consonants 's review for:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

3.5

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

This ticks a lot of personal boxes for me: dark academic fantasy with unfathomable esoteric magic and skillfully crafted prose? Check, check, check. I also found it helpful to try to put the TV show out of my mind--the book is a lot weirder and more cloistered in a way that was reminiscent of Vita Nostra at times (a book I loved). I even appreciate the subversive enterprise of turning a skeptical eye on Narnia and HP and the like. Despite all that, I found it to be somewhat of a rollercoaster in terms of ping-ponging between poignant choices and completely baffling ones. Certainly not a balanced narrative, but had a lot going for it anyway.