I had some hopes for this book. It did not live up to them. 
 Spoilery rant: 
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 The reason I'm giving this book a 2 instead of a 3, is because I basically couldn't stand the main character, Quentin. I mean, this is a person who feels sorry for himself and blames everyone else for his troubles for about 95% of the book. And he never really gets involved in the events of the book, he mostly just observes what happens and occasionally makes things worse. 
 Maybe it's just me, but I could not for the life of me find any redeeming qualities to Quentin. 
 Other than that, the book has a fairly interesting story which, sadly, gets to play second fiddle to Quentins rantings. 
 Oh, and one last thing. He spends a good long while in Fillory mastering magic, almost feverishly devouring it. And then, when he gets back he just... gives it up? And then, he just picks it back up and goes back to Fillory when the others come calling again? Feels very forced to my amateurish mind. 
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 /Spoilery rant