Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

18 reviews

longlost's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If you're a fan of mystery books in general, then you'll probably like this. Gailey's take on the 'wizarding school' trope feels fresh (though I admit I never read Harry Potter to base it off of), and the progression of solving the murder feels very well-paced and with the appropriate twists and turns that suit a mystery of this stature. While I didn't connect a whole lot with any of the characters, I hesitate to say that's a flaw on the book's part as I tend to find it hard to connect to characters in books in general. I enjoyed reading about Ivy and Tabitha's relationship and learning their history, along with seeing them reconnect

even if ultimately it may not have led anywhere for them.

 
The school life of Osthorne in general felt very real and present - reading this did make me feel re-immersed in school culture, for good or for bad, and learning about all the magic lore from Ivy's outsider point-of-view was interesting. I very much enjoyed Rahul as a character (my beloved) and I appreciate the affect he had on Ivy's character development. 
Regarding the murder mystery itself: I have some Thoughts.

The general redirect & red herring here and there helped keep the story feeling fresh as you're reading through Ivy's steps towards the answers, but I will admit that I had an inkling about who the killer was from the start. I did like Tabitha a lot and I appreciated her and Sylvia's relationship and the painful circumstances around Sylvia's death, and thought I'm not entirely satisfied with how Ivy chooses to wrap the case I do think it's a choice that's realistic for Ivy and Tabitha as characters.

Gailey's writing style was also very enjoyable to me; in parts of the book where they would delve so deep into a scene that it would take a few more paragraphs to learn of small circumstances that took place during the scene that weren't focused on, a choice that feels like it helped with the tension & mystery elements. Ivy's inner voice also felt very authentic. 
Overall: a good mystery book with some fun fantasy elements and a cache of pain to hit you with when you reach the story's end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Abortion, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

TW details -

Cancer comes up related to two separate characters. An abortion is performed on an underage student without anesthesia. Main character's parent dies of cancer: this does not happen in the story but is reflected on multiple times by the main character. There are multiple scenes where the main character & others drink together - main character is noted to drink often. Main character's sister at one point drugs her drink. Main character somewhat-inadvertently lies to her romantic interest about her identity and abilities, which may be uncomfortable to read about.

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

betyplush's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual content

yavin_iv's review against another edition

emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abortion, Terminal illness, Murder, Cursing, Bullying, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Eating disorder

a_dara_ble's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Grief, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

katie_the_librarian's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Medical content, Abortion, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual content and Terminal illness

Minor: Toxic relationship

jaymii's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicide

theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

4.5

Self-aware modern fantasy noir...? Whatever it is, I want more of it. Enticing, funny, real, and heartbreaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Body horror, Murder, and Sexual content