Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Magic for Liars

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

124 reviews

booksandteatime's review against another edition

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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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k_readingmorenow's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The dry, first person narrative is definitely amplified by the narrator in the audiobook version. But while the voice acting is wonderful, it does tend to be a bit breathy which can make it difficult to understand if you have any background noise. A good book if you're looking for a mystery without any heroes or villians. Everyone is complicated. A magic world that feels very real.

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libraryraven's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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wishbea's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Very enjoyable, it's fun to watch Ivy investigate and interview people as long as you ignore that she has never interviewed people before yet is oddly good at it. I didn't care for the romance but think it was a shame that there isn't any closure for either character there. The whole Chosen One plotline was very obvious

Dylan was too flat of a character to have ever actually been the Chosen One.

and the reveal of who did it and why wasn't satisfying to me. The ending felt sudden and I expected more from it.

It's a bit of a miracle Ivy managed to solve this case considering she spends the majority of the book drunk, hungover, obsessing about her new crush and worrying about her relationship with her sister. Gailey tries to dig deeper with themes of parent death, identity and estrangement but it just fell flat for me.

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gabyspinktasticlibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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

3.0

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vagrantheather's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Just ok. Pulpy murder mystery meets magical world meets unwilling outsider. There were elements meant to be emotional - "people don't stick" - but none of it really hit. Fine.

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lycheeteareads's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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jasperw's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I have to give it such a high rating for the ending of the acknowledgments alone:

"To those versions of me, who were growing and searching and scared and brave: Thank you."

This line really sums up what I love about this book, and what (now in reflection) I can appreciate as having been there from the beginning: Ivy is a troubled person, just like we all are. She is trying her best to navigate the world around her, while she has deep scars that she carries. She has issues and she's trying to protect herself in a destructive way. She's a relatable main character, and she tells you these issues from the get go. Her character and the development is one of the big reasons I love this book. Maybe it's the timing, what's going on in my own life, but I truly think so many people can relate to Ivy.

The magic system and the mystery element were interesting. I did find that the investigating part dragged a little in the middle, and there were a couple elements not fully explored

the whole Prophecy element was explained some, but mostly left as "this thing is here", especially in the end.

but I was really okay with that! I think people should just know going into it that if you're there for the mystery and magic exclusively, you may not be satisfied. The characters and the growth is a big element of the story.

I LOVED the ending. It's what really sold me on rating this book so highly. It was perfect.

I loved how it was ambiguous and it showed that we can continue to make different decisions. We can continue change how we interact with the world. We can always make the change to start letting people in.

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petrimagyk's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

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