I’m glad this was a short book. This one was not a good fit for me. We get thrown into the story and I didn’t really follow exactly what was happening or why. The characters were terrible young men with a lot of sex on the brain. Like, it got old. Overall, I guess I don’t understand what the point of this book is?

To be honest, I'm still very confused on what this book was about. As something that's supposed to be a prequel I thought I could read it before the rest of the series, but I guess not. Definitely makes me hesitant to read the Magicians series just based on the writing of this, but I'm hoping it's a one off.

Hollis has graduated from college and now lives a listless life. He and his friends wander through their days at meaningless jobs and wonder what happened to their dreams. Hollis and his friend decide that the best way to spend their weekend is to break into an abandoned mansion, get drunk, and talk about the people they know and the people they wish they could be.

This book was republished after the success of Grossman's Magicians Trilogy. Hollis is very clearly an early iteration of Quentin Coldwater. It's a really good thing that Quentin became a magician because without magic, the moody twenty-something protagonist is painful to witness. There's an inevitable comparison here to Holden Caulfield. If you are a fan of that character, this might be a good read for you. The rest of us should probably stick to Grossman's more magical books.

Warp
By Lev Grossman
St. Martin's Griffin September 2016
192 pages
Read via Netgalley

I positively despised this book and bailed at 17%. I picked it up based on the author, Lev Grossman. His other books are right in my genre wheelhouse. This however, is not.

If you're interested in reading about obnoxious post-college guys living in 1990s Boston, then it may appeal to you. But I bailed after a Lexus-driving, entitled, boy-man character pushes the frame (with glass inside) out of his unemployed friend's window and basically says, "Oops!"

Short but good. I wish we had more from Grossman! Perhaps he's stuck after writing such a well-selling trilogy?

'Warp' is Lev Grossman's first novel, finally seeing print. It's fictional, but has the feel of being somewhat true.

The author's forward is pretty good. He explains how the story came about, and what it was like to revisit it all these years later. It's about a particular time in life. In this case, it is being college aged in the 1990s. The story is kind of a night in the life. There are lots of conversations, geeky inner monologues, and the kind of silly, stupid fun you get into with friends.

It's light on plot and structure, but it's supposed to be. It captures a period of time pretty well. It's also not like the author's other works as far as I can tell. I found it nostalgic and made me think of the time in my life when I was about the same age.

I received a review copy of this ebook from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Apparently it's an earlier novel--unfortunately, it shows.

Although the writing is well done, the characters were not ones that I enjoyed reading about.

I liked the Magicians, which is the reason I thought I might like this as well. I did not.

A modern-day "Catcher in the Rye". If you are looking for a fast-paced, action-filled read, this is not it. If you are looking for a glimpse into the life of a young adult learning to find his place in the world, full-speed ahead!

I would recommend this to people who loved "Catcher in the Rye". However, please do not blindly recommend this to people who loved "The Magicians" trilogy as it is very far removed from that series by the same author! The only thing it has in common is that "Warp" feels very much like a character study for Quentin in "The Magicians".

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.