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A review by stormwise
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book had lots of things I loved - complicated sibling relationships, casually queer characters and fascinating worldbuilding. I love the idea of a magic school where the teachers use whiteboards, there's graffiti on the lockers and teenagers are obsessed with their phones!
The main character, Ivy Gamble (PI), doesn't have magic, but she does know how to lie. As the POV character, the reader can see every choice she grapples with as she carefully manipulates the other characters, who all have their own agendas and give the impression of each thinking they are in a different kind of story. In her own way, Ivy reminded me of a stage magician using sleight of hand and misdirection to keep everything in the air - but of course, it doesn't take much before it all comes crashing down.
Halfway through this novel, I thought I would give it a 5 star rating, but the ending felt a bit too abrupt and there were a few characters whose plotlines I would have liked to have seen wrapped up. I can forgive that last complaint somewhat as the story is told through first person narrative but then again, it's established early on that Ivy is narrating from after the events of the book...yeah. Despite these minor grievances, I really enjoyed this book! I found the scenes between Ivy and her twin sister particularly powerful - Gailey does an incredible job depicting their fraught relationship.
The main character, Ivy Gamble (PI), doesn't have magic, but she does know how to lie. As the POV character, the reader can see every choice she grapples with as she carefully manipulates the other characters, who all have their own agendas and give the impression of each thinking they are in a different kind of story. In her own way, Ivy reminded me of a stage magician using sleight of hand and misdirection to keep everything in the air - but of course, it doesn't take much before it all comes crashing down.
Halfway through this novel, I thought I would give it a 5 star rating, but the ending felt a bit too abrupt and there were a few characters whose plotlines I would have liked to have seen wrapped up. I can forgive that last complaint somewhat as the story is told through first person narrative but then again, it's established early on that Ivy is narrating from after the events of the book...yeah. Despite these minor grievances, I really enjoyed this book! I found the scenes between Ivy and her twin sister particularly powerful - Gailey does an incredible job depicting their fraught relationship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Eating disorder