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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reread number 4? 5? every time I read this I get something more out of it. truly one of the best books of its kind (not quite fantasy always?)
I know he gets better and as a flawed protagonist it's compelling and sells the character but Quentin is such an incel I'm gonna punch him in the face. whiny ass.
I know he gets better and as a flawed protagonist it's compelling and sells the character but Quentin is such an incel I'm gonna punch him in the face. whiny ass.
Disappointing. Well-written but...meh! If bleakness is your thing, you'll love these characters and this novel is for you. But much too glib for this reader. It was like Slytherins Gone Wild (made that up) meets St. Elmos Fire meets Catcher in the Rye. Couldn't wait to finish it. In my opinion, definitely not in same league as HP series.
Interesting and original take on a fantasy adventure story. The writing style I think works well with Quentin's unhappiness and boredom. In a way, a more realistic portrayal of how magic and the contemporary world would come together. The protagonist isn't particularly special compared to the other characters, and magic isn't wonderful and... Well, magical for a lack of a better word. It can be tedious and life goes on and magicians are just people with their problems and everyday lives and struggles.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5/5
I think I hate Quentin with a passion and the book felt strangely long despite only having 400 pages. But it was fun, all the tropes found in Harry Potter and Narnia got twisted upon themselves and it was a lot of fun, maybe I wish we got more time in Fillory but perhaps next book.
Also it is a very different creature if compared to the tv shows, the characters are much more unlikable for one thing, some things are expanded upon and others are never mentioned, I believe Fillory has a somewhat more sinister quality in the books which I appreciated. My advice is: first watch the tv series then read the books if you feel like it. Eliot best character in all mediums.
I think I hate Quentin with a passion and the book felt strangely long despite only having 400 pages. But it was fun, all the tropes found in Harry Potter and Narnia got twisted upon themselves and it was a lot of fun, maybe I wish we got more time in Fillory but perhaps next book.
Also it is a very different creature if compared to the tv shows, the characters are much more unlikable for one thing, some things are expanded upon and others are never mentioned, I believe Fillory has a somewhat more sinister quality in the books which I appreciated. My advice is: first watch the tv series then read the books if you feel like it. Eliot best character in all mediums.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i am honestly surprised i hate this. i'm surprised at how much i hate this. i genuinely started this book, expecting to love it and to be transported into a mysterious, gothic magical boarding school and to be into everything but i just hated it.
the first question that comes to mind is "what was the point?". perhaps reading the sequel is paramount to finding out why on earth i had to read that shit, but as a standalone, this book is kind of confusing. if you asked me to summarise The Magicians, i would be a bit hard-pressed because so many different things happen. Quentin, the main character, starts as a normal joe, then he goes to magical school for 5 years but that's like, 20% of the book. then he graduates and lives the ~adult~ life. then he does something else i won't spoil for you. then he does nothing. then he searches for his white whale. then he goes back to doing nothing. then something happens and the book ends. but there is no gradation, no journey, no lesson learned for this hero that remains as annoying and selfish and immature as he was when the book started.
talking about the hero, Quentin, he is probably my biggest gripe with this book. i feel like Levi Grossman read Harry Potter and was like "ugh. kid stuff. not dark enough. not emo enough. pain is the real stuff, who cares about happy endings? hogwarts teachers are pussies. they're all pussies." so he decided to make his book super dark, add a little Hemingway to the main character and disillusionment and there. he got his best-seller. so in The Magicians, magic is arcane and terrifying, Brakebills' (the magical school) teachers should honestly all be in jail for all the shit they pull on the students (???????????????????????? that 4th year stunt????????????? the graduation gift???????????????? just??? the headmaster????????????????), Quentin is probably a good reflection of you, and your thoughts as an unhappy teenager unfortunately he remains that way throughout the boo, even as an adult.
