READING RESPONSE: THE MAGICIANS BY LEV GROSSMAN

Right now, I am reading one of Lev Grossman's books, The Magicians. This book is about a depressed teenage boy living in contemporary Brooklyn, who wishes for less of a humdrum life. He is secretly obsessed with a children's book series about British siblings who enter a world of magic. He wants his life to be like those children's, and when one day he winds up in a world with a magic college that he later attends that is similar to the one in the books, he is ecstatic. This boy is called Quentin Coldwater, and he is the main character.

Even though he's depressed and sullen, he still plays a great role in the story with his imagination. I think his smart mind and imagination are his best traits. I predict that Quentin will have the time of his life at the magic college and all his dreams will come true, but he will have to make many sacrifices along the way in order to fully fit in with this new world.I can relate to Quentin and his hope for a more adventurous and interesting life. 

This book is unlike any other that I have read, it has a wonderful mixture of realistic fiction and fantasy. It also has many memorable characters. Lev Grossman uses many descriptive flashbacks in the story, and in my opinion, that truly enhances the book. I believe the author wants us to think about the experiences and drama of being an adolescent. 

When reading, I usually think about Quentin, and his strange outlook on life, and it makes me curious about teenage life. This book is remarkable and it is an amazing story to read.

The Looking Glass Wars

    Over the summer, I read many great books, but the best one by far was "The Looking Glass Wars" by Frank Beddor.It had the perfect combination of suspense, action, and mystery. This entire series was a twist on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" with a nice touch of historical fiction in it as well. The synopsis of the first book, which is the one I will be focusing on in this post,is a young princess living in Wonderland (also called a Wonderlander)who will become Wonderland's queen sooner then expected when her parents are killed by her vicious aunt, Redd Heart. The name of this girl is Alyss Heart, of the Heart Clan, and over the timeline of the story her reign is continually jeopardized by her aunt, until Alyss is forced to go live temporarily on Earth,in Victorian London, which is the historical fiction part of the book.

The most interesting fact about this book is that it is based on the book "Alice in Wonderland". There are multiple similarities between these stories such as the classic Mad Hatter is actually Alyss' strong and faithful bodyguard, Hatter Maddigan. I enjoyed comparing the two books and the characters within them. I highly recommend this book, as I had a wonderful experience reading it. 

"It's all in your head, Genevieve said.

I know, said Alyss, and despite the traumas of the past, the uncertainty of the future, she wouldn't have given up this moment for anything. Isn't it wonderful?" -The Looking Glass wars