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A review by crispynugget
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book and world has so much potential, but it ended as sub mid. Most of the character development was forced through magic or told to the reader without much evidence.
Keep in mind as you read this review that I did finish the book and I did enjoy certain parts. But looking at it as a whole I was disappointed. I can see that there is an audience for this book that may love it!
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
*// I would have been much more interested in the book if our narrator was not our narrator. The sister Tabitha had a far more interesting perspective and could have introduced the reader more to the world of magic. And just getting into the world of this book, I had a very hard time getting around the fact that regular people were unaware of magic. You’re telling me that a bunch of kids can go around changing the physical properties of their surrounds and no one questions it? They just have to be observed by another magic person to be flagged? There’s a whole infrastructure of mages, but regular people are clueless? This aspect of the book was not explained well. Coming off of a series like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik makes this book seem lazy and not well thought out.
Let’s also talk about the fact that this whole mystery could have essentially been solved within the first 100 pages if Mrs. Webb wasn’t so so good at refusing to participate as a character. It’s just not fun and it’s annoying when she refuses to answer questions, but then later seems to deeply care about what happened and who is responsible.
Additionally, we never get closure as a reader. Ivy was asked to solve a crime and she tells Torres what exactly? I’ll never know.
I truly wish this book was from the perspective of Alexandria or Tabitha as they explored Alexandria’s power. A morally compromised adult with tried and tested knowledge of powerful and forbidden magic mentors a chosen one teen while a PI investigates a mysterious and magical murder. How dark and magical that story could have been!
Overall, I did not care about our main character. She was aggressively focused on staying true to her character, steamrolling us through plot holes and not changing how she reacted to the evolving case. She’s literally getting pictures sent to her of herself with vaguely threatening messages and she just shrugs it off and never considers it part of the case? I haven’t even gone into how Ivy can just read people and she’s somehow always right? Like there’s not one character who challenges her biases? Wild. \\*
Keep in mind as you read this review that I did finish the book and I did enjoy certain parts. But looking at it as a whole I was disappointed. I can see that there is an audience for this book that may love it!
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
*// I would have been much more interested in the book if our narrator was not our narrator. The sister Tabitha had a far more interesting perspective and could have introduced the reader more to the world of magic. And just getting into the world of this book, I had a very hard time getting around the fact that regular people were unaware of magic. You’re telling me that a bunch of kids can go around changing the physical properties of their surrounds and no one questions it? They just have to be observed by another magic person to be flagged? There’s a whole infrastructure of mages, but regular people are clueless? This aspect of the book was not explained well. Coming off of a series like A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik makes this book seem lazy and not well thought out.
Let’s also talk about the fact that this whole mystery could have essentially been solved within the first 100 pages if Mrs. Webb wasn’t so so good at refusing to participate as a character. It’s just not fun and it’s annoying when she refuses to answer questions, but then later seems to deeply care about what happened and who is responsible.
Additionally, we never get closure as a reader. Ivy was asked to solve a crime and she tells Torres what exactly? I’ll never know.
I truly wish this book was from the perspective of Alexandria or Tabitha as they explored Alexandria’s power. A morally compromised adult with tried and tested knowledge of powerful and forbidden magic mentors a chosen one teen while a PI investigates a mysterious and magical murder. How dark and magical that story could have been!
Overall, I did not care about our main character. She was aggressively focused on staying true to her character, steamrolling us through plot holes and not changing how she reacted to the evolving case. She’s literally getting pictures sent to her of herself with vaguely threatening messages and she just shrugs it off and never considers it part of the case? I haven’t even gone into how Ivy can just read people and she’s somehow always right? Like there’s not one character who challenges her biases? Wild. \\*