Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Magic for Liars: A Novel by Sarah Gailey

77 reviews

emath98's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I got sooo sucked into this book! I loved the world's magic system and how simultaneously scientific and ridiculous-sounding it was. I loved the complicated family relationship dynamic, the multiple potential suspects and secrets. 

I often am nervous when starting books set in a magical boarding school, because of the potential for the story to become a HP knockoff. Not only is Magic for Liars told from a completely different genre and perspective, the flavor of the magic/magical world is really unique and sets it apart. Great book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

ellie_the_kraken's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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

3.0

I really enjoy Sarah Gailey's writing; River of Teeth is possibly one of my favourite stories. 
Unfortunately, I did not particularly enjoy this book. The writing itself was good as usual for Sarah Gailey. The prose is both easy and enjoyable to read. 

On the other hand, the plot did not interest me. The first chapter gave me a lot of hope: the main character seemed interesting and Sarah Gailey's descriptions really pulled me into the story. But as soon as the MC got to the highschool, my interest plummeted. At this stage of my life, highschool settings do not interest me anymore. A main part of the plot and character arc was the MC pretending to be someone she wasn't, pretending to be part of the magical community when she herself has no magic to speak of, much like many a teenager has done in highschool. That type of pretence in a story, especially when it's the main character doing it, has never been something I enjoyed reading. The story also touches on a lot of highschool drama, but seen through the eyes of an adult which could have been interesting in theory, but highschool drama never interested me when I was a highschooler, and it interests me even less now that I'm free from the shackles of highschool. 

Another main reason I didn't like the book was that it was essentially a murder-mystery, whodunit story. I have not read many mystery novels in my life, and after reading this book, I've started to suspect that i haven't read many mystery novels simply because it's not a genre that interests me.

I didn't care much about the 'chosen one' storyline, even though the twist at the end was interesting. I felt that the brother of the chosen one could have played a bigger part in the story just so the impact of that twist ending could have had a bigger impact. 

I also did not care at all about the romance side-plot. I found it boring, and the only reason it seemed to have been added to the story was so that the readers could see the MC spending more time pretending to be a magic user. 

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more had the story focused a lot more on the relationship between the MC and her twin sister. I found their dynamic really enjoyable to read. Unfortunately, it wasn't very present. Though the MC does think about her sister quite a bit, we only had a few scenes when she was interacting with the sister. 

In conclusion, the main reason I didn't like this book was simply that it wasn't the right genre or setting for me. It wasn't anything to do with the author's execution of the story, but simply my personal taste. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Abortion

abbiechron's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy crap this novel was a rollercoaster! The narrator (XE Sands) is an incredible performer and did amazing at adding to the mystery and drama that Sarah Gailey penned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

forg3y's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

way better than I had thought it'd be, interesting and cool ending too. A few too many lip bites at that 2/3rds mark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood and Vomit

It handles the panic attack parts well, with some good ways to cope (and one, impossible-but-wouldn't-it-be-nice way)

princessfabulous's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

tess_gee's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I was a bit caught off guard by how abrupt the ending felt. I still feel like I have a few unanswered questions about the magic systems. Technical questions on my part, sure, but I for one found it a tiny bit distracting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage, Violence, and Abandonment

defunctfridge's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

incredibly written and highly addictive. my biggest belief on mysteries and plot twist is: if your audience cant go back and find the clues you wrote a bad twist. and this book is littered with bread crumbs that you can put together with ivy. if you pay attention you can solve it, which is such a good feeling as a reader to put the pieces together be wrong and rearrange them. the characters are also so well written with such care and depth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Gore, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Eating disorder and Self harm

lira_the_recluse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Decent plot / mystery. Noir with magic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gore, Terminal illness, and Abortion

xosirenox's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

librarymouse's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad fast-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

5.0

This was a rapidly consumable book. Some of the twists and turns were expected, others less so, and Ivy is a fun and engaging narrator. The magic system isn't very clearly defined, but that makes sense, given our narrator is not very familiar with it. I appreciated the way the book ends, in both how the main plot is resolved and how the romance plot is left open - and I like that the cat is named Alphabet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying and Pregnancy