Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Magicians

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

27 reviews

alaris's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I think few people would turn down a chance to check out a favorite fictional place, even with a strong chance that it'd turn out to be wildly different than you'd imagined. But the sexist, racist and ableist streams running through this make it super tedious to read.

There are interesting moments in this, until they're done with school. The characters are just so unlikable and spoiled and immature. I understand they're all early 20s when they go to Not-Narnia and most people are making very stupid choices then, and a lot of "well how do I actually live as an adult?" missteps are understandable. But every main character seems set up to be as unlikable and un-interesting as possible - which is actually difficult to achieve. Quentin's misogynistic, everyone's arrogant and bored, it was just impossible to care about any of them after they finished with the school. (And they weren't interesting before they finished.)

The writing quality seemed super inconsistent. I'm glad the author apparently got help for his own depression after writing this, but it would be hard to find a book that makes obvious depression in characters less sympathetic than this does - which is sad, as a reader struggling with that. I'd suggest avoiding this entirely, if you also struggle.

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kimber017's review against another edition

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I tried. I love the concept and enjoyed the Harry Potter and Narmia vibes, but absolutely cannot stand the main character it the author’s ignorant writing style. To refer to a character’s actions being done “autistically” is not only ignorant, it’s also incredibly lazy writing. What does it look like to do something “autistically,” Lev? Would love to know. Because you sure didn’t actually describe anything.

Then, to have the main character cheat on his girlfriend because he’s bored and expect us to make her the bad guy in the scenario? Wtf? 🙄 This some bullshit fanfic of what it would’ve looked like if Snape had actually gotten with Lilly. 🤢🤢

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cadefritz's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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niff_the_nerd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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tbd24's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I rather like this series, this is the second time i’ve read it and there are just really great turns of phrase in the prose. I love world building and this book embraces that times three, the magic system is cool and complicated and the characters are never just good people. Quentin is shitty and obnoxious but like what 17 yr old “gifted kid” isn’t? There’s a few questionable moments, the author loves to make women suffer viscerally a little too much in my opinion, but at least he still remembers to make them people. Overall, it’s a good read and an interesting series

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writererinm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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arrr's review against another edition

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Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Lots of anti Indigenous racism throughout this book. Toxic masculinity. Empty female characters written to support the lead men. It's a fine fantasy adventure story, and there's a bit of lgbt, but the colonialism runs rampant.

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