Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

21 reviews

forg3y's review against another edition

medium-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

4.0

way better than I had thought it'd be, interesting and cool ending too. A few too many lip bites at that 2/3rds mark.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Abortion, Medical trauma, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit and Blood

It handles the panic attack parts well, with some good ways to cope (and one, impossible-but-wouldn't-it-be-nice way)

jes7037's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

This story is going to stick with me. I wasn't expecting the emotion gut punch that I received from this book. It broke my heart in the best way possible, and I highly recommend it.
The writing was great, sometimes funny and snarky, sometimes emotional and reflective, sometimes tense and dark. The relationships between characters (especially Ivy and Tabitha) were complex and emotional, with some of Ivy's inner thoughts causing me emotional damage with how poignant and raw they were. The characters felt real in the way they interacted, and I actually enjoyed the romance in this book.
The world and its magic were so interesting, especially the combination of medical and magical.
The audiobook voice actor was absolutely amazing, and I want to listen to more books narrated by them. And of course, I'm going to devour anything else this author has written.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Body horror, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death and Pregnancy

Minor: Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Bullying

tess_gee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I was a bit caught off guard by how abrupt the ending felt. I still feel like I have a few unanswered questions about the magic systems. Technical questions on my part, sure, but I for one found it a tiny bit distracting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Cancer, Gaslighting, Abortion, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Gore, Violence, Alcoholism, Death, Toxic friendship, Grief, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Medical content, and Sexual content

Minor: Violence, Abandonment, and Miscarriage

xosirenox's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Abortion, Murder, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Death, Alcohol, Gore, Blood, and Grief

librarymouse's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

This was a rapidly consumable book. Some of the twists and turns were expected, others less so, and Ivy is a fun and engaging narrator. The magic system isn't very clearly defined, but that makes sense, given our narrator is not very familiar with it. I appreciated the way the book ends, in both how the main plot is resolved and how the romance plot is left open - and I like that the cat is named Alphabet.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Alcohol, Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy and Bullying

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

Soooo many mixed feelings about this one. I really like magical mysteries. This one clips along at a fairly good pace, and having the investigator be an outsider is a nice take on the genre. 

But I felt so frustrated by the MC (static and underdeveloped), the interview scenes (tortuous), and the ending

Ivy says that turning the killer in won’t be justice, but it also lets them dodge all accountability, and this killer REALLY needs to be held accountable.

I felt very unsatisfied when I reached the end.

I don’t know if Gailey intends to return to Ivy’s world, but I don’t think I’d follow if they do.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Abortion, Vomit, Cancer, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

jazhandz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

I think this is my favorite Sarah Gailey book I’ve read yet. I had expected it to be a little more twee and Harry Potter-referential (that’s always how it was pitched to me) but instead it was a straight-up noir, and a good one at that. Twisty mystery, complicated hero, sympathy for all parties. Really enjoyed it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Medical content, Body horror, and Abortion

Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy

philomathean's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abortion, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy and Toxic friendship

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, Murder, Abortion, Alcohol, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

schnaucl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I really liked this book.   Even though I guessed some of the twists, I thought it was cleverly written.  I really liked the protagonist's voice, and her ability to imagine herself in different timelines felt very genuine.

I almost expected it to turn out that it was a kind of magic that she was doing, to so fully inhabit the alternate timeline characters.

The characters were interesting and as were the ways the high school was both magical and utterly ordinary.  Ivy's resentment at the wasted magic was understandable, as was the student's "waste" of magic because they're just kids and it's common for them, not the extraordinary thing it is for Ivy.  

It was a very well built world.  I'd like to spend more time there. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Blood, Gore, and Medical content

Minor: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Abortion, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse