Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

45 reviews

daffodilcherry's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Magic for Liars is a fun, noir inspired mystery set in a magical school. Ivy, a 32 year old private detective, is contracted by her sister Tabitha's school to uncover the murderer of a teacher who died in the library. The school is a typical American highschool, except that it teaches magic to young mages. Ivy doesn't have magic, while her sister is a very talented teacher.

I liked the central mystery, and the cast of characters that surrounded it were well fleshed out and real. The worldbuilding was just deep enough to keep the book moving, which was fine and explainable as Ivy doesn't understand much either. The heart of this story really was the relationship between Tabitha and Ivy rather than solving the mystery at times. I listened to this as an audiobook and Xe Sands perfected the world weary private detective vibe. 

Definitely a great read, 4/5 stars since I'm feeling a little fatigue at American highschool stories. Secondary characters were in sapphic relationships, but the main character is very into a (bi) man, which was written sweetly. Specific content warnings will be explained below. 

Wheelhouses: noir detective, snarky and self aware noir detective POV, magic school, highschool through the eyes of an adult, mean girls cliques, chosen one narratives with a twist, sapphic side characters, sister estrangement and reconciliation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Abortion, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

A major story arc is about Ivy uncovering a teen pregnancy who then has a magical abortion, which itself is a body horror experience without pain:

involving separating out your body parts into suspension in the air and then plucking the embryo out before reconstituting the person.

abbiechron's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Holy crap this novel was a rollercoaster! The narrator (XE Sands) is an incredible performer and did amazing at adding to the mystery and drama that Sarah Gailey penned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Murder, Medical trauma, and Abortion

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Blood, Alcohol, Body horror, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Vomit, Bullying, and Stalking

turrean's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gailey is a stellar storyteller. This is the third of her novels I’ve read. The magic system is complex, consistent, and fascinating. I found the ending a bit frustrating. 

The audiobook was FANTASTIC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Bullying

Minor: Pregnancy and Terminal illness

forg3y's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

way better than I had thought it'd be, interesting and cool ending too. A few too many lip bites at that 2/3rds mark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Abortion, Medical trauma, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit and Blood

It handles the panic attack parts well, with some good ways to cope (and one, impossible-but-wouldn't-it-be-nice way)

jes7037's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This story is going to stick with me. I wasn't expecting the emotion gut punch that I received from this book. It broke my heart in the best way possible, and I highly recommend it.
The writing was great, sometimes funny and snarky, sometimes emotional and reflective, sometimes tense and dark. The relationships between characters (especially Ivy and Tabitha) were complex and emotional, with some of Ivy's inner thoughts causing me emotional damage with how poignant and raw they were. The characters felt real in the way they interacted, and I actually enjoyed the romance in this book.
The world and its magic were so interesting, especially the combination of medical and magical.
The audiobook voice actor was absolutely amazing, and I want to listen to more books narrated by them. And of course, I'm going to devour anything else this author has written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Bullying

princessfabulous's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Gore

tess_gee's review

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was a bit caught off guard by how abrupt the ending felt. I still feel like I have a few unanswered questions about the magic systems. Technical questions on my part, sure, but I for one found it a tiny bit distracting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Gaslighting, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Gore, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Toxic friendship, Grief, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Violence, Abandonment, and Miscarriage

lira_the_recluse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Decent plot / mystery. Noir with magic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death

Moderate: Gore, Cancer, Abortion, and Terminal illness

xosirenox's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Abortion, Murder, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Blood, and Grief

scripturient's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Abortion, Alcoholism, and Body horror

Moderate: Death of parent and Terminal illness