Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

77 reviews

waterwolves's review

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While I found this novel to have an interesting premise and great writing, I'm just not feeling noir right now. I'll probably try this again another time.
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piperlee's review against another edition

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

3.75

What I thought would be an interesting murder mystery with magic mixed in ended up being a highly character-driven and contemplative story about family, grief, and feelings of inadequacy.
I really enjoyed this book, despite the weird. The magical high school and variety of characters kept it interesting and added a lot of mystery to the story. However, the ending left me feeling frustrated. It was too unbelievable for me to justify Ivy’s decision at the end with all the horror and trauma the murderer had caused. 
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librarianmage's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Not sure how I felt about this.
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5aru's review

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dark emotional 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

4.5

Amazing read. Kept me hooked throughout! The author's style is so agreeable to read, and the mystery is so well-woven, I had a hard time putting it down -  although the resolution of the case did peter out a bit. I really like how Ivy's feelings are fleshed out throughout, she's a very rounded character and I grew to really like her despite all her (rather glaring) flaws. The rest of the cast is almost equally as interesting, too.
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mixyplixl's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jourdanicus's review

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dark 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? It's complicated
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lish_reads's review

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dark emotional lighthearted mysterious 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

Ivy Gamble is a 30-something Private Investigator with a bit of a drinking problem and a talent for lying to herself (and everyone else). She's also the magic-less half of a set of twins; her sister, Tabitha, is a Theoretical Magic phenom and molder of young minds at the Osthorne Academy for Young Mages. When a teacher at the academy is found dead and the headmaster recruits Ivy to investigate, she's thrown into the magical world she could have belonged to, if only she was the twin with magic.

What follows is a fever dream of an investigation, complete with mad ramblings, a Chosen One, and more nitty-gritty explanations of magic than Ivy knows what to do with. It's a fun, wild, sort of trippy ride, though the ending was a little anticlimactic. This is my second Sarah Gailey book, and I love their casually queer, diverse worlds. I will definitely be reaching for more of their books!

If you like soft SFF à la V.E. Schwab's VICIOUS and VENGEFUL; Tamsyn Muir's methods of explaining magic; or Simone St. James's blend of fantasy and mystery, this book is for you. 

CW: Harry Potter reference(s)
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jaymii's review

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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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claire_luna's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

So, this was not what I was expecting. I came across this book in some list and added it to my library audio holds and then went in pretty blind. For some reason I thought it was YA but it definitely isn't. Sure, it's set at a magic school and there's a prophecy about a Chosen One but that's where the typical YA fantasy genre tropes stop. It's a detective novel, tinged with magic and drama, full of queer characters (but coming out isn't a theme). There were continuous twists and it was a few chapters from the end before I was further ahead than our plucky, somewhat damaged detective. I was also thoroughly impressed with the narration, this was one of my longer audiobooks and I was so into it that at one point I just started into space sitting on my couch. There was so much packed into this book (do see the content warnings) and it delivered with a punch. What more can I say? I loved it.
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multiplyoctopi's review

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fast-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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