andreac713's review
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Sexual content
schnaucl's review against another edition
- 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
Spoiler
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.
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
twelvekindsoftrouble's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Abortion and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts
oliverreeds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
mel_odramatics's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content
foreverinastory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rep: white female MC (I think Ivy is queer but I'm uncertain), BIPOC bisexual male love interest, several lesbian female side characters, pansexual female side character, BIPOC female side character.
CWs: Body horror, abortion, cancer, gore, blood, death, murder, medical trauma, medical content, grief, past death of parent, alcoholism, alcohol consumption, terminal illness, bullying, emotional abuse, violence, mentions of past pregnancy that was terminated, vomit, gaslighting, toxic friendship, injury/injury detail, sexual content. Moderate: eating disorder and mention of weight checks, cursing, mention of past adult/minor relationship, panic attack, suicide, sexual harassment.
Graphic: Gore, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Grief, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Cursing
lily1304's review
- 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
4.25
Yeah, it takes place at a boarding school for magical teens, but it's definitely not Harry Potter.
I would have rated it higher, except I feel like it has low reread-value - but the first read was SO fun!!
Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness
Minor: Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Vomit
massivepizzacrust's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Abortion, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content
longlost's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Spoiler
even if ultimately it may not have led anywhere for them.The school life of Osthorne in general felt very real and present - reading this did make me feel re-immersed in school culture, for good or for bad, and learning about all the magic lore from Ivy's outsider point-of-view was interesting. I very much enjoyed Rahul as a character (my beloved) and I appreciate the affect he had on Ivy's character development.
Regarding the murder mystery itself: I have some Thoughts.
Spoiler
The general redirect & red herring here and there helped keep the story feeling fresh as you're reading through Ivy's steps towards the answers, but I will admit that I had an inkling about who the killer was from the start. I did like Tabitha a lot and I appreciated her and Sylvia's relationship and the painful circumstances around Sylvia's death, and thought I'm not entirely satisfied with how Ivy chooses to wrap the case I do think it's a choice that's realistic for Ivy and Tabitha as characters.Gailey's writing style was also very enjoyable to me; in parts of the book where they would delve so deep into a scene that it would take a few more paragraphs to learn of small circumstances that took place during the scene that weren't focused on, a choice that feels like it helped with the tension & mystery elements. Ivy's inner voice also felt very authentic.
Overall: a good mystery book with some fun fantasy elements and a cache of pain to hit you with when you reach the story's end.
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Abortion, Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Bullying, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Stalking, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
TW details -Spoiler
Cancer comes up related to two separate characters. An abortion is performed on an underage student without anesthesia. Main character's parent dies of cancer: this does not happen in the story but is reflected on multiple times by the main character. There are multiple scenes where the main character & others drink together - main character is noted to drink often. Main character's sister at one point drugs her drink. Main character somewhat-inadvertently lies to her romantic interest about her identity and abilities, which may be uncomfortable to read about.internationalreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Vomit