Did you secretly wish you could move to Narnia, Hogwarts, Arthurian England or Middle Earth? This book is written for all those fankids who still haven't gotten over the fact that they're Muggles.[return][return]The short version of a plot summary is, "It's like Harry Potter went to college, started saying 'fuck' and drinking a lot, and realized that you have to work really effing hard to master something.[return][return]We follow Quentin, who embodies how slightly dorky but really smart kids navigate high school, as he finds out about college for magicians. There's a lot of self discovery that happens at that age - for anyone - and Grossman does a good job of portraying the reasons why you feel like you despise your parents, or the angst over trying to navigate complicated social situations.[return][return]I ripped through it - for me, it falls into the category of books that can be devoured.[return][return]Through the whole novel, the author was acknowledging this desire to tuck yourself into a fantasy world, and how even when you find out said fantasy world is real, you can't tuck yourself safely into the warm arms of talking beavers, or hold a magic talisman that keeps you safe and solves the problem.[return][return]So my criticism is that in the last two pages of the novel, the poignancy of what I felt I'd learned was diminished.[return][return]I do think something needed to happen - we needed to know that Quentin's journey into and out of magic had a lasting impact on him, and the story needed a finishing move.[return][return]More than anything, the last two pages felt like a giant portal to the sequel.[return][return]So, I wasn't a fan of the last two pages. Big deal. Everything else, thought, I really enjoyed. I recommend it highly.