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A review by notesbynnenna
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
2.0
2.5 stars
I started out loving this, but by the end, I was kind of tired of it. At the beginning of the book, Quentin, our main character, discovers that magic is real. He applies to and is accepted at a magical college named Brakebills, and the book takes off from there.
I will say that the writing in this book is really great, which is what kept me going, even when I found the plot a little boring. Quentin started to grate on me, however. He is often complaining, perpetually unsatisfied, and makes some pretty dumb decisions. The book takes place over the course of several years, so I was hoping we’d see Quentin grow up a bit, but that doesn’t really happen, at least not in the first installment of this series.
The magical system is interesting and seems a lot more technical than other magical worlds that I’ve read about. I felt that the book’s pacing was a bit strange and it seems like we fast forwarded through some of the more interesting times (when Quentin was in school) and spent too long on scenes where nothing was happening.
I was hoping to really love this book, but in the end, I wasn’t blown away. I think I’m to blame a bit. I read the book in short spurts over a few weeks, but I think I would have had a better reading experience if I’d read it in longer sittings. I wasn’t eager to read the rest of the trilogy after finishing book 1, but then I talked to a friend who told me that books 2 and 3 do get better. That gave me some hope, so I may decide to continue this series at some point.
I started out loving this, but by the end, I was kind of tired of it. At the beginning of the book, Quentin, our main character, discovers that magic is real. He applies to and is accepted at a magical college named Brakebills, and the book takes off from there.
I will say that the writing in this book is really great, which is what kept me going, even when I found the plot a little boring. Quentin started to grate on me, however. He is often complaining, perpetually unsatisfied, and makes some pretty dumb decisions. The book takes place over the course of several years, so I was hoping we’d see Quentin grow up a bit, but that doesn’t really happen, at least not in the first installment of this series.
The magical system is interesting and seems a lot more technical than other magical worlds that I’ve read about. I felt that the book’s pacing was a bit strange and it seems like we fast forwarded through some of the more interesting times (when Quentin was in school) and spent too long on scenes where nothing was happening.
I was hoping to really love this book, but in the end, I wasn’t blown away. I think I’m to blame a bit. I read the book in short spurts over a few weeks, but I think I would have had a better reading experience if I’d read it in longer sittings. I wasn’t eager to read the rest of the trilogy after finishing book 1, but then I talked to a friend who told me that books 2 and 3 do get better. That gave me some hope, so I may decide to continue this series at some point.