Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Magic for Liars

Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

66 reviews

a_dara_ble's review against another edition

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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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piperlee's review

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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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5aru's review against another edition

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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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sebrittainclark's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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sistermagpie's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

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

Content Warnings

kalmed22's review against another edition

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mysterious tense

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

1.0

This book was not for me. The sloppy plot and pacing, the manipulative alcoholic investigating a school of magic when she is not magical...really? Very disappointing.

Content Warnings

cat_rave's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

lish_reads's review against another edition

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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 against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

claire_luna's review against another edition

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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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