Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

28 reviews

pennyante's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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 not
  being 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

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

mycatnorbert's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Alcoholism, Cancer, Abortion, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

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.

---

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 against another edition

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

---

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

k_readingmorenow's review

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Abortion, Gore, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Eating disorder, and Bullying

erebus53's review

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.

---

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

---

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