Tara R. (portabellopig) reviewed on 1/1/2013 + 40 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

After all the hype, I was expecting a lot more out of this. Without giving too much away, the book spends a decent chunk of time at Brakebills but it doesn't feel like enough. The whole story feels like someone hit fast forward and you get the big main points, but not any of the character and story development that *could* be there. For lack of better comparison, it's like the first three Harry Potter books being distilled down into one story.

Quentin isn't the most likeable protagonist either. He whines and pities himself through most of the book, just like a lot of regular teens/people. Which is fine for the most part, because you know a big lesson is coming for him. Except the thing is, when the big lesson comes and he learns it, it feels anti-climactic and I just ended up mentally comparing him to an ex who was also whiney and poo-faced. Maybe I would have liked this story more had it been told from Alice, Penny, Eliot or even one of the professor's perspective. There's so much hinted at in their pasts and so little revealed; at certain points I was really hoping the story would take a multi-perspective storytelling stance so we could get into the meat of their lives, but no such luck.

Overall I liked the book and was entertained enough to finish it, but as other reviewers have stated, the whole book just feels like it exists as a set-up to the next book... which I'm not really sure I want to read.

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