The Magicians by Lev Grossman

"Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. He's a senior in high school, and a certifiable genius, but he's still secretly obsessed with a series of fantasy novels he read as a kid, about the adventures of five children in a magical land called Fillory. Compared to that, anything in his real life just seems gray and colorless. 

Everything changes when Quentin finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the practice of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. But something is still missing. Magic doesn't bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he though it would. 

Then, after graduation, he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6101718-the-magicians

I read this book a few (around 5) years ago. I picked it up from a local bookstore in the mall where I was currently working as a salon manager. This book appealed to me then because of the synopsis in which it was reeling me in by. However, the actual content of this book left me a tad disappointed. I felt like it was a mix between Narnia and Harry Potter. Not a bad combination you may think, I would agree with you had i not read this book already. It was a little TOO close for me to believe it was an original piece of work. 

I will say this though it is clearly for adults, not for teenagers or adolescents as Harry Potter and Narnia are. I would be willing to give this book another go and to see how the now series progresses, when I read this I had NO idea this would be a series. I assumed it was a stand alone book. I should have known better. 

I choose to share the actual synopsis with you instead of my own rendering of the book because I wanted you to see what drew me to the book in the first place. Why I picked up the hard-cover copy and paid for it. I wanted you to see the magic it promises and maybe even pick the book up to see if it delivers for you, like it failed to do for me.

If you have read this book and differ with my views let me know! I would enjoy to hear someone speak of this book who actually enjoyed it. And why. If you have read this book and share my views what was it about this book that made you say "Hmmm...."? 

Happy Reading!