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A review by kerameia
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
2.0
I just finished the book and haven't had time to draft a proper review. However, my impression of the story as I read/now that I've finished is something along the lines of:
(Narnia + Harry Potter) meets Looking for Alaska.
Not quite sure that I really like it, though I did enjoy it as I read. There are some great (well-crafted, perfectly descriptive, hilARious) phrases & scenes. Ex.
(pg. 50) "The other students stared at him with the cold indifference of the gratefully spared."
(pg. 108, describing a professor) "He had the stiff, wounded dignity of the deposed intelligentsia."
(pg. 300, when they see/follow a walking Birch tree) "After the first five minutes of magical wonderment passed it began to be socially awkward, blatantly following the tree-spirit-thing like this, but it didn't seem to want to acknowledge them, and they weren't about to let it go."
Lines such as these kept me laughing out loud to myself, but as a whole it seemed like a patchwork kind of story. I would say that it's more character-driven, told closely from Quentin's perspective, and yet I didn't get the sense that Quentin really underwent much character development. It seems as though he came full circle. At any rate, what I take away from this book is a hilarious, sarcastic take on the idea of one's childhood fantasy world being real and a world into which fall 8 worldly young adults.
(Narnia + Harry Potter) meets Looking for Alaska.
Not quite sure that I really like it, though I did enjoy it as I read. There are some great (well-crafted, perfectly descriptive, hilARious) phrases & scenes. Ex.
(pg. 50) "The other students stared at him with the cold indifference of the gratefully spared."
(pg. 108, describing a professor) "He had the stiff, wounded dignity of the deposed intelligentsia."
(pg. 300, when they see/follow a walking Birch tree) "After the first five minutes of magical wonderment passed it began to be socially awkward, blatantly following the tree-spirit-thing like this, but it didn't seem to want to acknowledge them, and they weren't about to let it go."
Lines such as these kept me laughing out loud to myself, but as a whole it seemed like a patchwork kind of story. I would say that it's more character-driven, told closely from Quentin's perspective, and yet I didn't get the sense that Quentin really underwent much character development. It seems as though he came full circle. At any rate, what I take away from this book is a hilarious, sarcastic take on the idea of one's childhood fantasy world being real and a world into which fall 8 worldly young adults.