Beautiful writing! Loved the themes, somehow didn't fully captured me but got me excited for Isaac Fellman future works.

The novel explores Annae's struggle to break free from the conditioning and trauma of her past and find her own identity and path in life. It combines elements of dark academia with supernatural themes, creating an intense and thought-provoking narrative.

If you're interested in contemporary fantasy that delves into complex psychological and supernatural themes, "The Two Doctors Górski" could be a compelling read.

Pretentious and talking around things without actually accomplishing anything. Annae is a frustrating main character because she isn’t honest with herself, even in the narration and we can’t get a handle on what she actually WANTS, which makes her impossible to root for. (Because if she isn’t striving for anything, there’s nothing for us to want her to achieve.)

And everyone else is not honest with Annae or themselves and they’re so dreadfully English and uptight and never say what they mean or much of anything at all. I saw some reviews that said the writing was pretty but it wasn’t; it was just cyclical and frustrating.

DNF - The synopsis for this was intriguing & drew my attention but ultimately I just wasn't able to gel with the story.

I'm a bit on the fence about The Two Doctors Górski and how to rate it, since I normally rate based on my enjoyment of the book. It's beautifully written, but it's difficult to read: the main character has been abused personally and academically by someone she trusted, and lands right back in another situation that is abusive in different ways. She's vulnerable through being female and through not being neurotypical, and the book looks at that pretty unflinchingly.

At the same time, she's not a perfect person herself, violating other people's privacy constantly by dipping into their heads with her magic to make herself feel better. I don't think I can name a single character who I really liked: even Ariel, who embodies much of the goodness in his creator, has his own serious problems. All of it makes the book uncomfortable and claustrophobic: there's very little that you can stop and get comfortable with, and that made it difficult for me to stay engaged.

Given that it's a novella, that means that some things that I would've found interesting aren't really discussed: what is magic in this world, really? Who can do magic? Why do magic? There's a brief reference to the teaching of magic being different between the UK and the US, but the details aren't filled in... Loads of stuff that would be interesting to explore at full length.

I don't want to spoiler, so I think that's all I will say. There are fascinating ideas here, and a stark portrayal of the way abuse can play out, but it can be a bit of a difficult read depending on your background and headspace.

A dark academia novella that explores the often under written academical abuse.

Annae has left her PHD program in America after suffering under the abuse of her adviser Jonathon. But after the defamation of Jonathon, Annae's only chance to complete her PHD is to go to England and study under the infamous Dr Górski. Who may be brilliant but he's also extremely rude and is determined for Annae to fail.

I really enjoyed the magic and the psychological nature of this book. It's introspection and reflecting on power imbalance.

I however would've like Annae to be more fleshed out as a character and more time spent in the world, and the creation of Ariel.

An enjoyable novella that just needed to give me a little bit more.

Thank you Tor-Forge and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've really enjoyed the author's other two books so I'm sad to rate this one so low. But this is an honest expression of how much I enjoyed (or didn't enjoy) this book.

We are to accept that magic is real. It's never explained- although the study of magic is an academic discipline there are no rules given. With this grounding, we begin the book with Annae, a young Ph.D candidate who has just entered a new program so that she can finish her doctorate. She's fled from the Pacific Northwest to England because it is only there that she found anyone willing to supervise her after her previous faculty advisor exploited her, gaslit her, and then destroyed her reputation when she left their (inappropriate and sexual) relationship in order to save herself.

However, Dr. Marec Gorski, to put it mildly, is a real pill. He's yet another abusive faculty "mentor" who won't let his students finish and keeps them in a limbo around him- to what purpose I'm not sure except to have control over them. He knows that he himself has nothing left to contribute academically but he stays on to terrify and abuse the students who have the misfortune to end up with him.

Annae quickly realizes that she is just as stuck here. She can't quite let go of her academic project because there was real potential there; she thought she had something important. But she'll never be able to make anything of it where she is any more than she could where she was before. However she isn't able to make herself move on either- her academic life is her identity and she can picture no other.

Turns out that there are actually two Drs. Gorski because Marec made a homonculus. He put everything that he thought was holding him back academically into this magical double of himself. His love, his empathy, his fashion sense, all the things that turned out to be the best part of him. Dr. Ariel Gorski has earned a doctorate in psychology on his own terms, left Marec long ago. Annae ends up turning to him for help when she become desperate.

This is a book about broken people who can never be whole. Annae uses mind reading like a reading addict like me uses books. Reading minds takes her away from all the unpleasantness of her own life. She knows it's unethical but can't stop. But many of the minds she reads are quite unpleasant on their own- anxious graduate students, the narcissism of Dr. Marec. She can find no relief in this new place.

Reading this book felt to me like reading a broken mind, one that's unpleasant to be in. Everyone is merciless to themselves. Everyone is depressed and that depression oozes through the book into the reader (at least it did to me). When it comes right down to it, nothing that actually happens in the book matters until the very end because the plot is irrelevant. This is a character study about people who have lost hope and can't stand themselves. While that depiction is authentic, it's a miserable place to be. It's a good thing this is only a novella.