if you love reading about how life is pointless, how everything is boring, how nothing matters and how cool it is to drink, drug, fuck yourself into oblivion, then by all means, you will enjoy this book and love Quentin. i TOTALLY get you, Quentin, you know. i, too, have had my disillusioned moments of feeling like nothing would ever satisfy me for more than a minute, so how can i even know what i want to do in my life? how can i pick what i want to major in? etc. however, there comes a time when you just need to go back to your senses and get off your butt because you need to do it. in his defense, Quentin never really had to get off his butt because Brakebills has a bottomless fund of money at the disposition of its alumnis, which allowed him to do all this drinking and partying in the first place. his girlfriend and main love interest, Alice, seemed to be the only character who didn't feel the need to act cool and sad and emo to exist. she was working, she was studying up magic and she was badass. had this book been about Alice, i would've given it 5 stars. unfortunately, it was about Quentin, so naturally, Alice being his love interest and THE ONLY ONE MAKING ANY SENSE,
while i'm on females, at this point i'm still unsure whether Levi Grossman is mysoginistic, or if he wrote Quentin to be so sexist on purpose. also wondering if he wrote Quentin to be an unbearable asshole on purpose, tbh. very much confused about this. Quentin has two love interests, and they all have extremely depressing fates in spite of being, to his own admission, smarter and generally better than him. Julia was his first love, but she was never into him and dared dating another, lesser guy than Quentin so she never got into Brakebills and Alice was Quentin's first and main girlfriend throughout the book . The other women in the book make brief, forgettable apperances except for the way they were described by Quentin: "too pretty to be a paramedic", "distractingly curvy: she looked nothing like a magician was supposed to" or this gem:
"Fen was shorter and denser and more muscular, with close-cropped blond hair. With a whistle around her neck she could have been a gym teacher at a private school for girls. Her clothes were loose-fitting and practical, evidently designed for ease of movement in unpredictable situations. She projected both toughness and kindness, and she wore high boots with fascinatingly complex laces. She was, to the best of Quentin’s ability to gauge these things, a lesbian."
do i need say more?
i wish i could say that at least, there was good character development, but there really wasn't. a lot of their actions made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME. the most striking example would be Penny, who goes from inconspicuous fellow student of Quentin's, seeming relatively normal, until out of nowhere, he just punches Quentin in the face, completely paranoid, and then disappears for 5 years until he reappears to take them to Narnia (lol), seeming normal, if not a bit nerdy. what???? is even????
Quentin is supposed to be a precocious genius, but at the beginning of his studies, he says that it's super hard and even that once, a teacher told them to stay in the classroom until they had succeeded in casting a certain spell. Quentin remembers staying until sunset, with only 4 other students left in the classroom struggling with him. Right after that anecdote, he is called by a teacher who tells him that he can skip straight to Year 2. i mean????????????????????????
i honestly don't have much good to say about this book. people say it's narnia meets harry potter with Holden Caufield. i think it's doing a disservice to Holden to compare him with Quentin, because Quentin is much, much, much worse yet older and should just frigging know better. i think the TV series will be 100x better than this mess. i kept on reading, thinking that i would finally see why it was so popular or get a redeeming ending but that was not the case and i would rather re-read the third book of the Grisha trilogy than re-read this. THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING.
the first question that comes to mind is "what was the point?". perhaps reading the sequel is paramount to finding out why on earth i had to read that shit, but as a standalone, this book is kind of confusing. if you asked me to summarise The Magicians, i would be a bit hard-pressed because so many different things happen. Quentin, the main character, starts as a normal joe, then he goes to magical school for 5 years but that's like, 20% of the book. then he graduates and lives the ~adult~ life. then he does something else i won't spoil for you. then he does nothing. then he searches for his white whale. then he goes back to doing nothing. then something happens and the book ends. but there is no gradation, no journey, no lesson learned for this hero that remains as annoying and selfish and immature as he was when the book started.
