The Magicians: A Novel

I can't believe I wasted a week on this terrible book. The book is basically the fabulous Mr Ripley, meets chronicles of Narnia, with magic and the school taking a back seat to endless drinking, sleeping around and references to Fillroy (which is essentially Narnia by another name). The School section explores a few interesting themes, which the book never really follows through on. It also never fully explores the magic (which is what you would think would make this stand out). Overall it is a longer than average read that starts promisingly enough, yet never goes anywhere. Don't wast your time.

Quentin has zero redeeming qualities and the author has some serious issues with how to write women without whittling them down to a pair of breasts that Quentin can agonize over. The author's sad attempt at grounding the characters in an adult reality using depression, substance abuse, and sex falls flat as he fails to explore any of them in a meaningful way. This coupled with the characters determination to affect indifference at every turn kills any sense of magic found within the novel. What may have been an interesting allegory for depression is ultimately unrewarded.

I came by the books after watching all the seasons on Netflix. The show seemed so fresh and vibrant in character development, I just had to read the source material that inspired such a show. Sad to say I'm actually disappointed. It felt so plain and rushed with little detail I was bored after "Book two" in the book. I was able to skip most of the pages and still understand what was going on, mainly due to the show. Quentin has always been a pathetic character but never more so now that I just read the book. He was 'confused' when he cheated on Alice? Please! Spare me. Then he acts all victim-like when he finds out about Alice and Penny. Ugh! The dynamics between characters wasn't even present. Then the whole fight with Martin at the end felt so boring and brushed over. It was so anti-climatic.The action is non-existent and so bland where the show made it super epic. A complete let down for me. Would NOT read again, but might proceed with the other books just to know how it all ends.🙄