This is also a hate letter to academia. There are no good things about the lives of the graduate students or faculty. Everything is exploitative and/or ego driven. No one really wants to make things better and Annae in particular is merciless to herself over even well meant mistakes. There's no doubt that this sort of academic life is real and a possibility. But it isn't a given. Depression makes everything seem bleak and hopeless and it seems to me that the author was in a dark place when he wrote this. I hope that he has found a way through. I'm willing to read something else in order to find out but I will be on my guard now.

3.5/5 stars

The Two Doctors Gorski is a tale about a young woman, Annae (Annay) who is studying magic under one of the Doctors Gorski. Dr Marec Gorski is a brilliant magician but he's also demanding, acerbic, insulting, and just downright mean. How he became that way is directly related to the other Dr. Gorski, but I'll let you discover exactly how on your own.

My only criticism is that I felt some important or dramatic moments were rushed along and I wished there was more time to dwell in those moments. Or at least more time for the reader to fully comprehend what was happening (a couple of times I had to go back and read previous paragraphs to understand what was happening plot wise).

Book Summary:

Annae is a woman traumatized by her past. She was once the victim of academic abuse. Now, she uses her psychiatric magic to protect herself, creating a carefully curated bubble between her and the world.

When Annae crosses paths with Marec Gorski, it's like a light-bulb turning on. What she sees may be the path she's been looking for – her path to redemption. But it will not be an easy or safe path to take.

My Review:

Yikes. The Two Doctors Górski hits HARD. So consider yourselves warned. Isaac Fellman did a brilliant job of setting the scene. It's easy to connect with Annae, even as she spirals down a path that most of us would choose never to walk.

There are a lot of relevant points made in the undertones of this novella, as I'm sure even the description makes clear. If you've ever been burned by academia, this book will hit you all the harder, that much I can promise you.

This was a fascinating "what if" scenario for various reasons. One of my favorite elements about the tale is that Annae could see the path in Marec Gorski's head and thus had all the information necessary to make a certain decision. Interesting food for thought.

Highlights:
Urban Fantasy
LGBT
Dark side of Academia
Page-turner

Trigger Warnings
Mental Health Concerns
Academic Abuse
Self-Harm
Suicidal Ideation

"For that was what Ariel had been; that was the act for which Marec had become famous. The creation of another person from the scraps of himself."

Because this is a novella, I won't delve into analyzing the plot or anything like that, but I will talk about the characters and the way that Fellman portrays certain themes and feelings. A big theme of this novella is anxiety in all its forms: academic, professional, personal, etc. This book contains one of the very best depictions of a panic attack that I've ever read--it was visceral and all-consuming in exactly the way a real panic attack is, and I applaud Fellman for it. I also really enjoyed the characters. Too often in dark academia the characters can feel like caricatures, but that wasn't the case here. All of the characters had depth and were superbly developed, things that can often fall short in novellas. Annae, the main character, was particularly well done. I thought the concept of making doubles of yourself that can hold all of the things that you feel make you weak was super thought-provoking. How many of us have felt like we were lacking and wanted to carve away all of our faults? In the world of this novella, this is a reality, and it was kind of horrific in practice.

The Two Doctors Górski is a fresh new addition to the dark academia subgenre, and I hope that it garners the type of acclaim that genre heavyweights such as The Secret History and The Atlas Six have over the years--it's that entertaining and well-written.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of The Two Doctors Górski!

I really enjoyed this book. It was an original idea that I hadn’t come across before. My only complaint was that I wish it was longer.

The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman was a fascinating read that I highly recommend to anyone interested in academia, the ethics of academia, or magic. It is a novella, and I almost wish it had been longer, as I could have learned more about the world that was developed. However, it felt so carefully constructed that it was the perfect length. I loved the very complex and thoughtful way the novella considered so many issues. This was my first work by Isaac Fellman, and I am excited to read more of his work.

*I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

The magic system in this book is incredibly interesting and I appreciate the concept of it in academia. However, I feel like the execution needs work. The pacing felt a bit off toward the end with everything rushing into an odd finale. I didn’t feel much connection or care toward the characters and struggled to find myself moved by the nicely wrapped ending. But this was a very interesting read!

This was a fine book. I liked the concept, and I'm always down for a magic dark academia. But this book was just missing that something to make it a good book. I think it might be that it was a novella? I'm not mad I read it, but it was just fine. I'd recommend giving it a shot if it sounds like something you would be interested in reading.

Strange, beautiful, disturbing, profound, I loved every bit of The Two Doctors Gorski. The story moved in such unexpected directions that kept me excited to turn every page, and the worldbuilding kept me constantly intrigued. For such a small novel, this one really packs a punch and I highly recommend to those looking for a magic-woven, character heavy story that keeps you thinking.

*Many thanks to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

So interesting and clever, and with a tone almost unheard of in fantasy literature outside of maybe Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or A.S. Byatt—like Possession written in a world of magic. And a quick read; I devoured it in a single bite.

This is dark academia at its most oppressive and intense, precise and realistic in a way that graduate students with baggage should either seek out for catharsis or avoid at all costs. The cruelty and indifference of the academy; the far-reaching damage caused by ego-driven obsession; the refusal of senior faculty members to consider students as anything but extensions of themselves: All are marvelously staged and meticulously examined.

