So... as terrible as it is, I wasn't immediately turned away by the sexism. Yes, it's annoying and off-putting, and troubling on a deeper level. But I really, really wanted to like this book. So I brushed off some of my concerns. I even brushed aside all the reviews that said this book was terrible. People complained about this book not having that spark that makes magical fantasy books fun to read. I thought that the whole point is that there is no spark. Magic is hard work, dose of realism, blah blah blah. But oh my gosh. This book is so boring. 
 I can accept the fact that this is a commentary on magic or whatever. I was excited for "the dark side of magic." Where it's like a drug, where you have to work super hard at it. Where it gets you into dangerous situations, etc. etc. The problem is, the only part of magic we got to see is the boring, study-all-the-time-because-it's-super-hard magic. At least, for the first quarter of the book. Which is where I stopped. Because, honestly if all we got is whiny kinda creepy Quentin with a rotating cast of people I can't even remember and a story about magic that isn't even exciting or dangerous, just boring, then there's no way I was ever going to finish it. 
 Also, is the first part of the novel all just backstory? Because that's way too much. Your story can't be that complicated.