This was a brilliant sequel that was just as funny and clever as the first book. It was nice getting to see things from Julia's point of view, and comparing her character arc with Quentin's. In fact I ended up liking Julia more than Quentin, though I do still like Quentin.

I loved Julia's online family/support group, and how it "wasn't a meatspace thing." Julia "opened herself up to them in a way she never had to anyone...She poured out her broken heart to the Free Traders, and they took it and cleaned it up and fixed it up and gave it back to her fresh and bloody and pumping again." It's great to see the the value of long-distance relationships being taken seriously. I can relate to feeling like the only people who really know and accept you unconditionally are people you'll probably never meet in person and who live across the globe. There was a time when I was like Julia, carrying around my "pocket friends" and living in my own digital world with them all day every day. It was great to see that kind of situation represented in a narrative.

Series: The Magicians #2

What can I say? This is basically Julia's backstory coupled with Quentin being really stupid about looking for quests.

Going back and forth between the books in this series and the TV show has been interesting for me.  So far, I've watched season one, listened to the first book, watched season two, and listened to the second book.  After the first book, one of the things that struck me is how much more time is covered in that first book compared to the first season of the show.  More than five years pass in that book, while on the show, if I recall correctly, just one year of life at Brakebills passes.  Certain events from the second season lined up with content from the first book, and some of what happens in the second book had me thinking, "Oh, right,that scene happened on the show in season one"  Season one of the show followed both Quentin's and Julia's journeys, but in the first book, Julia mostly disappears, while the reader is in Quentin's mind.  The second book follows both characters, and some of that season-one "Julia" material corresponds to flashbacks in the second book. Those flashbacks chronicle Julie's relationship with magic. 

Early on in The Magician King, I was annoyed with Quentin.  He was bored with his cushy gig as one of the kings of Fillory (his co-royals being King Eliot, Queen Julia, and Queen Janet.  He was itching for a quest, and made a tax-collection trip that cost more than the amount of tax collected.  He encounters a customs agent who mentions that she'd assumed Quentin intended to go on a quest for a very special key.  That is not his intention since this is the first he ever hears of such a key.  But the next thing you know, she is telling him pursuing the key would be a terrible idea.  So I was irritated because Quentin of course decides this means he HAS TO pursue that key.  However, things do not proceed the way I expected them to, and instead there is a hefty dose of "don't go on a quest for the wrong reasons."  The right reasons for going on a quest present themselves as the story unfolds. 

The character development of both Quentin and Julia interests me, and I look forward to the next book in the series.  [Warning:  one of Julia's flashbacks involves a disturbing rape scene--if you've watched the first season of the show, you have an idea as to what to expect.]