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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.
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.
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: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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death and Pregnancy
Minor: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Bullying
pennyante's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Abortion
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
kiwi_00's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sarah Gailey cooked. There is such a good balance of romance, mystery solving and magic related issues that keeps the plot moving so it doesn't get boring. The characters that Ivy interacts with are such interesting representations of tropes around school settings such as the popular and unpopular sibling duo, teen pregnancy, the creepy male high school teacher, the older female teacher who's seen it all , it's so interesting how Ivy manages discussions during the investigation to push or pull an individual to say the right amount of information. Even though there are a lot of moving parts, Gailey does a really good job of keeping everything neatly tied together.
- Romance aspect of the story-
I enjoyed the flirtations and dates of Rahul and Ivy and I wish that they had one final discussion about how she messed up and a possibility of fixing it (I wanted them to end up together), it was a shame that her inferiority complex towards her sister got in the way . - Mystery- Brilliantly done especially because the investigation is not some Sherlock Holmes/Hercule Poirot investigation where only they could have solved it. Since everything is so realistic and Gailey takes care to make sure that the details in the story align well enough that when particular details stuck out to me, I was trying to solve the mystery alongside Ivy even though I ended up being way off. Once the perpetrator is revealed and gives an explanation, it makes so much sense why
Tabitha did what she did but I was surprised that Ivy didn't say anything. Tabitha losing two people that she loves to cancer broke her mind and she was willing to do anything to save Sylvia even though she ended up killing her. Harbouring the feeling (and then finding out that Ivy blamed her) that she was somewhat responsible for her mother's death and then conjuring a plan to remove all the cancer from Sylvia? Despite being the perpetrator, you can't help but feel sympathetic - Magic- I liked how realistic it was, it felt so different to other stories about magic on a school campus.
It was more akin to science and even then just physics theory. I liked how in the background magic stuff was in comparison to the rest of the story especially the part about a prophecy and a 'Chosen One' . I think notbeing able to do magic is such an integral part of Ivy's inferiority complex towards her sister which helps to make Ivy feel more human than a perfect detective who solves every single case with no issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Death, Abortion, Medical content, Cancer, and Blood
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
carly_golightly's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The word “oubliette” came up so many times and I had to google the meaning every time because it threw me every time.
The characters felt a little flat and the ending was the least powerful part, but I will def be reading more Sarah Gailey. I think it was excellent storytelling.
TW: death, cancer, body horror
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Body horror
Minor: Cancer and Death
bodybeingsoulstl's review
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
3.5
2nd Sarah Gailey novel and gave much the same vibe of mystery + horror with a touch of magic.
You might like this book if you...
... dreamed of being at Hogwarts
... like being a detective / sleuth
... have a strainted relationship with your sister
You might like this book if you...
... dreamed of being at Hogwarts
... like being a detective / sleuth
... have a strainted relationship with your sister
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Murder, and Abortion
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Grief
bzliz's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I’ve not read anything by this author before but I would read more of their work in the future. I really enjoyed the narration here- it felt like a 30’s noir detective movie starring a jaded, world-weary woman who can’t turn down the paycheck. I also liked the ambiguity around the magic system. Ivy doesn’t understand it so why should readers?
It seems like Ivy was a divisive character for a lot of people but I don’t mind her characterization. She doesn’t come off as whiny to me; she’s just a person who’s holding on to a grudge that developed in her formative years and was then left behind in a traumatic situation. It would be weird for that to not leave some psychological scars. Anyone who doesn’t understand that should count their blessings. On the flip side- damn, I know she’s a PI not a trained cop but she misses so many little slips as people are talking and it was a little frustrating. There were times I wanted to shake her and tell her to put down the drink and listen!
I’m split 50/50 on the ambiguous ending. On one hand, I’m fine with her choice to let the responsible party own up to their misdeeds. On the other, I would’ve liked a little more hope for her person life, such as Rahul opening the door or meeting her on the steps leaving more room for a potential reconciliation.
Also, if there’s a teacher who’s been the subject of many rumors of involvement with students and he’s a douche to everyone, just get rid of him. He shouldn’t be around children. And why is it always English teachers?
It seems like Ivy was a divisive character for a lot of people but I don’t mind her characterization. She doesn’t come off as whiny to me; she’s just a person who’s holding on to a grudge that developed in her formative years and was then left behind in a traumatic situation. It would be weird for that to not leave some psychological scars. Anyone who doesn’t understand that should count their blessings. On the flip side- damn, I know she’s a PI not a trained cop but she misses so many little slips as people are talking and it was a little frustrating. There were times I wanted to shake her and tell her to put down the drink and listen!
I’m split 50/50 on the ambiguous ending. On one hand, I’m fine with her choice to let the responsible party own up to their misdeeds. On the other, I would’ve liked a little more hope for her person life, such as Rahul opening the door or meeting her on the steps leaving more room for a potential reconciliation.
Also, if there’s a teacher who’s been the subject of many rumors of involvement with students and he’s a douche to everyone, just get rid of him. He shouldn’t be around children. And why is it always English teachers?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Body horror, Grief, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Self harm
kassidyreads's review against another edition
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Abortion, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Bullying
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship