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danoreading's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. If I didn't have people I trust promising me that the next one is better, I wouldn't continue - I liked the story fine but Quentin is SO ANNOYING.
rokujo's review against another edition
5.0
I was a little nervous going into this because I love show Quentin and everyone seemed very polarized on their opinion of the book. Well I'm glad I finally read it because it is EVERYTHING to me. It so perfectly encapsulates my experience growing up and reckoning with adult life
farleighelse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
asears1133's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
fdvelizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
2.5
laz_burns_tin's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.75
depeachymode's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This could honestly have been four different books. It was written by someone who clearly has some kind of contempt for pre-Industrial fantasy which I definitely understand, but there wasn’t really any analysis of why it’s problematic so it sort of just came off as being written by and from the perspective of a nerd who resents the fact that he’s a nerd. Very uncool but it definitely had its moments.
nnewbykew's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ncteisen's review against another edition
5.0
Imagine if Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia had a child, but that child was depressed, mopey, and a little horny; maybe that child would look something like this book. Replete with lampshade-hangy references to to former parent and suspiciously devoid of those to the latter, The Magicians sits somewhere in between the two works.
It starts by exploring some college-age students in a magic university and transitions into an intense fantasy world quest novel, all while playing with adult themes like drugs and sex and big questions like "what if all your dreams came true but you were still unhappy?"
I love this book and have read it a few times. That being said, I can understand not liking this book if you don't like stories with characters that are hard to like (at least at first). I am re-reading now so I can remember it all before reading the third book, which I read once, but can't remember much about.
It starts by exploring some college-age students in a magic university and transitions into an intense fantasy world quest novel, all while playing with adult themes like drugs and sex and big questions like "what if all your dreams came true but you were still unhappy?"
I love this book and have read it a few times. That being said, I can understand not liking this book if you don't like stories with characters that are hard to like (at least at first). I am re-reading now so I can remember it all before reading the third book, which I read once, but can't remember much about.
littlevix's review against another edition
2.0
I tried hard to find some meaning in this book. I really did. To the very end - to the last page - I hoped for some kind of commentary on the bullshit that infuses every page. Some sort of change in the main character. I'm not talking about a complete change of character, just the smallest notion that maybe he could try to pursue some happiness or admit that the life he's been living doesn't necessarily need to continue to be so shitty. But at the very last page, I just got the confirmation that there is no underlying meaning in this book except to tell us how shitty life is. Even life in a magical world. Imagine that. Magic doesn't just... magically cure your depression. Huh.
I think one of the things that bothered me the most about this book, is that basically all the main characters (with one exception, and that exception is later used as some sort of martyr) are extremely unlikeable. Don’t get me wrong, I like jaded characters, but these people are honestly unlikeable. Often people can seem jaded at first, but then you get to know them and you see that they have weaknesses and sore spots too, like everyone else, and to an extent that redeems them and make them more, if not likeable, then at least understandable and relatable. But that just... never happens in this book. In fact, most of the characters come off as completely one-dimensional. The characters that are good stay good (so painstakingly good) through the whole book, the awkward misfits stay awkward misfits that are shunned by the rest of the characters to the very end, no matter what they do and how skilled they are and how they stand up for the others, and the douches stay douches. Not only do they stay douches, they somehow manage to become even more douchy as the story progresses.
For example, I really liked Eliot, but I kept waiting to see more of him... to grasp more of what he was (was he just a douche or was there something more beneath? What was his story?), but that never happened. And it was weirdly disappointing. Like, I couldn't care less about Quentin. (He had several chances to redeem himself, but he never did. Not even once.) But I really hoped for something more from Eliot, for some reason... Well, he remained as painfully shallow as almost all the other characters through to the end, so... no surprises there.
The story is also riddled with prejudices, and it can get a bit cringy at times. At one point a woman is introduced as ‘looking like a lesbian’ and it just… it really threw me off. There are several other cynical observations about characters, and I’m still not sure whether they’re the main character’s views or the author’s…. I almost put the book down because of this, especially because of the cynical observations of women, but I read on because I was determined to finish the book since I’d already bought it. To be honest, I could as well have saved myself the trouble.
This comment really got away from me. I had no idea I had so much to say about this book. I guess I had hoped for something more from it. I kept waiting and waiting for something... I'm not even sure what, just something that could make me like this book. But I never found it.
Spoiler
I mean, did he learn nothing from Alice?I think one of the things that bothered me the most about this book, is that basically all the main characters (with one exception, and that exception is later used as some sort of martyr) are extremely unlikeable. Don’t get me wrong, I like jaded characters, but these people are honestly unlikeable. Often people can seem jaded at first, but then you get to know them and you see that they have weaknesses and sore spots too, like everyone else, and to an extent that redeems them and make them more, if not likeable, then at least understandable and relatable. But that just... never happens in this book. In fact, most of the characters come off as completely one-dimensional. The characters that are good stay good (so painstakingly good) through the whole book, the awkward misfits stay awkward misfits that are shunned by the rest of the characters to the very end, no matter what they do and how skilled they are and how they stand up for the others, and the douches stay douches. Not only do they stay douches, they somehow manage to become even more douchy as the story progresses.
For example, I really liked Eliot, but I kept waiting to see more of him... to grasp more of what he was (was he just a douche or was there something more beneath? What was his story?), but that never happened. And it was weirdly disappointing. Like, I couldn't care less about Quentin. (He had several chances to redeem himself, but he never did. Not even once.) But I really hoped for something more from Eliot, for some reason... Well, he remained as painfully shallow as almost all the other characters through to the end, so... no surprises there.
The story is also riddled with prejudices, and it can get a bit cringy at times. At one point a woman is introduced as ‘looking like a lesbian’
Spoiler
and not long after she diesThis comment really got away from me. I had no idea I had so much to say about this book. I guess I had hoped for something more from it. I kept waiting and waiting for something... I'm not even sure what, just something that could make me like this book. But I never found it.