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leordanete's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The Magician King is so much better than The Magicians! I actually enjoyed Quentin's voice and perspective and being able to finally see him grow as a character. I also enjoyed the change in POV and time between Julia in the past & Quentin in the present. I missed Eliot in the beginning but glad he comes into the story as well! The characters are enjoyable and complex-- especially Julia. I also appreciated Grossman's writing style more in this book and liked when he got more lighthearted and funny, but there was still some foul language that I found unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Rape
medini_l's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: Vomit
annorabrady's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
I read the Magicians years ago and finally decided to try my hands at its sequel. Maybe the flaws are more pronounced in this book or I've grown enough as a person since reading the first book that I'm more aware or the flaws but either way I could not like this book even if I tried.
The characters are all pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental people who don't grow out of those qualities. Rather they seem to prefer and seem to be giving the message that that's how one achieves greatness.
And even when they have the chance for the chance for any marker of true friendship (compassion, trust, respect, etc), it's only acted on when all other options are exhausted and only as a means to an end.
Also incredibly sensitive subjects like SA are handled so indelicately and with the obvious faults that derive from men writing women without input from women. The author even went so far as to say the victim enjoyed the violence against her and that without said violence she would have never achieved the level of greatness she did.
When it came to the actual plot, everything came too easily or resolved itself without any real character work. A lot of the real challenges seem to have occurred off-page and we the readers are just vaguely told about what happened. No one earned the keys or the saving of magic. There wasn't even a real representation of the magic being lost. Just a general idea that it could happen. We aren't even really given an example of why humans should even have magic since all of it is used for selfish reasons. I can't think of any moment in the book where magic was used for a purpose that was even a small benefit for the rest of the world.
The characters are all pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental people who don't grow out of those qualities. Rather they seem to prefer and seem to be giving the message that that's how one achieves greatness.
And even when they have the chance for the chance for any marker of true friendship (compassion, trust, respect, etc), it's only acted on when all other options are exhausted and only as a means to an end.
Also incredibly sensitive subjects like SA are handled so indelicately and with the obvious faults that derive from men writing women without input from women. The author even went so far as to say the victim enjoyed the violence against her and that without said violence she would have never achieved the level of greatness she did.
When it came to the actual plot, everything came too easily or resolved itself without any real character work. A lot of the real challenges seem to have occurred off-page and we the readers are just vaguely told about what happened. No one earned the keys or the saving of magic. There wasn't even a real representation of the magic being lost. Just a general idea that it could happen. We aren't even really given an example of why humans should even have magic since all of it is used for selfish reasons. I can't think of any moment in the book where magic was used for a purpose that was even a small benefit for the rest of the world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Forced institutionalization
haleyrayreads's review against another edition
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
3.75
I enjoyed this book slightly more than the first one. The plot definitely moved at a more steady pace than its predecessor and the focus was more on the plot than being forced to live in our main character’s head. I appreciate the swifter pace and the more plot driven aspect of the story rather than it being character driven.
I still really don’t like the characters as a whole. They still tend to be on the selfish side and it makes it hard to care about their fates as a whole. The only characters I really felt anything for are Eliot and Julia, who, while being important, aren’t our main character.
I’m surprised there was no trigger warning for sexual violence and I would have been very upset readingJulia’s rape at the hands of the trickster god and the graphic depiction of violence in the scene if I hadn’t had prior knowledge from my husband.
All in all this is an entertaining read and I’m glad I didn’t let my feelings about the first book keep me from reading this one, even though this will likely not be high on the ‘reread’ list.
I still really don’t like the characters as a whole. They still tend to be on the selfish side and it makes it hard to care about their fates as a whole. The only characters I really felt anything for are Eliot and Julia, who, while being important, aren’t our main character.
I’m surprised there was no trigger warning for sexual violence and I would have been very upset reading
All in all this is an entertaining read and I’m glad I didn’t let my feelings about the first book keep me from reading this one, even though this will likely not be high on the ‘reread’ list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-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
4.0
I really, really enjoyed this (as expected). It got its hooks into me because I finished this over a week ago and I am *still* angry about the ending. It's a great ending in a writing sense - I was so wrapped up in everything else the possibility didn't occur to me. But it's strong and dramatic and sets up *so many* questions for the next book and in that way, it's brilliant. I haven't seen much of the show, so the content is still new and exciting for me!
My biggest qualm is the way Julia's story was handled. There's an aspect to the general journey that I understand, but her critical moment was absolutely unnecessary and could have been handled without sexual violence.
Otherwise, this book had a great sense of urgency, a lot of appropriately frustrating moments that kept me engrossed as a ready, and the right balance of magic and not to be compelling without feeling impossible (in its setting).
My biggest qualm is the way Julia's story was handled. There's an aspect to the general journey that I understand, but her critical moment was absolutely unnecessary and could have been handled without sexual violence.
Otherwise, this book had a great sense of urgency, a lot of appropriately frustrating moments that kept me engrossed as a ready, and the right balance of magic and not to be compelling without feeling impossible (in its setting).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Grief, Rape, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Classism and Terminal illness
camillesuzannes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-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
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Sexual violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Alcoholism, and Child abuse
ashlightgrayson's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Julia had the most amazing character development in this story and she is really what made this book outstanding. It is very clear that a if there is one thing that all of the magic users in this book have is ambition and their mental health issues. Magic can really screw you over and that seems to be the ongoing theme in this world. Quentin isn’t nearly as depressed as he was at the beginning of the first book and he’s become more self aware of his bad decisions, but his ambition keeps getting him transported into different worlds and into trouble. Julia is acting quite strange and no one really knows what happened to her in the time that everyone else was in Brakebills. We slowly find out more and more and her story ends up being both amazing and tragic. It also strongly reflects the loss Quentin had by the end of the first book. Furthermore, it reflects how Julia has grown as a person. I’m assuming we’ll be seeing Quentin grow more and learn from the consequences of his actions. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Julia either. I’m looking forward to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Sexual content
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