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tbd24's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Death, Addiction, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Homophobia, Excrement, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Child death, Ableism, Suicide, Misogyny, Cursing, and Violence
rc_boxnut's review
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pedophilia and Child abuse
trekkifulshay's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexism
rxh05d's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Ableism
Minor: Pedophilia and Sexual assault
kbabs88's review against another edition
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’.
CS Lewis, some aspects felt even a little ‘lifted from’.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
Had a weird moment of sexual non consent
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