Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Magic for Liars

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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jazhandz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this is my favorite Sarah Gailey book I’ve read yet. I had expected it to be a little more twee and Harry Potter-referential (that’s always how it was pitched to me) but instead it was a straight-up noir, and a good one at that. Twisty mystery, complicated hero, sympathy for all parties. Really enjoyed it.

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booksandteatime's review

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dark 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

5.0

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verinvaldez's review

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Very enjoyable, it's fun to watch Ivy investigate and interview people as long as you ignore that she has never interviewed people before yet is oddly good at it. I didn't care for the romance but think it was a shame that there isn't any closure for either character there. The whole Chosen One plotline was very obvious

Dylan was too flat of a character to have ever actually been the Chosen One.

and the reveal of who did it and why wasn't satisfying to me. The ending felt sudden and I expected more from it.

It's a bit of a miracle Ivy managed to solve this case considering she spends the majority of the book drunk, hungover, obsessing about her new crush and worrying about her relationship with her sister. Gailey tries to dig deeper with themes of parent death, identity and estrangement but it just fell flat for me.

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fraeyalise's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

I didn't like this book.

It is well written, and the characters feel like real people. The world feels like it's real. The mystery is compelling.

However, it felt me feeling very gross at the end, like I need to take a shower.

I'm glad Ivy realized literally in the last few pages that she didn't want anything to do with her evil sister and realized she's the problem, and I'm glad she went back to Rahul to try and give herself another chance to be vulnerable. But I hated the plot of the teen pregnancy, and what her sister did was vile, and not something I was ready to read about after having a baby myself. If I knew there was an explicit abortion scene (even if it was "magical") and further trauma for the teen who had one without any anesthesia I would have taken this off my to-read list.

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philomathean's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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erebus53's review against another edition

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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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meagand's review against another edition

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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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