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annorabrady's review against another edition
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
nataliii's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Sexism and Gore
Minor: Fatphobia
archaicgambit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Please read my review of book one! It'll clarify some points I make here.
I would say all the same issues-- some slight improvements due to Quentin having worked on himself a bit. I was really looking forward to reading Julia's POV but the male gaze makes it hard and at times painful to read her.
The back and forth between julia in the past and quentin in the present is pretty cool, so I really enjoyed the structure. Lev Grossman's prose is honestly pretty solid and readable. I thought the challenging of the heroic cycle/heroism was sort of there, and the exploration of mental health was a lot stronger this time.
Julia's ending is intolerable and traumatic. As much as the show is criticized for how they handled julia's reynard/goddess arc... i think they did a pretty solid job fixing what was there in the books. I would not recommend this book for assault survivors or for people who are uncomfortable with rape scenes.
I would say all the same issues-- some slight improvements due to Quentin having worked on himself a bit. I was really looking forward to reading Julia's POV but the male gaze makes it hard and at times painful to read her.
The back and forth between julia in the past and quentin in the present is pretty cool, so I really enjoyed the structure. Lev Grossman's prose is honestly pretty solid and readable. I thought the challenging of the heroic cycle/heroism was sort of there, and the exploration of mental health was a lot stronger this time.
Julia's ending is intolerable and traumatic. As much as the show is criticized for how they handled julia's reynard/goddess arc... i think they did a pretty solid job fixing what was there in the books. I would not recommend this book for assault survivors or for people who are uncomfortable with rape scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, and Gore
Moderate: Racism and Ableism
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