erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was an audiobook I checked out as part of a reading challenge, to read a book that had been nominated for literary award(s), but not been an actual award winner. I figured that could go one of two ways; the book could be a hidden gem that's only of niche interest, or a promising title that didn't quite match up to the top billing nominees. The book ended up being slightly more of column B.
The narration in this book as brilliantly delivered. The main character is jaded and sardonic, and is a lonely woman with a tendencies toward takeout food and alcoholism. Xe Sands narrates the character expressively and playfully, especially the parts where the characters are getting more and more inebriated. An interesting narrator; I might see if I can find other titles read by her.
As far as genre goes, the story is magic-school meets murder mystery, and a romantic twist, with the emphasis mostly on the crime solving stuff. As a result it slid off me a bit, because murder mystery things aren't really my preferred genre. I did like that there was diversity in the story. There were characters of different ages, and there were several queer (gay and pansexual) characters in this story, but the main character is a woman trysting with a man. Although the characters are ethnically diverse, their ethnicity is not focused on at all in the story.
The thing that probably drove me most to distraction was the slow pace. I generally love stories that dwell on the building of relationships between the characters, but the main theme of this book was the impossibility of being able to really bond with others if you aren't prepared to be honest with them, so the relationship building aspect felt shallow and unrewarding.
On a personal note, this book does deal with the aftermath of losing a mother to cancer. It probably says a lot about how much I have grieved and coped and healed that I didn't find this subject matter really upsetting, but rather, I felt like it represented real-life everyday tragedy and the failure of a family to cope because they couldn't share their feelings openly, and support each other in their loss.
The narration in this book as brilliantly delivered. The main character is jaded and sardonic, and is a lonely woman with a tendencies toward takeout food and alcoholism. Xe Sands narrates the character expressively and playfully, especially the parts where the characters are getting more and more inebriated. An interesting narrator; I might see if I can find other titles read by her.
As far as genre goes, the story is magic-school meets murder mystery, and a romantic twist, with the emphasis mostly on the crime solving stuff. As a result it slid off me a bit, because murder mystery things aren't really my preferred genre. I did like that there was diversity in the story. There were characters of different ages, and there were several queer (gay and pansexual) characters in this story, but the main character is a woman trysting with a man. Although the characters are ethnically diverse, their ethnicity is not focused on at all in the story.
The thing that probably drove me most to distraction was the slow pace. I generally love stories that dwell on the building of relationships between the characters, but the main theme of this book was the impossibility of being able to really bond with others if you aren't prepared to be honest with them, so the relationship building aspect felt shallow and unrewarding.
On a personal note, this book does deal with the aftermath of losing a mother to cancer. It probably says a lot about how much I have grieved and coped and healed that I didn't find this subject matter really upsetting, but rather, I felt like it represented real-life everyday tragedy and the failure of a family to cope because they couldn't share their feelings openly, and support each other in their loss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Abortion, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
sarahmanuel3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Cancer, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Injury/injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
chris_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Body horror, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Gaslighting, Death, Medical content, and Stalking
Minor: Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma
thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Death
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.
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.
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.
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
luvey_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Self harm, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Cancer
nabecker13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gore, Abortion, Blood, Cancer, Terminal illness, Body horror, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder and Adult/minor relationship
tessarudnick's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
An enjoyable read. The worldbuilding and mystery are both compelling, with a satisfying ending to a complex set of clues. The mystery is well done with clues and foreshadowing throughout. Lots of queer representation as always in Sarah Gailey's work. I loved many of the characters, though protagonist and narrator Ivy was by far my least favorite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Moderate: Blood, Abortion, Bullying, Death, Toxic friendship, and Medical content
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Suicide, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Murder
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Another home-shelf backlist read - go me! Honestly, the synopsis for this one, a sort of detective story in a magic school setting, felt absolutely up my alley, so I was psyched to find this is the used section at a local bookstore. I grabbed it so fast...and then got around to reading it a bit slower. Haha. I tried to recommend it for my long-distance book club at one point, but it didn't win the popular vote. Regardless, I got there... Also, I know that Gailey has a number of unique and interesting-sounding (and standalone!) novels that I for sure will be looking into more of now.
