Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

6 reviews

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

starsnstitchin's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

What i enjoyed: The author had a beautiful way with words, and it hooked me instantly. The story was very interesting and the twists and turns were quite enjoyable to discover along with the main character. I loved that it didnt have a stereotypical happy ever after and it was very realistic, but it wasnt entirely tragic either. It was so well done and has become one of my favorite books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Stalking, Violence, Abortion, and Body horror

Moderate: Pedophilia

chris_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Body horror, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Gaslighting, Death, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

thewoodlandbookshelf's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death

longlost's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If you're a fan of mystery books in general, then you'll probably like this. Gailey's take on the 'wizarding school' trope feels fresh (though I admit I never read Harry Potter to base it off of), and the progression of solving the murder feels very well-paced and with the appropriate twists and turns that suit a mystery of this stature. While I didn't connect a whole lot with any of the characters, I hesitate to say that's a flaw on the book's part as I tend to find it hard to connect to characters in books in general. I enjoyed reading about Ivy and Tabitha's relationship and learning their history, along with seeing them reconnect

even if ultimately it may not have led anywhere for them.

 
The school life of Osthorne in general felt very real and present - reading this did make me feel re-immersed in school culture, for good or for bad, and learning about all the magic lore from Ivy's outsider point-of-view was interesting. I very much enjoyed Rahul as a character (my beloved) and I appreciate the affect he had on Ivy's character development. 
Regarding the murder mystery itself: I have some Thoughts.

The general redirect & red herring here and there helped keep the story feeling fresh as you're reading through Ivy's steps towards the answers, but I will admit that I had an inkling about who the killer was from the start. I did like Tabitha a lot and I appreciated her and Sylvia's relationship and the painful circumstances around Sylvia's death, and thought I'm not entirely satisfied with how Ivy chooses to wrap the case I do think it's a choice that's realistic for Ivy and Tabitha as characters.

Gailey's writing style was also very enjoyable to me; in parts of the book where they would delve so deep into a scene that it would take a few more paragraphs to learn of small circumstances that took place during the scene that weren't focused on, a choice that feels like it helped with the tension & mystery elements. Ivy's inner voice also felt very authentic. 
Overall: a good mystery book with some fun fantasy elements and a cache of pain to hit you with when you reach the story's end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Abortion, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

TW details -

Cancer comes up related to two separate characters. An abortion is performed on an underage student without anesthesia. Main character's parent dies of cancer: this does not happen in the story but is reflected on multiple times by the main character. There are multiple scenes where the main character & others drink together - main character is noted to drink often. Main character's sister at one point drugs her drink. Main character somewhat-inadvertently lies to her romantic interest about her identity and abilities, which may be uncomfortable to read about.

jaymii's review

dark emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide