Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

59 reviews

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Soooo many mixed feelings about this one. I really like magical mysteries. This one clips along at a fairly good pace, and having the investigator be an outsider is a nice take on the genre. 

But I felt so frustrated by the MC (static and underdeveloped), the interview scenes (tortuous), and the ending

Ivy says that turning the killer in won’t be justice, but it also lets them dodge all accountability, and this killer REALLY needs to be held accountable.

I felt very unsatisfied when I reached the end.

I don’t know if Gailey intends to return to Ivy’s world, but I don’t think I’d follow if they do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Abortion, Vomit, Cancer, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

What i enjoyed: The author had a beautiful way with words, and it hooked me instantly. The story was very interesting and the twists and turns were quite enjoyable to discover along with the main character. I loved that it didnt have a stereotypical happy ever after and it was very realistic, but it wasnt entirely tragic either. It was so well done and has become one of my favorite books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Stalking, Violence, Abortion, and Body horror

Moderate: Pedophilia

froggydanny's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abortion, Body horror, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Murder

gaby_aldridge's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Medical trauma, Grief, and Abortion

aweso10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the vibe was immaculate- california noir meets harry potter. i’m a real simp for magical realism. but the end left me a little unsatisfied and felt kind of rushed- like something was missing? overall i really enjoyed it but was just missing that little ~something~ to wrap everything up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Murder, Death, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

joepyeweed's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Like if Aunt Petunia became a detective and then had to solve a  mystery. Except she doesn’t really care about the mystery and has a drinking problem. The main character was too self-absorbed, and the mystery wasn’t enough of a focus. The ending of the mystery was unexpected though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Abortion, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Self harm and Sexual harassment

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.

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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

meagand's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Noir adult Harry Potter. The main character is your typical noir PI, and it follows the comfortable whodunnit tropes. I really enjoyed the way magic is described.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism and Abortion

Minor: Pregnancy

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

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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

sam_is_reading's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Obsessed. Absolutely obsessed.

This is yet another book that feels like it's written for me personally: magic exists in the real world, but only a select few are able to wield it. Everyone else... lives a normal life. But even in a magic world, murder can still happen.

The setting & characters for this are exquisite: a school for magic just 15 minutes out of town. Teenagers who are little shits with a god complex because they can do magic and the middle-aged detective sent to solve the case can't. Estranged twin sisters who want to reconnect but have years of space in between them.

The audiobook for this was so thrilling because the narrator spoke with incredible nuance: stammering and slurring when the character was drunk, her voice going high & low while she internal-monologued about the case. I definitely want to read the physical book but mostly because the audiobook was so fascinating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Abortion