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Apr 28, 2017DBRL_KatieL rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I did not enjoy this book. The idea behind it is sound, but the writing and the characters ruined it for me. The main character was constantly seeking something or someone to make him happy, and never seemed to realize if he wanted to be happy he had to do something about it himself, and stop relying on others to make his life worth living. Part of the writing style I didn't enjoy was the pacing. There are multiple sections in this book, each of which takes place in a different location and is for a different span of time. There would be major events over the course of a chapter or two, that would then left behind, seemingly to have had little impact on the characters beyond that chapter (maybe one more), but no long term significance. I also had problems with how the world Grossman created operated. Apparently if you learn magic you never have to work for anything ever again, so adults fill their time with meaningless hobbies and lose themselves in fantasy lives-which leads readers to believe they are able to create buildings out of thin air, and somehow pay for everything by creating money. Also at the school the students have to study constantly to learn everything, and be able to preform, however after once the main character is classified into his specialty (which isn't really his specialty but that topics is also left untouched after one chapter) he and his friends have all the time in the world to get drunk, play their wizard games, and lay around in their club house. What happened to the urgency that they wouldn't be able to pass exams? I grew so frustrated with this book after the halfway point I had to make myself read more than a few pages at a time. I kept thinking "It will get better" but but it never did. It just got more absurd. Finally I didn't want to know what happened next, or how the book ended-I didn't care.