Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

17 reviews

morgnicole's review against another edition

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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!
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crosbyjaye's review

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I just couldn't get into it. None of the characters are likable, the first half of the book spans several years wherein nothing feels like it carries any weight to the story. It didn't feel like it was building to go anywhere, it just felt like the characters were all miserable and nothing mattered. Every time it seemed like something was going to happen, we'd jump 6 months to a sex scene. 
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maximus_midnight's review against another edition

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

3.0

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lauraew333's review

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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.
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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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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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_lilyeliza_'s review

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

3.25

goddamn this book was frustrating. at first it was fun, then by about 200, i was sick of it. i think that’s kind of the point, you progress with the mindset of quentin as you go. but it makes it so hard to finish this book. the pacing is very hard to read. it goes so so fast, but it feels like they’ve done nothing. it’s supposed to be the same frustrations as quentin, but once again, it’s a struggle to finish this book. the worldbuilding is also frustrating, as it feels like there is no worldbuilding until quentin himself is experiencing it. there’s no worldbuilding outside the plot, even simple things like the entire backstory of the library (something quentin wouldn’t know) aren’t explained until he walks into the library for an arbitrary reason.
the best example of this is right before he goes to brakebills south, he goes “i’ve always wondered about the mystery of the fourth years”, but he hasn’t wondered! we’ve never heard about this until right now!
  also quentin is just an asshole!! his struggles are relatable and sympathetic and it’s easy to empathize with him, but gosh it’s frustrating. he feels entitled in his own story, we see it play out over and over again. he believes that he deserves to be the main character, and the fact that he hasn’t stumbled into a quest means that he gives up on it all. i understand what we’re looking at, but to ONLY see the world through his eyes is just frustrating. he becomes so apathetic and insensitive. he spends the entire book being incredibly self centered, but it feels like he never learns.
alice dying for him so that he can go to become king is the most frustrating shit. they fixed all their problems right at the end and now she’s a martyr so he can go save the day!! no bitch, you’re still a dick and you don’t deserve this.
but yeah, it’s a technically good book and makes very good critiques of its own characters. but at the end of the day, i think books should be enjoyable to read and this one was not. also, the fox thing was weird and lowkey creepy. 
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haleyrayreads's review against another edition

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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. 
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audriew9's review

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

2.5

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jmeier's review against another edition

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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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