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A review by logarithms
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
5.0
4.75
yooooo this book was kinda epic actually. i just picked it up at random cause the cover was cool but unlike other times ive done that it actually turned out to be a really good read!!!1!!
not only was the cover design SICK AF i flipped the page to find the SEXIEST ENDPAPERS IVE EVER SEEN. i think these endpapers alone made the book 10x more enjoyable. i searched around to find the artist and ONCE AGAIN its Will Staehle. how can one man produce so many incredible designs
anyway onto the book
so compulsively readable, v intriguing. i liked the trope subversions, i think they were done well (a woman as the hardened world weary PI, the uninspiring magical school, You Are Not The Chosen One (tm) etcccc). Even though I had literally every plot twist figured out (not to brag but i felt like a bit of a genius) it was still super satisfying to actually find out the details of the twist. (i feel like maybe it happened this way that the reader gets all the clues and can figure it out but the protagonist is drunk/drugged/out of it the entire time so the answers are revealed slower) the clues were all v well placed, no cheap shock value
especially tabitha at the end ;;;____:;;; like...dead mum + 14 years of study into theoretical magic (another interesting use of the trope imo (u know like the mad/evil scientist reanimation trope)) + dead girlfriend = logical and satisfying conclusion tabitha is the 'murderer'. nothing says true love like disassembling their entire body and meticulously extracting the cancer thats eating them alive. im gonna SCREAM
also i love this quoteee
""Do you know what I learned?" Tabitha had a smile playing around the edges of her lips. "I learned that everything they think is impossible is a lie. The boundaries" -she gestured with her hands, describing a shape I couldn't have identified if my life depended on it- "they're imaginary.""
the relationships between the characters were so fleshed out i was like...wow....its been so long since ive read female characters this well written
the teen drama was a bit eh but i did like it as a sub-plotline leading to the subversion of BOTH the chosen one trope AND mentor/student magical school thing (like i said...these trope subversions were basically catered to me personally lmaooo)
very healthy sprinkling of queer characters in this book made me happy ty sarah gailey (big F for the author. the ebook version used the wrong pronouns for them after the authors note :///)
i also loved the magic system!!!!! particularly the healing magic DAYUM those descriptions were PERFECT
hmmm not giving the full 5 stars because i thought the protags introspection on her own relationships (particularly romantic) and their failings read as kinda unsophisticated (esp in relation to her age/experience, i guess?) (this was mostly in the start). but, i liked the ending a lot. it felt like progress without looking like there was any progress? like, not the conclusion u wanted but the one that was right
yooooo this book was kinda epic actually. i just picked it up at random cause the cover was cool but unlike other times ive done that it actually turned out to be a really good read!!!1!!
not only was the cover design SICK AF i flipped the page to find the SEXIEST ENDPAPERS IVE EVER SEEN. i think these endpapers alone made the book 10x more enjoyable. i searched around to find the artist and ONCE AGAIN its Will Staehle. how can one man produce so many incredible designs
anyway onto the book
so compulsively readable, v intriguing. i liked the trope subversions, i think they were done well (a woman as the hardened world weary PI, the uninspiring magical school, You Are Not The Chosen One (tm) etcccc). Even though I had literally every plot twist figured out (not to brag but i felt like a bit of a genius) it was still super satisfying to actually find out the details of the twist. (i feel like maybe it happened this way that the reader gets all the clues and can figure it out but the protagonist is drunk/drugged/out of it the entire time so the answers are revealed slower) the clues were all v well placed, no cheap shock value
Spoiler
especially tabitha at the end ;;;____:;;; like...dead mum + 14 years of study into theoretical magic (another interesting use of the trope imo (u know like the mad/evil scientist reanimation trope)) + dead girlfriend = logical and satisfying conclusion tabitha is the 'murderer'. nothing says true love like disassembling their entire body and meticulously extracting the cancer thats eating them alive. im gonna SCREAM
also i love this quoteee
""Do you know what I learned?" Tabitha had a smile playing around the edges of her lips. "I learned that everything they think is impossible is a lie. The boundaries" -she gestured with her hands, describing a shape I couldn't have identified if my life depended on it- "they're imaginary.""
the relationships between the characters were so fleshed out i was like...wow....its been so long since ive read female characters this well written
the teen drama was a bit eh but i did like it as a sub-plotline leading to the subversion of BOTH the chosen one trope AND mentor/student magical school thing (like i said...these trope subversions were basically catered to me personally lmaooo)
very healthy sprinkling of queer characters in this book made me happy ty sarah gailey (big F for the author. the ebook version used the wrong pronouns for them after the authors note :///)
i also loved the magic system!!!!! particularly the healing magic DAYUM those descriptions were PERFECT
hmmm not giving the full 5 stars because i thought the protags introspection on her own relationships (particularly romantic) and their failings read as kinda unsophisticated (esp in relation to her age/experience, i guess?) (this was mostly in the start). but, i liked the ending a lot. it felt like progress without looking like there was any progress? like, not the conclusion u wanted but the one that was right