mpetruce's review against another edition
3.0
Not a bad book. I have read one of Grossman's books before (which if I remember seemed a little shaggy doggish to me, but I may be confusing it with something else) and had heard a lot of good things about the series. And I liked it. Lots of nods to classic genre fiction (Harry Potter, Narnia, Middle Earth (of course), His Dark Materials, all that stuff). And yes, as many reviewers no doubt mention, the characters are all self-centered, miserable and they just can't even right now. And as annoying as they are as people, I did not find them annoying as characters. That was their point. That said, I don't find them as annoying as Holden Caulfield or pathetically annoying as the protagonist from Arsonist's Guide to Writers Homes in New England (loved that book's writing, which is what got it it's star from me, HATED the main character, but not in the way I think I was supposed to).
The narration of the audiobook is very good as well, although at times he sounded just like my kids' music teacher, not I have a short list of phrases I'm going to try to get him to say.
The narration of the audiobook is very good as well, although at times he sounded just like my kids' music teacher, not I have a short list of phrases I'm going to try to get him to say.
cstefko's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars
This book should have been so much better than it actually was... I mean, Grossman borrows from two of the most immersive fantasy series of all time (HP and Narnia) and manages to combine them into a narrative that is mostly just... boring. And lord, the misogyny! I hear from other reviews that Quentin eventually gets some character development and is less of a pig, but I just don't think I care enough about the story so far to want to continue on with the series. I'm glad I audiobook'd this one.
This book should have been so much better than it actually was... I mean, Grossman borrows from two of the most immersive fantasy series of all time (HP and Narnia) and manages to combine them into a narrative that is mostly just... boring. And lord, the misogyny! I hear from other reviews that Quentin eventually gets some character development and is less of a pig, but I just don't think I care enough about the story so far to want to continue on with the series. I'm glad I audiobook'd this one.
kilachu's review against another edition
2.0
Ho iniziato questo libro perché ero rimasta colpita dalla serie tv, ma forse sono partita con delle aspettative troppo alte che non mi hanno fatto apprezzare totalmente la lettura.
Lo sviluppo non era quello che mi aspettavo, l'ho trovato lento e ho decisamente odiato il protagonista.
Ho anche il secondo libro e forse un giorno lo leggerò, per ora preferisco di gran lunga guardarmi la serie (è molto più efficace la messa in scena, secondo me.)
Lo sviluppo non era quello che mi aspettavo, l'ho trovato lento e ho decisamente odiato il protagonista.
Ho anche il secondo libro e forse un giorno lo leggerò, per ora preferisco di gran lunga guardarmi la serie (è molto più efficace la messa in scena, secondo me.)
erikaq's review against another edition
4.0
The book is very much a coming of age story. It borrows heavily from Narnia and yet twists that into something darker and more interesting. The idea of magic school obviously has some conotations of Harry Potter and all of that is fine because by being aware of that, it informs how the book is read and I can see why it's called the adult Harry Potter. It shines in that it is a realistic take on magic and on the consequences that it can have and it doesn't shy away from showing that just like real life, fantasy can have flaws.
Quentin is depressed and listless and his coping mechanism is the Fillory and More books and when it turns out that he can do magic that changes his world and yet it doesn’t thrust him into a different land or world where he can actually do anything with those powers past learn how to use them which in a way makes the whole thing pointless and yet that's exactly what the book is pointing out. We get to see Quentin have the typical college life and after he’s done with school, he really does nothing except to hang out with his friends and get drunk and high. Until Fillory turns out to be real and that changes things.
But going to Fillory and going on a quest is nothing like what he could have expected and the reality is that he and his friends are not prepared to face that but somehow they do and there are concequences to that.
The book does so well at establishing interesting and relatable and broken characters. It deals with an adult take on what it would be like if a fantasy world were real and what that would actually be like especially taking into account the difficult and often complex relationships that adults have with both friends and lovers.
Overall I enjoyed it and I'll check out the sequels.
Quentin is depressed and listless and his coping mechanism is the Fillory and More books and when it turns out that he can do magic that changes his world and yet it doesn’t thrust him into a different land or world where he can actually do anything with those powers past learn how to use them which in a way makes the whole thing pointless and yet that's exactly what the book is pointing out. We get to see Quentin have the typical college life and after he’s done with school, he really does nothing except to hang out with his friends and get drunk and high. Until Fillory turns out to be real and that changes things.
But going to Fillory and going on a quest is nothing like what he could have expected and the reality is that he and his friends are not prepared to face that but somehow they do and there are concequences to that.
The book does so well at establishing interesting and relatable and broken characters. It deals with an adult take on what it would be like if a fantasy world were real and what that would actually be like especially taking into account the difficult and often complex relationships that adults have with both friends and lovers.
Overall I enjoyed it and I'll check out the sequels.
aduchene's review against another edition
2.0
For me, this was a sad cross between Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. An imitation where the narration didn't quite let me escape the pessimistic masochist that is the main character. It seemed to drag on for centuries, without me developing any attachment or relationship to any of the characters or scenes, except maybe their time at the South Campus. Perhaps, if it had ended sooner or been split into smaller books with a thicker plot I would have enjoyed it. Instead, although it all worked up to the end plot point, I found no ultimate climax, and perhaps the moment with the niffin transformation could have been the perfect moment, everything after turned back to a whiny reality with no real transformation, which would have been better off starting the second book instead of leaving the reader bored and sick of angst. I don't think I'll continue reading the series, there is little enchantment here for me.