“The Two Doctors Górski”is a vicious and biting look at academia, primarily, and the PhD a graduate student hopes to secure for her advanced magical theory. It’s also a study in abuse, jealousy, and failed hopes.

Isaac Fellman’s magic is more of a backdrop to the story’s action, as its use is mostly off-page, but the effects of magical use made me uncomfortable, with
-their invasiveness, in the case of main character Annae’s use of it,
-its violence, by the famed researcher Marec Górski who peaked years ago and that Annae hopes to learn from after no others will take her on, thanks to the false reports circulated about her by her former advisor, with whom she had an abusive romantic relationship.

The final person to round out this story is Torquil, a longtime grad student of Marec’s. He’s anxious, lacks confidence, and he an Annae orbit each other, their desires for academic acclaim and personal failings never allowing them to really forge a positive bond with each other, or anyone else.

In fact, no one has a positive effect on others, or positive relationship; it’s all elliptical discussions and tense hopes, and the only person who seems relatively whole in this dark story is the being Ariel, created years earlier by Marec and carved out of himself. It’s ironic that Ariel seems the most whole and balanced of the four.

This is a tough to enjoy story, as there is so much real and implied violence. But what kept me reading was the writing, which conjured vivid images in my head. I’ll have to check out more by this talented writer. And though no one is particularly admirable or likeable, I was glued to the page, right to the story’s melancholic end.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my review.

The Two Doctors Górski is one of those novellas you finish with the most satisfying feeling of ‘what the absolute fuck did I just read’. A deep exploration into the themes of academic abuse, trauma, and survival. How far would you go, if you could magically remove the ability to feel fear and anxiety, to hone your mind for a life of academics by removing every distracting emotion? How would mentally be changed? We see this story played out through the eyes of Annae, a brilliant magician whose previous student-advisor relationship was the very textbook definition of advisor abuse. Who’s fled from the US to the UK, to the only (also notorious) advisor who was willing to take her, in one last-ditch attempt at completing her PhD. I found Annae’s POV fascinatingly introspective. This novella is built on character work, between Annea and her interactions, mostly with Torquil, her fellow labmate with his own tortured insecurities, and her infamous advisor Marec Górski. There’s this strong sense of discomfort and paranoia deliberately written throughout this novella, where it’s clear all three characters are broken, messed up people, with parts quite literally missing. It’s also hands down one of the most interesting reads of this year. The narration style, while mostly told from Annae’s POV, has passages that quite literally dive into other characters’ heads for stream-of-consciousness segments, with an honesty that so nicely contrasts with Annae’s own dubious narration. The magic system is equally fascinating, one somewhat reminiscent of the magic system in The Atlas Six, albeit significantly more ‘holy shit what the fuck why would you do that’ in application. Also, I haven’t totally figured it out, but I’m so down for this weird little pseudo-platonic self-hate-cest relationship that’s going on. Overall, I rate this book a 4.5/5.

I love stories about the dark side of academia; and this bleak, twisted novella is almost wholly a pessimistic and cynical diatribe that rails against higher education in the United States and the UK, at professors on both sides of the pond, and at the manner in which female students are treated in educational institutions around the world. This haunting and emotionally detached novella wraps its melancholy story in an intriguing and page-turning story of a female doctoral student forced to go to Europe to study under a temperamental and formerly brilliant professor after she’s blacklisted by her former advisor and mentor at every academic institution in the US. And professors in magic aren’t a dime a dozen, especially when they’re doing the level of work she’s doing. She’s working with using magic to ease anxiety in the hopes of eventually using her magic to help with all mental health matters she can. But not everyone can see the point, and not everyone can see the benefit, and not everyone thinks it’s an ethical thing to do. Doctor Gorski thinks she’s ridiculous but she’s certainly welcome to try. Too bad there’s nothing good of him left.

What I liked best about this novella, as I do with most novellas, is the author’s ability to cram so much story into less than 200 words. And wow–it’s a whole lotta story! Sometimes I read a novella and wish it was a full-length novel; at other times, I read them and they’re just like this one: perfectly suited to being a novella. It needs no more and it needs no less. To read a full-length novel of this heavy, somber, sometimes toxic subject material would likely be just too much.

The story construction is well-planned and well-written, with excellent pacing. The characters vary in tone from emotionally detached to emotionally volatile, yet all of them are human and need human things (even if they are wont to admit it). Their magic is an expression of who they are, what they need, and how they express themselves. Everything else about these people is simply window dressing, or maybe just wrapping paper.

Fellman certainly has a way with atmosphere: if he wants you to feel claustrophobic, you will feel claustrophobic. If he wants you to feel anxious, that’s what you’ll feel. It’s a mix of evocative imagery and tension in the writing, but also of immersion or deprivation of the senses.

This novella is truly worth reading just for the experience alone, but also worth a read for the themes of how academia really is a dark place where the rules of ethics get bent all the time… if you’re a white male.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for granting me access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

File Under: Fantasy/Dark Fantasy/Novella/Occult Fiction/Sci-Fi