Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Goodreads Book Review - The Magician King

The Magician KingThe Magician King by Lev Grossman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book started off kind of slow, with the main character, Quentin, just as completely unlikeable as he was in the first installment. However, as the story goes on and picks up speed, it becomes very engrossing and Quentin begins to slowly undergo a process of self-discovery that not only does he fail to realize he's going through but even I failed to realize it until the book barreled to it's conclusion, an ending that actually made me sad for Quentin, a character I thoroughly hated for an entire book and a half or so. Plus, being taken on a journey through Julia's back story is both an entertaining diversion and a great character study as it reaches its climax. I've seen a lot of reviews complaining about the snark present not just in the dialogue but in the narration, saying that it was overwhelming and distracting, but I felt it wasn't as bad this time as in the first book; it felt more organic and justified this time around. In any event, while I said at the conclusion of The Magicians that I wouldn't really recommend that to anyone, I would definitely recommend this one... so I guess that makes its predecessor a necessary evil, huh?



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Thirty-three books down and I can definitely feel the challenge winding down. Technically I'm still supposed to do this for another two months, but unless I get a few good book recommendations to get me through, I don't know if I'll be able to make it...

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