⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was fucking good
A friend watched The Magicians SyFy television show and told me they thought I’d enjoy it. I listened to the book instead. It was basically Harry Potter with emo teens, lots of drugs, and sex.
Despite disliking nearly every character in the book, I found myself eager to keep listening and carved out time during my day to devote to it. Quentin was a broody lead with few redeeming characteristics. He made some really bad decisions, like sleeping with Janet, which made it hard for me to feel bad for him when everything crumbled around him. What a fucking dick move. I liked Alice until she decided to get revenge on Quentin for what he did by sleeping with Penny. Another dick move, though Penny was annoying, as were most of the other characters. The only one I cared about was Eliot, and he got little page time and even less character development. He was mostly there for comic relief.
The plot was a Harry Potter rip-off with some of Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five thrown in for good measure. Aside from Quentin accidentally conjuring "The Beast," aka Martin Chatwin, in class, there was no meaningful conflict until around the midpoint. The finale was anticlimactic without the resolution I’d hoped for. It just sort of … ended.
Again, I’m not sure why I even liked the damn book, but I can’t deny it kept me enthralled. Perhaps it was the author’s solid writing or the narrator’s excellent performance. Whatever the reason, it was interesting enough to see me through to the end.