Book Review: ‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman

I didn't really have any expectations of Lev Grossman's 'The Magicians'. It's a book I've been aware of for a long time, and the adapted series seems to be quite popular.

So I had no real red flags about reading it. At worst I thought it would just be one of those books that wasn't for me, at best I would end up loving it.

Well…

Here's the summary in case, like me, it's one of those books you know of but don't know about:

“Quentin Clearwater is brilliant but miserable. Obsessed with the fantasy novels he read as a child, he finds the real world just doesn't compare.

Then one day it happens: he stumbles unexpectedly into a hidden world and is invited to join a very exclusive college, where he will learn the secrets of magic.

But something is still missing.

And now Quentin will do anything to find what he's always been looking for.”

Content warnings for 'The Magicians' include: alcohol, alcoholism, drugs, death, blood, misogny, ableism, toxic relationships, suicidal ideation

The full listing can be found at The StoryGraph here.

Ahh dear. Such promise. Such potential. But if I wasn't reading this for an episode of the podcast, I would have noped out of it after only a handful of chapters. It's an honorary DNF because I definitely will not be continuing the series.

What are the positives?

The opening chapter. Intriguing. Sets the scenes. I didn't initially like Quentin but I was hopeful for a character arc I could get behind.

Alas and a lack, good starts do not always point to good ends. Or middles.

Both Sophie and I struggled with this book for so many reasons, many of which we discuss on the podcast. What a season opener! We usually start off strong and it goes downhill from there, but this season we're bucking the trend.

The only way is up. Surely.

What is unforgivable is the treatment of women in this book. Time and time again the female characters are spoke about in a way that leaves objectified and diminished, they are treated abysmally, and their character arcs only serve as pawns. They are sacrificed and brutally represented so that Quentin can continue to justify his mopey, melodramatic existence.

Never have I ever met such a well defined narcissist and gas-lighter on the page.

Quentin, you're a wrong 'un.

As a whole, the book feels like it pokes fun at people who use fantasy to disappear into, who utilise it as a coping mechanism to escape the oft times horror of existence in a cruel and dark world.

It's a space to make sense of it, to feel safe, to seek comfort and to build understanding. I felt like 'The Magicians' was judgemental of that, and demeaning readers who cling to fantasy worlds for hope and meaning.

Juxtaposed is this feeling that rather than ditch fantasy narratives as escapism, it would be better to go back to the "good ol' days" where titles like Narnia and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the Enid Blyton where King.

I just didn't have a good time reading 'The Magicians' but the fact that so many people have read and enjoyed it just goes to show that there are books for every kind of reader.

This one just isn't for me.

Written by Sarah