Reviews

Il mago by Lev Grossman

kilachu's review

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2.0

Ho iniziato questo libro perché ero rimasta colpita dalla serie tv, ma forse sono partita con delle aspettative troppo alte che non mi hanno fatto apprezzare totalmente la lettura.
Lo sviluppo non era quello che mi aspettavo, l'ho trovato lento e ho decisamente odiato il protagonista.

Ho anche il secondo libro e forse un giorno lo leggerò, per ora preferisco di gran lunga guardarmi la serie (è molto più efficace la messa in scena, secondo me.)

aduchene's review against another edition

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2.0

For me, this was a sad cross between Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. An imitation where the narration didn't quite let me escape the pessimistic masochist that is the main character. It seemed to drag on for centuries, without me developing any attachment or relationship to any of the characters or scenes, except maybe their time at the South Campus. Perhaps, if it had ended sooner or been split into smaller books with a thicker plot I would have enjoyed it. Instead, although it all worked up to the end plot point, I found no ultimate climax, and perhaps the moment with the niffin transformation could have been the perfect moment, everything after turned back to a whiny reality with no real transformation, which would have been better off starting the second book instead of leaving the reader bored and sick of angst. I don't think I'll continue reading the series, there is little enchantment here for me.


What Happens "When Millennials go to the School of Magic": https://lifeshouldbelit.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/what-happens-when-millennials-go-to-the-school-of-magic/

evelyn87's review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted to give this a 3.5 but wasn’t sure how! I did really enjoy this but the reviews gave me a false idea of what this book was actually about.
The first 40% of the book covers four whole years of magic school and the whole plot is mostly focused on the Narnia-Esqe world of Fillory.
I love the characters, in particular Alice, Quentin and Eliot but I found that overall all the characters are quite damaged and depressed, all having their own demons. Fillory appears to be an escape from the real world, expecting a fantasy and exciting world and finding quite the opposite.
I think this book is about what it is to be human, and the lifelong obsession to find peace and happiness and a strong feeling of existential crisis throughout!

lmealing's review against another edition

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2.0

This book was honestly disappointing. More than half the book was almost entirely exposition with a few poorly developed scenes intermittently throughout. By the time the author started actually *showing* scenes after hand waving away 4 years of non-story, Quentin had become so unlikeable, I was essentially skimming just to finish it. This is one of the rare cases where the TV show is significantly better than the book.

eched's review against another edition

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5.0

Still like it. Still think all the characters are selfish assholes.

jfcc's review against another edition

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2.0

Antes de relatar a estranha experiência que foi ler Os Mágicos, tenho de referir que tenho seguido a série do canal Syfy, baseada no livro, a qual tem sido fenomenal na sua introdução deste estranho mundo de magia, aliás, mundos.
Como tal decidi dar ao primogénito a oportunidade de ser tão deslumbrante e aqui decorre o meu erro. Os dois não poderiam ser mais diferentes um do outro e foi-me difícil discernir os dois fios condutores como objectos distintos. De facto, o livro não me foi completamente satisfatório como a série.
Grossman ao longo de quase 400 páginas descreve-nos um conjunto de miúdos academicamente brilhantes que possuem a faísca extra que os permite dominar a magia, uma força que nunca é precisamente descrita. O estudo desta força, pelo grupos dos nossos heróis é o alvo do foco de metade do livro e, para mim, nunca foi satisfatoriamente abordado. Aliás, a minha crítica principal à escrita do autor passa por descrever em excesso certos pontos, para nunca os terminar de maneira capaz, antes apressada, como um intervalo de televisão mal colocado ao ver um filme. O mesmo revela-se na acção, com excessos temporais que não a servem bem.
As personagens, inicialmente interessantes, aborreceram-me a meio caminho, especialmente Quentin, o "herói" desta narrativa. O que no fim transparece destas personagens é a sua arrogância, mau discernimento e a infelicidade com todos os aspectos da vida, que culmina, não numa evolução satisfatória do estado de espírito (tendo em conta as aventuras que passaram ao longo de 5/6 anos), mas num estado de complacência, que me parece apenas vai progredir para pior, nos livros subsequentes.
O que me aliciou mais na história foi o potencial da construção dos mundos que Grossman poderia evoluir, mas certamente nunca acontece, sempre interrompido por acontecimentos aleatórios (ou mal explicados) ou por infortúnios adolescentes da parte do Quentin.
Talvez tenha sido a oportunidade errada para ler o livro, ou a presença primária da série ter influenciado a minha opinião, mas fica a ideia de um livro com muito potencial, mas como que interrompido.

tmitch17's review against another edition

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2.0

I'm really easy to please when it comes to books.....but this is hot garbage. I will not be revisiting this series. Beginning was interesting and then it just fell flat.

sharnibee's review against another edition

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3.0

Really enjoyed the first half of the book while they were at school but then things took a rather insufferable turn... I’m probably curious enough to keep going though!

mountainhomereads's review against another edition

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4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I was speaking to one of my bookstagram friends the other days about books of course. They started reading The Magicians by Alec Grossman! It remainders me how much I absolutely adored this book! It’s has some problems with it for sure but beyond that I enjoyed this way more then I should have lol! It has such an interesting plot and the characters are super fascinating! The whole series is definitely worth the read! Basically it’s about if drug addled adults stumbled upon Narnia and the chaos that ensues.

colls's review against another edition

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3.0

Quite a disappointing main character and full of superfluous language. There was nothing dramatically unique about the plot and it dragged a bit in spots. Despite all that, it was interesting enough to keep me reading.