What Happens "When Millennials go to the School of Magic": https://lifeshouldbelit.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/what-happens-when-millennials-go-to-the-school-of-magic/
What Happens "When Millennials go to the School of Magic": https://lifeshouldbelit.wordpress.com/2017/05/20/what-happens-when-millennials-go-to-the-school-of-magic/
evelyn87's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to give this a 3.5 but wasn’t sure how! I did really enjoy this but the reviews gave me a false idea of what this book was actually about.
The first 40% of the book covers four whole years of magic school and the whole plot is mostly focused on the Narnia-Esqe world of Fillory.
I love the characters, in particular Alice, Quentin and Eliot but I found that overall all the characters are quite damaged and depressed, all having their own demons. Fillory appears to be an escape from the real world, expecting a fantasy and exciting world and finding quite the opposite.
I think this book is about what it is to be human, and the lifelong obsession to find peace and happiness and a strong feeling of existential crisis throughout!
The first 40% of the book covers four whole years of magic school and the whole plot is mostly focused on the Narnia-Esqe world of Fillory.
I love the characters, in particular Alice, Quentin and Eliot but I found that overall all the characters are quite damaged and depressed, all having their own demons. Fillory appears to be an escape from the real world, expecting a fantasy and exciting world and finding quite the opposite.
I think this book is about what it is to be human, and the lifelong obsession to find peace and happiness and a strong feeling of existential crisis throughout!
lmealing's review against another edition
2.0
This book was honestly disappointing. More than half the book was almost entirely exposition with a few poorly developed scenes intermittently throughout. By the time the author started actually *showing* scenes after hand waving away 4 years of non-story, Quentin had become so unlikeable, I was essentially skimming just to finish it. This is one of the rare cases where the TV show is significantly better than the book.
kiki6k's review against another edition
This book was wonderful! It had me hooked from start to finish. I could not put it down!
eched's review against another edition
5.0
Still like it. Still think all the characters are selfish assholes.
jfcc's review against another edition
2.0
Antes de relatar a estranha experiência que foi ler Os Mágicos, tenho de referir que tenho seguido a série do canal Syfy, baseada no livro, a qual tem sido fenomenal na sua introdução deste estranho mundo de magia, aliás, mundos.
Como tal decidi dar ao primogénito a oportunidade de ser tão deslumbrante e aqui decorre o meu erro. Os dois não poderiam ser mais diferentes um do outro e foi-me difícil discernir os dois fios condutores como objectos distintos. De facto, o livro não me foi completamente satisfatório como a série.
Grossman ao longo de quase 400 páginas descreve-nos um conjunto de miúdos academicamente brilhantes que possuem a faísca extra que os permite dominar a magia, uma força que nunca é precisamente descrita. O estudo desta força, pelo grupos dos nossos heróis é o alvo do foco de metade do livro e, para mim, nunca foi satisfatoriamente abordado. Aliás, a minha crítica principal à escrita do autor passa por descrever em excesso certos pontos, para nunca os terminar de maneira capaz, antes apressada, como um intervalo de televisão mal colocado ao ver um filme. O mesmo revela-se na acção, com excessos temporais que não a servem bem.
As personagens, inicialmente interessantes, aborreceram-me a meio caminho, especialmente Quentin, o "herói" desta narrativa. O que no fim transparece destas personagens é a sua arrogância, mau discernimento e a infelicidade com todos os aspectos da vida, que culmina, não numa evolução satisfatória do estado de espírito (tendo em conta as aventuras que passaram ao longo de 5/6 anos), mas num estado de complacência, que me parece apenas vai progredir para pior, nos livros subsequentes.
O que me aliciou mais na história foi o potencial da construção dos mundos que Grossman poderia evoluir, mas certamente nunca acontece, sempre interrompido por acontecimentos aleatórios (ou mal explicados) ou por infortúnios adolescentes da parte do Quentin.
Talvez tenha sido a oportunidade errada para ler o livro, ou a presença primária da série ter influenciado a minha opinião, mas fica a ideia de um livro com muito potencial, mas como que interrompido.
Como tal decidi dar ao primogénito a oportunidade de ser tão deslumbrante e aqui decorre o meu erro. Os dois não poderiam ser mais diferentes um do outro e foi-me difícil discernir os dois fios condutores como objectos distintos. De facto, o livro não me foi completamente satisfatório como a série.
Grossman ao longo de quase 400 páginas descreve-nos um conjunto de miúdos academicamente brilhantes que possuem a faísca extra que os permite dominar a magia, uma força que nunca é precisamente descrita. O estudo desta força, pelo grupos dos nossos heróis é o alvo do foco de metade do livro e, para mim, nunca foi satisfatoriamente abordado. Aliás, a minha crítica principal à escrita do autor passa por descrever em excesso certos pontos, para nunca os terminar de maneira capaz, antes apressada, como um intervalo de televisão mal colocado ao ver um filme. O mesmo revela-se na acção, com excessos temporais que não a servem bem.
As personagens, inicialmente interessantes, aborreceram-me a meio caminho, especialmente Quentin, o "herói" desta narrativa. O que no fim transparece destas personagens é a sua arrogância, mau discernimento e a infelicidade com todos os aspectos da vida, que culmina, não numa evolução satisfatória do estado de espírito (tendo em conta as aventuras que passaram ao longo de 5/6 anos), mas num estado de complacência, que me parece apenas vai progredir para pior, nos livros subsequentes.
O que me aliciou mais na história foi o potencial da construção dos mundos que Grossman poderia evoluir, mas certamente nunca acontece, sempre interrompido por acontecimentos aleatórios (ou mal explicados) ou por infortúnios adolescentes da parte do Quentin.
Talvez tenha sido a oportunidade errada para ler o livro, ou a presença primária da série ter influenciado a minha opinião, mas fica a ideia de um livro com muito potencial, mas como que interrompido.