talking about the hero, Quentin, he is probably my biggest gripe with this book. i feel like Levi Grossman read Harry Potter and was like "ugh. kid stuff. not dark enough. not emo enough. pain is the real stuff, who cares about happy endings? hogwarts teachers are pussies. they're all pussies." so he decided to make his book super dark, add a little Hemingway to the main character and disillusionment and there. he got his best-seller. so in The Magicians, magic is arcane and terrifying, Brakebills' (the magical school) teachers should honestly all be in jail for all the shit they pull on the students (???????????????????????? that 4th year stunt????????????? the graduation gift???????????????? just??? the headmaster????????????????), Quentin is probably a good reflection of you, and your thoughts as an unhappy teenager unfortunately he remains that way throughout the boo, even as an adult.
if you love reading about how life is pointless, how everything is boring, how nothing matters and how cool it is to drink, drug, fuck yourself into oblivion, then by all means, you will enjoy this book and love Quentin. i TOTALLY get you, Quentin, you know. i, too, have had my disillusioned moments of feeling like nothing would ever satisfy me for more than a minute, so how can i even know what i want to do in my life? how can i pick what i want to major in? etc. however, there comes a time when you just need to go back to your senses and get off your butt because you need to do it. in his defense, Quentin never really had to get off his butt because Brakebills has a bottomless fund of money at the disposition of its alumnis, which allowed him to do all this drinking and partying in the first place. his girlfriend and main love interest, Alice, seemed to be the only character who didn't feel the need to act cool and sad and emo to exist. she was working, she was studying up magic and she was badass. had this book been about Alice, i would've given it 5 stars. unfortunately, it was about Quentin, so naturally, Alice being his love interest and THE ONLY ONE MAKING ANY SENSE,
Spoiler
she had to die, sacrificing herself for Quentin so he could whine some more.while i'm on females, at this point i'm still unsure whether Levi Grossman is mysoginistic, or if he wrote Quentin to be so sexist on purpose. also wondering if he wrote Quentin to be an unbearable asshole on purpose, tbh. very much confused about this. Quentin has two love interests, and they all have extremely depressing fates in spite of being, to his own admission, smarter and generally better than him. Julia was his first love, but she was never into him and dared dating another, lesser guy than Quentin so she never got into Brakebills and
Spoiler
ended up suffering a lot more than Quentin, but surprisingly complaining less.Spoiler
until Quentin drunkenly cheated on her with one of their common friends, so they broke up and Alice slept with someone else and Quentin spent 100 pages calling her a whore because of it. okkkkk"Fen was shorter and denser and more muscular, with close-cropped blond hair. With a whistle around her neck she could have been a gym teacher at a private school for girls. Her clothes were loose-fitting and practical, evidently designed for ease of movement in unpredictable situations. She projected both toughness and kindness, and she wore high boots with fascinatingly complex laces. She was, to the best of Quentin’s ability to gauge these things, a lesbian."
do i need say more?
i wish i could say that at least, there was good character development, but there really wasn't. a lot of their actions made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME. the most striking example would be Penny, who goes from inconspicuous fellow student of Quentin's, seeming relatively normal, until out of nowhere, he just punches Quentin in the face, completely paranoid, and then disappears for 5 years until he reappears to take them to Narnia (lol), seeming normal, if not a bit nerdy. what???? is even????
Quentin is supposed to be a precocious genius, but at the beginning of his studies, he says that it's super hard and even that once, a teacher told them to stay in the classroom until they had succeeded in casting a certain spell. Quentin remembers staying until sunset, with only 4 other students left in the classroom struggling with him. Right after that anecdote, he is called by a teacher who tells him that he can skip straight to Year 2. i mean????????????????????????
i honestly don't have much good to say about this book. people say it's narnia meets harry potter with Holden Caufield. i think it's doing a disservice to Holden to compare him with Quentin, because Quentin is much, much, much worse yet older and should just frigging know better. i think the TV series will be 100x better than this mess. i kept on reading, thinking that i would finally see why it was so popular or get a redeeming ending but that was not the case and i would rather re-read the third book of the Grisha trilogy than re-read this. THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING.