Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

16 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

jazhandz's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Medical content, Body horror, and Abortion

Moderate: Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy

philomathean's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abortion, Death of parent, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy and Toxic friendship

persephonefoxx's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, Murder, Abortion, Alcohol, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, Toxic friendship, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

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.

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. 

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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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Self harm, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Cancer

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. 

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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

____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

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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

aroaceinspace's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide

foreverinastory's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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

This was a fun murder mystery!

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. 

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Content Warnings

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