic books. Do NOT waste your time with this one. If you want to know what happens, just watch the series.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
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
jennlongb's review
Imagine a college-aged Harry Potter that doesn’t actually do much magic — or much of anything. There doesn’t seem to be a definable plot, goal, or conflict. Things just happen, and then the story goes on. The main character over or under sexualizes his female peers, and seems to be offended when they don’t fall for him. He even is offended that his gay (or bi) friend didn’t try to sleep with him, even though he himself is not gay, or bi. But really, nothing of note happened in the first 34%. A couple people died, but was it exciting? Were the deaths impactful? No. I probably could have forgiven some of the sexuality and language if the plot was compelling, but I was just too bored to spend more time on it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence
acopytopy's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
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
lms33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Pedophilia
emcbuckett's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- 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
2.25
This is basically a combination of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia except with a lot more alcohol and sex. The author refers to the workings of his main characters body far more often than is necessary or helpful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
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