Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

14 reviews

forg3y's review

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)

bzliz's review against another edition

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?

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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

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

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

booksandteatime's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Gore, Medical content, Abortion, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Eating disorder

fraeyalise's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

I didn't like this book. 

It is well written, and the characters feel like real people. The world feels like it's real. The mystery is compelling. 

However, it felt me feeling very gross at the end, like I need to take a shower. 

I'm glad Ivy realized literally in the last few pages that she didn't want anything to do with her evil sister and realized she's the problem, and I'm glad she went back to Rahul to try and give herself another chance to be vulnerable. But I hated the plot of the teen pregnancy, and what her sister did was vile, and not something I was ready to read about after having a baby myself. If I knew there was an explicit abortion scene (even if it was "magical") and further trauma for the teen who had one without any anesthesia I would have taken this off my to-read list.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gore, Grief, Alcohol, and Medical trauma

joepyeweed's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

1.5

Like if Aunt Petunia became a detective and then had to solve a  mystery. Except she doesn’t really care about the mystery and has a drinking problem. The main character was too self-absorbed, and the mystery wasn’t enough of a focus. The ending of the mystery was unexpected though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abortion, Body horror, Cancer, Murder, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual harassment and Self harm

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This was an audiobook I checked out as part of a reading challenge, to read a book that had been nominated for literary award(s),  but not been an actual award winner. I figured that could go one of two ways; the book could be a hidden gem that's only of niche interest, or a promising title that didn't quite match up to the top billing nominees. The book ended up being slightly more of column B.

The narration in this book as brilliantly delivered. The main character is jaded and sardonic, and is a lonely woman with a tendencies toward takeout food and alcoholism. Xe Sands narrates the character expressively and playfully, especially the parts where the characters are getting more and more inebriated. An interesting narrator; I might see if I can find other titles read by her.

As far as genre goes, the story is magic-school meets murder mystery, and a romantic twist, with the emphasis mostly on the crime solving stuff. As a result it slid off me a bit, because murder mystery things aren't really my preferred genre. I did like that there was diversity in the story. There were characters of different ages, and there were several queer (gay and pansexual) characters in this story, but the main character is a woman trysting with a man. Although the characters are ethnically diverse, their ethnicity is not focused on at all in the story.

The thing that probably drove me most to distraction was the slow pace. I generally love stories that dwell on the building of relationships between the characters, but the main theme of this book was the impossibility of being able to really bond with others if you aren't prepared to be honest with them, so the relationship building aspect felt shallow and unrewarding.

On a personal note, this book does deal with the aftermath of losing a mother to cancer. It probably says a lot about how much I have grieved and coped and healed that I didn't find this subject matter really upsetting, but rather, I felt like it represented real-life everyday tragedy and the failure of a family to cope because they couldn't share their feelings openly, and support each other in their loss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, and Blood

Minor: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

sarahmanuel3's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Cancer, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

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

whitllo's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The premise was promising (Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth is one of my favorite reads ever) but it just didn't deliver. The twists and turns were either obvious

the sister drugging her

or a dead end

the weird thing with the friend who wanted to get brunch</spoiler). The world building was fine but uninteresting and I felt similarly abput the characters. I didn't particularly care about the emotional core of the story which was for the best because the payoff at the end was minimal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body horror, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Pregnancy and Cancer

Minor: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders