Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

6 reviews

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

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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

_nem_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I found this book very odd. There were certain moments that had me saying "WHAT??" out loud. It all tied together so nicely. I wouldn't say it had a happy ending but it was hopeful especially right at the end. 

It definitely reminded me of Narnia when talking about Filory especially with the books but then discovering a dark side. There were lots of very odd scenes but overall it had me hooked. I would say there are a lot of points where the plot does seem to grind to a halt and it seems like the book could end there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Blood

pbeeandj's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Addiction, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fatphobia and Grief

Minor: Ableism

jmeier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I would give this book a five if it weren't for the mild to moderate ableism, racism, and overall attitude of white privileged. The characters are all white. The setting is all white. The narrator and protagonist us multiple disability slurs and is deeply judgemental of neurodiverse coded characters. I love the story, but it reads like something from the 80s at points, not 2009.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry

suzanlemont's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

I enjoyed the first 2/3 more than the last third. It starts off as a charming mix of Harry Potter and Narnia fan fiction with a distinctive adult edge missing from those books. But it descends in the end into a bit of a clumsy and less-inspired moral-less Narnia rip off towards the end which made me struggle through the last 150 pages or so. It had some really beautiful and interesting nuggets of great writing and if not totally original then at least curiosity-arousing and entertaining plot devices but the character development was wildly uneven/incomplete and I had a sense the author was floundering around at various times. I couldn't make an emotional attachment to any of the characters in the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Violence

bristynlee's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal death, and Mental illness