The Magicians

“The Magicians is the novel that introduced me to fantasy for adults. I was 21 and in the process of dropping out of college and pretty heartbroken about it, and then I found this (somehow very hopeful) trilogy about a depressive who learns that magic doesn’t really fix anything. It’s painfully nostalgic and deeply flawed and really enthralling, and I have such clear memories of sitting on my dorm bed, procrastinating packing up my room, just completely immersed in this book. It reminded me of reading when I was a kid, just completely wrapped up in another world and unable to put it down, which is kind of meta-appropriate for this book in particular. (And I think a really important thing to remember, and why I always encourage people to read genre fiction when they’re having trouble reading. Books are entertainment as well as art; it’s okay to read for fun.) A lot of attention is paid to the magic school element bc of a certain very famous/very evil writer, but the Chronicles of Narnia stuff is what’s most powerful for me. The show is really great too; it kind of fixes a lot of the book’s problems, but it’s also A LOT (multiple musical episodes), so your mileage may vary.”

“This trilogy is just a total blast. Maybe not for everyone, but it hit the exact sweet spot for me. As @Carly put it, the best way to describe it is "Harry Potter for grown ups." If that sounds like something you'd be interested in and you haven't read The Magicians yet, give it a try.”

“My favorite fantasy book. A reductive summary: Harry Potter for grownups.”

“These books helped me so much. They have some issues, but mental illness + magic + struggling with adulthood? Yes. Also scratches the wizarding school itch but in an adult way.”

“This inadvertently began my love of adult/YA fantasy fiction. It is very Harry Potter for adults, but very much more than that. JK Rowling could never.”