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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Tells Alice's story from her viewpoint, from before Brakebill's to the ending of book #1. Was entertaining, and I do so love Grossman's world. Books, audiobooks, tv show, and now comics. Want more!!
Read through Hoopla on my computer.
Read through Hoopla on my computer.
This was decent. I don't think it really adds much to the world that Grossman created but it was refreshing to look at how different events happened from Alice's perspective. I think this highlighted a lot of the good things about Grossman's writing which didn't translate as well into a graphic novel. The art work is decent although I wish the fight scenes had been a bit more visceral.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Vomit
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia
I don’t have read the Magicians trilogy yet, but I’ve seen the TV shows and I like it a lot. This graphic novel takes back the story from the start but clearly focusing on Alice point of view. It sure has a lot of difference from the TV shows, not in term of major events, but more in the characters (they are so different physically (Penny!?!) maybe they are describe like that in the book, I don’t know), but nothing that really matters in the end. I like the art, like the story, really fast pace, they don’t lose time at all, and it was good to get into this world again and it just push me harder to read those books soon (I already have them all so...). I wouldn’t necessarily recommend beginning in this world with that book, start with the trilogy or the shows, but definitely a must read for the fans!
I didn't read the previous Magician's novels, I have only seen the TV show. And sorry but I didn't care for this book. Another point of view books always intrigue me when I hear/read descriptions about it, and then when I finally read them I am like "Why did I even bother with this one?". I had to force myself to read as many pages as I did before just giving up on Alice and her point of view. Thanks #NetGalley for this opportunity but #TheMagiciansAlicesStory isn't my cup of tea.
In full disclosure, I hated The Magicians. I was promised Harry Potter in college and that was definitely not what I got, so I hate read book 1 and then stopped. That said, it eventually became so popular what with the show, that I decided to give this graphic novel a try. Because maybe my taste had changed in all these years? Ummm.....not really?
Honestly, the best thing about Alice's Story is that is is NOT from Quentin's perspective! He is insufferable and I have a little bit more empathy for Alice, though not all that much. Reading this very much clarified for me why I so disliked The Magicians in the first place and why the marketing of it made me so angry. All of the characters are privileged, pretentious, horrible people with a lot of power who spend all their time doing drugs, sleeping around, and hurting other people, including while in magical parallel worlds where they screw everything up. It's dark and depressing, trying to be edgy and meaningful, but I pretty much hate everyone and it's full of this disgustingly privileged ennui and bad behavior that was nothing like my own college experience.
The thing is, for awhile I did like this a lot better, because Alice has potential, unlike Quentin. She wants to have a useful life and recognizes the destructive behavior surrounding her. She's smart and kind of like Hermione if we are using the terrible Harry Potter comparison. The problem is, she can't get over Quentin no matter how awful he is (like cheating on her etc.) and the ending has her sacrificing herself so that he can survive and become a better person. Eww!!! She deserves so much better and I hate that the smart, kind brown girl is sacrificed on behalf of the privileged white boy who is a completely terrible person! I think it's supposed to be beautifully tragic but it's just disgusting and reinforces patriarchy in the worst possible way.
On the other hand, I like the artwork? I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Honestly, the best thing about Alice's Story is that is is NOT from Quentin's perspective! He is insufferable and I have a little bit more empathy for Alice, though not all that much. Reading this very much clarified for me why I so disliked The Magicians in the first place and why the marketing of it made me so angry. All of the characters are privileged, pretentious, horrible people with a lot of power who spend all their time doing drugs, sleeping around, and hurting other people, including while in magical parallel worlds where they screw everything up. It's dark and depressing, trying to be edgy and meaningful, but I pretty much hate everyone and it's full of this disgustingly privileged ennui and bad behavior that was nothing like my own college experience.
The thing is, for awhile I did like this a lot better, because Alice has potential, unlike Quentin. She wants to have a useful life and recognizes the destructive behavior surrounding her. She's smart and kind of like Hermione if we are using the terrible Harry Potter comparison. The problem is, she can't get over Quentin no matter how awful he is (like cheating on her etc.) and the ending has her sacrificing herself so that he can survive and become a better person. Eww!!! She deserves so much better and I hate that the smart, kind brown girl is sacrificed on behalf of the privileged white boy who is a completely terrible person! I think it's supposed to be beautifully tragic but it's just disgusting and reinforces patriarchy in the worst possible way.
On the other hand, I like the artwork? I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
fast-paced
Really well designed and drawn. Doesn't cover a whole lot of new ground, but interesting to see things from Alice's perspective. Personally, it was also interesting to return to the world of the books since I've been so into the show lately. Maybe we'll get Julia's story next?
This is a pretty good representation of (Alice's part in) the book. The artwork left a little to be desired, but overall it was enjoyable. It managed to work in the adult content without being too explicit. I felt like there were some important parts of the book that were left out but that makes sense due to how condensed this is.