Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

11 reviews

csmall73's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

 

 

Its a strange story. Quentin is swept into a magical world of breakbills and magical college essentially. His entire time at breakbills is encompassed in the first part of the book. There’s no threats or quests. Seems more like a diary of his time there. 

 

Reading about some of the sexual encounters of his peers was odd and detached. I found Quentin’s and Alice’s fox encounter weird and borderline SA. I say borderline because it appears so but also he was unprepared for his animal brain at the time. Then the ensuing relationship seems detached like a friends with benefits but not? 

 

All seem lost in fucking, philosophical discussion, wine and lack of real motivation. Like bunch of rich kids that never had a job or purpose in life. Existential crisis. Amidst this existential crisis Quentin cheats on Alice. 

 

Fillory, keeps popping up in passing as well as other worlds but no real connection with the story other than a childhood fascination with the world. 300/402 pages with nothing insight. Then all of a sudden a forgotten side character happens upon a way to Fillory. Out of the blue. I don’t understand why penny would come to them specifically after having issues in school with one another and distancing himself from them specifically. 

 

Alice is an underestimated queen. Quentin is a petty asshole about the breakup and the consequences that come his way. 

 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

kallissabailey's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The first book in series felt a bit clunky as the story unfolded but by end of book it evened out to be a really well told story in second and third books.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Toxic friendship, and War

rape, graphic descriptions of violence and gore

rc_boxnut's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

daretodream03's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Ableism and Homophobia

haleyrayreads's review against another edition

dark lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.5

The concept of this book is great, the characters are okay, but the plot drags a bit. I appreciate not being dragged through separate books for each year of school but the transition between years could be abrupt and unclear at times. 

The story is mainly driven by character who are pretty one note and their motivations are questionable at best. Their main quest is motivated by ‘well we aren’t doing anything else right now.’ and it takes forever to get to that point. This first 2/3 if this book was so slow. However, once they’re off on their quest the story moves at a more brisk pace that’s refreshing until the main antagonist is taken care of. After that it goes on several chapters too long. It felt like every time a chapter ended I thought that was the end, then there was even more story that served no purpose than to allow readers to wallow in our narrator’s sorrow. This could have been cut in half or more and gotten the same point across. 

The concept is great and it’s a fun story with some adjustments, but the pacing, character development, and casual use of ableist and fatphobic language would make me hesitate to read this particular book again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Toxic friendship

audriew9's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

jmeier's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I would give this book a five if it weren't for the mild to moderate ableism, racism, and overall attitude of white privileged. The characters are all white. The setting is all white. The narrator and protagonist us multiple disability slurs and is deeply judgemental of neurodiverse coded characters. I love the story, but it reads like something from the 80s at points, not 2009.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol

doriandelioncourt's review against another edition

The writing is bad and reminds me of a fan fiction with metaphors that are far too forced. Grossman wins the crown for men-writing-women with his unnecessary sexist and even racist descriptions of the character. The gay character is made fun of for his sexuality and slut-shamed (there are rape jokes made on their behalf). The story drags because of the POV. Quentin is a whiny nice-guy protagonist who feels like an author self-insert. None of the characters are likeable, which wouldn't be a problem if their flaws were a focus of the story. All in all this book is a big cringe fest and I would not recommend it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lauralintunen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexism

suzanlemont's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No

3.25

I enjoyed the first 2/3 more than the last third. It starts off as a charming mix of Harry Potter and Narnia fan fiction with a distinctive adult edge missing from those books. But it descends in the end into a bit of a clumsy and less-inspired moral-less Narnia rip off towards the end which made me struggle through the last 150 pages or so. It had some really beautiful and interesting nuggets of great writing and if not totally original then at least curiosity-arousing and entertaining plot devices but the character development was wildly uneven/incomplete and I had a sense the author was floundering around at various times. I couldn't make an emotional attachment to any of the characters in the end.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail