Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Magic for Liars: A Novel by Sarah Gailey

27 reviews

imds'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Eating disorder

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: Bullying, Death, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

oliverreeds's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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

4.75

ouchie

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kloughlin's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Abortion, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Eating disorder and Pedophilia

themediocrebard's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicide

mjwhitlock18's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A murder mystery in a magic high school (the students do predictably teenage bullshit with their abilities) and the MC, Ivy, is a non-magic PI (whose sister is faculty there), and is brought in to solve the case. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Xe Sands, and their performance absolutely improved my experience of this book. 

I like getting to experience Ivy’s emotions with her, her insecurity, her grief, her relationship with her sister. Has a few common tropes, some used in a clever way, and some flipped completely around, which makes this book easy to follow and keeps you entertained. 

The magic system is a bit lazy; because Ivy doesn’t understand the magic system, neither do we, which allows some hand-wavy stuff by the author that occasionally leaves me wanting to understand more. The identity of the murderer is kinda predictable, and the romantic subplot seems unnecessary.  Also, 

I think it’s worth pointing out that the primary lesbian relationship ends up being the murdered and the murderer, which I don’t love. Kill Your Gays and all that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder

Death of queer character

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: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

burnt_milk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Gore, and Abortion

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Eating disorder, Rape, and Vomit

internationalreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

unknight's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Witty but dark, this book was a whirlwind. Each character was more interesting and complex than the last-- I wish there could have been 100 more pages about some of the side characters (I wish we could have spent more time with Dylan!). The outsider perspective that Ivy brings to the case is well-fabricated, and made the magic system all the more compelling (though I'd also love to know more about it!). Overall, an exciting quick read that I would have liked more of, especially with the rushed-feeling ending, and how much was crammed into the small page-count. My thoughts on the ending:

I disagreed with Ivy's choices at the end of the book regarding Tabitha, and was disappointed with the "she's my sister of course I forgive her for everything" moral that suddenly jumped at us out of the bitterness and desperation Ivy was full of the rest of the time. It didn't feel deserved, and I felt no sympathy for Tabitha. I also wish we could have said bye to the kids! They practically got written off, at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Abortion

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Eating disorder