![The Magicians (The Magicians #1)](https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1313772941m/6101718.jpg)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars - because I really liked it, but I didn't love it. And I made the fatal error of watching the TV adaptation at the same time as I was reading the book, which confused my poor brain no end, as they are quite different in a lot of ways...So my advice is either read the book first, or watch the series first!
Anyway, here goes! Quentin Coldwater ("Q") (and as an aside, what a GREAT character name!) is an extremely intelligent, somewhat depressed, teenager, who happens to be in love with his best friend since childhood, Julia. The feeling is not reciprocated as Julia is in love with their mutual friend, James. Awkward! So Quentin is not a happy guy. Quentin is also obsessed with a series of five middle grade fantasy novels - "Fillory and Further" - about the adventures of the Chatwin children in a Narnia-like magical land - which makes him somewhat of an outsider among his peers.
The story opens with Quentin and James making their way to an interview for college. When they turn up to the address, it seems deserted. After they enter the house, they discover that their interviewer is, in fact, dead. One of the paramedics who turns up to help gives Q a mysterious envelope - which contains the manuscript of the SIXTH book of "Fillory and Further"...
When Q opens the envelope, a slip of paper escapes on the wind. He doesn't want to lose it, and in trying to catch it, he is led through a deserted park until...
The park disappears - and Q finds himself at the edge of an expanse of green lawn on a warm, sunny day, with a mysterious building in the distance. He has arrived at Brakebills Academy, a college for magicians.
Q discovers magic is real, and he is a magician. He thinks he has finally found a place to belong - as he has always felt as if he was missing something in his life. But the study of magic is much more difficult and complex than he had ever imagined and there is a lot of darkness and danger in the magical world.
Q and his friends have complicated relationships and they find that magic is not the answer to all their problems. And Q makes a terrible mistake and puts the whole Academy in jeopardy. But this is a college, so there is also fun, sex, drinking and drugs...and lots of teenage angst! The book was quite funny in places, too.
Without giving too much away, there is a Beast (who is actually quite horrifying and whose identity is a surprise), Fillory is real, and Q and his friends go on a quest and not everyone escapes unscathed.
Q is not a very likable character at first, but he grows on you, and his collection of friends are interesting and complex. Especially Eliot. The magical challenges/lessons are really cool too! Especially when they go to Brakebills South. But I don't want to give anything away.
I found the ending quite upbeat and positive, which was a relief because a LOT of dark stuff happens at the end of the book. I'm looking forward to following Q's adventures in the next two books.
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