Years ago, Ivy Gamble and her twin sister, Tabitha’s, lives diverged in a way they’ve never overcome. Tabitha was invited to attend a prestigious magical boarding school and, despite all her efforts, Ivy remained decidedly…not magical. But it’s ok. Ivy doesn’t even want that. She has a successful business as a private investigator. However, when she is hired to investigate a gruesome murder at the very same academy that Tabitha now teaches at, Ivy’s lives – the one she has and the one that could have been – collide in a way that will force her to face the estrangements of her past and, perhaps, embrace a new kind of future.
I have seen a few mixed reviews for this book and I can sort of see where they are coming from. To be honest, this started, and mostly stayed, much slower than I had expected considering the content of the blurb. It’s not misleading, as it is exactly what they book is about, but I can definitely see where a reader might anticipate a faster paced story, with potentially more explosive(?) magic. And this definitely reads as a more purposefully-paced, noir-style murder mystery. However, once I realized that’s what I was getting, and adjusted my expectations to match, I settled into the story nicely (which apparently not everyone was able to do). Regardless, I ended up really enjoying the more character-study murder mystery vibe, psychological in the way that reading personality types/profiling is, with some very dark undertones. To that point, there is quite a bit of foreshadowing with a unique “omniscient/looking back” narrative voice, along with a sort of tightrope winding and unwinding of tension, that was reminiscent (for me) of the vibe from Plain Bad Heroines. All in all, it may have been less immediate drama and magic than the story description might suggest, but compelling all the same.
As I got further and further into reading this, I found that, a few times, I totally forgot about the overarching murder-solving plot. And in this case, since the book was so much more about setting and character and vibe (and because things were definitely happening to keep my attention outside of that primary storyline), I feel like that might be a credit to the writing? I haven’t decided on that yet. But I can say, I didn’t dislike it, the jolting feeling every time we can back to the main thread and I was like “oh yea, the murder!” Because Gailey does a wonderful job exploring other themes and stories here as well, and many were more compelling to me than the primary. For example, the intensely high level of sibling rivalry and anger and deeply seated resentment, honed over years of separation and assumption, was written spectacularly. (A note here: though it was accurate, be aware that there is a heavy-handed “coming to terms with my own feelings of jealousy and inadequacy” from Ivy that felt very juvenile. It makes sense, because the adult she is never got over feeling them as a child, plus this took place in a high school so the perspective fit the setting, but it was sometimes aggravating to read.)
Speaking of the [magic] high school setting, I loved that Gailey poked fun at some classic “magic-school” and “chosen one” fantasy tropes in a way that was not too overdone but gives the reader cause to smirk a few times. And at the same time, mixed in actual high school aged issues (like secret relationships and dalliances) with the much darker sides they sometimes have (major content warning here for abortion and medical trauma and, while I’m at it, cancer/terminal illness). The way this was all combined to show that many un-dealt-with emotions, when combined with power, can become a profound cautionary tale, but in a unique way that gives both youth and adult examples, as well as showing that even successful over-powered-ness can get out of hand. It was an intense combination, one that made the book much heavier (and more heartbreaking) than I has anticipated it being. But at the same time, the gravitas made the book something more than the “fun escapist” read I’d thought it would be, and I can’t help but appreciate that.
Honestly, a high school setting for an adult coming of age is ironic in a darkly humorous way (though this is not at all a humorous book, so don’t be misled) and I tip my hat to Gailey, for that fits the vibe they created here exactly right. This was a fascinating combo of real-world, gritty detective story and theoretical (and mostly incomprehensible, considering the narrators lack of it) magic. A slow burn noir, light gore and horror, mystery/thriller, and I was….pretty into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Cancer
Moderate: Pregnancy and Murder
____emily____'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Bullying, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship