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Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. HTML: A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it. Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life �?? or at least, she's perfectly fine. She doesn't in any way wish she was like Tabitha, her estranged, gifted twin sister. Ivy Gamble is a liar. When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister�??without losing herself. "An unmissable debut."�??Adrienne Celt, author of Invitation to a Bonfire At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) appl… (more)
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I have low tolerance for characters (and people) who wallow in self-pity. Ivy, the PI and narrator of this story, is queen
I loved the way the magic was handled. This isn't your typical magic of fiction, but something more complex and intriguing. For the most part, we only see this on the periphery. I would've liked to be immersed in the magical world.
If you're familiar with the cartoon Scooby-Doo, then you have a good sense of the murder mystery aspect of the plot. Ivy did a whole lot of bumbling around. She'd fail to follow up on obvious clues, and she'd brush off things people said as unimportant. For the most part, she was too busy wallowing to follow the clues being dropped all around her. I found it maddening, particularly since I figured it out long before she began connecting the dots.
And, finally, the ending lacks closure. We find out the whodunit, but then nothing is actually done about the whodunit. Ivy's personal life, which was a major focus throughout, is also left up in the air. So if you prefer solid endings, you won't like this one.
The writing itself is good. This is an easy read that flows well. I just wanted more of some things, and a whole lot less of others.
*I received a review copy from the publisher, via BookishFirst.*
On the downside, the story ultimately ended up being a bit slower than I expected and much more focused on the main character's personal family history (a mom who died from cancer when she was young, a sister who is magic which led to a rift developing between the two, and a dad who was now a husk of a man after losing his wife), insecurities (not a magical person and nothing special, working as a private investigator doing average jobs), and flaws (has a bit of a tendency to lie, to put out a different side of her based on what people want to see, and struggling with commitment) than a world of magic and mystery.
On the positive end, this story did put a unique spin on the "murder mystery" genre, and about halfway through, the plot thickened and the pace picked up. I started reading much faster and wanted to figure out the pieces of the puzzle.
All-in-all, I think Magic for Liars will be a solid summer read for those in the mood for a nontraditional murder mystery!
I loved the character of Ivy Gamble. The nonmagical sister of a magical prodigy. You can just imagine the resentment she
The mystery was interesting, and I liked the addition of a "chosen one" prophecy. The book was enjoyable, and I would love to read more set in this world.
I received an ARC from BookishFirst in exchange for my honest review.
This mashup of mystery and fantasy has hard edges to it. This is high school with all its drama and cliques for all that they teach magic alongside physics. Ivy herself is a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed investigator who has her own crap to deal with. It's also a very entertaining story, and once I really got going in it I could barely put it down. If the setup intrigues you, definitely give it a try.
I did get tired of the somewhat relentless "woe is me, I wish I were magic" self-pity, but I appreciated the outsider's perspective on the school for magicians, and the subversion of some of the classic tropes (especially the "kid who is prophesied to be the greatest ever").
As a mystery, it's decent - it has all the classic misdirections and red herrings and an ultimately satisfying ending.
Its a well written book that
Then she is asked by the head of that school to investigate the death of another teacher there.
Suddenly, Ivy is immersed in the life she could have had, if she had the magic Tabitha has. She's almost having double vision, the life she really leads, and the life she might have had. She and Tabitha seem to be edging towards reconnection after the long estrangement that followed the death of their mother. There's a handsome and charming teacher there who is interested on Ivy. Oh, and there's the murder case she's trying to solve.
Ivy has never investigated a murder before. It's been a long time since she was in high school. And these kids are mages, as are all the instructors. Yet the kids are still just kids, teenagers, and their magic pranks are pretty much what you'd expect of teenagers. Only a few stand out as different, and neither they nor any of the instructors at first seem to have any motive to kill the dead woman.
Yet one girl, Alexandria, is clearly influencing the feelings and reactions of those around her in a way that, once Ivy focuses on it enough to describe it to the teacher-mages, she is assured is simply impossible. Yes, there's a theoretical way, but nobody has that much power. Her brother, Dylan, believes he's the "Chosen One" described in their family's prophecy, destined to be the most powerful mage in the world--and he really is quite strong. Another girl, Courtney, has something to hide.
And there's a story going around that the dead woman was involved with someone she shouldn't have been. Not a student, but another teacher.
Ivy is trying to untangle a puzzle without knowing what's normal and abnormal in this setting.
The world-building is good and seamless, here, and the characters are excellent. Every significant character is complex, a mixed bag, and completely convincing. Their strengths and weaknesses are human and believable. I really want to read more by Sarah Gailey.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
I think what I liked about this book was that it wasn't just about Ivy solving the murder. It was Ivy
It was also a book about the different personas we wear and the different people we pretend to be, or wish we were, and the lies we tell in order to be liked and accepted by others. Ivy has a lot of emotional baggage, but so does Tabby, something that Ivy wasn't really expecting. It's interesting to see how they both change and evolve as the story goes along. I think it's likely that a lot of sisters who have grown apart and become somewhat estranged could probably relate to a lot of their interactions, including Ivy's self talk in her head about how she is feeling about being with her sister and wanting to reconnect.
Ivy seems very observant and attuned to people's behaviour. She knows how to manipulate people into telling her what she wants to know. She seems very inuitive. I enjoyed her interviews with people and how she handled the questioning, even setting up a visual scene in the library to draw the students in to talk to her, to make them feel at ease, and make them want to help. The one thing that I found a little sketchy was that Ivy investigating the murder, in which her sister is one of the suspects, seemed to be a little bit of a conflict of interest, although that never comes up. The reason she is given for being hired is that she is a non-magical detective, but knows all about the magical world... something that I guess is unique, although again... it's unclear how often a family might find one member becoming magical and needing to go to a special school, since it seemed like the whole magical community was not something regular people knew about. That seemed somewhat confusing and contradictory since Tabby becoming magic didn't seem like it was that abnormal really. It did seem like most of the kids at the school were from magical families, but none of that is really explained. I wish there was more books coming in this world and that it was fleshed out a bit more. I really liked a lot of ideas... the whispering books, the magical healing was interesting, the explanations for some of the magic. I feel like it was a world that could have turned into so much more, that could hold so many interesting story possibilites, so I'm disappointed it's a standalone. But I did enjoy it.
Ivy Gamble, non-magical private investigator, has been called in to explore the extenuating circumstances of the death of a teacher at a magical high school, a death that the Magical Investigative Service have declared a case of misadventure. Ivy’s never investigated a murder before and she’d really be looking forward to this case if it weren’t for the fact that her (magical) sister, Tabitha, is a teacher at the school. To say that they’ve got issues would be saying more than they’ve said to each other in years. Ever since their mother died of cancer when they were in their respective high schools, magical and non-magical. But Ivy can’t let her disappointment in her sister distract her from the case at hand. And with a little bit of luck she might just stumble on who murdered the health and wellness teacher.
It’s always surprising to find a completely invented world in which things happen so predictably. Every clue is blocked out with highlighter pen. Every surprising turn of events can be seen coming from the other end of the hall. Every…well, you get the picture. It’s a bit like when a reasonably competent wordsmith reads a book on how to write a fantasy novel and another on how to write a detective novel and follows the advice to the letter. How do you establish that the detective is gritty and real? Have her say, “sh*t,” at least fifteen times in the first ten pages. And maybe she should drink gin. Very gritty, right?
That’s sounding a bit too harsh. Because this book was in fact mildly diverting. However, I couldn’t help thinking that if the author had really thought through the ramifications of the world she was creating, there might have been an even more interesting story to tell. But that’s probably unfair. I shouldn’t regret the book I didn’t read just because it wasn’t written. Still…
Only very gently recommended.
Magic For Liars is about a private detective investigating a death at the magic school where her estranged sister teaches. It's
When We Were Magic is about an accidental death on prom night and how the girls involved get through it. It's about friendship, acceptance, and support.
Both books are thoughtful and tender. I highly recommend them.
The ending is the type I have a love/hate relationship with. It fits the book so well! And yet... I simultaneously want a different longer ending. I am definitely going to find more of Gailey’s books to read in the future.
Content Warning: death, disease, descriptions of murder scenes and damaged bodies that some might find gross and a bit detailed
When a faculty member at the Osthorne Academy for Young Mages is discovered quite messily dead, private investigator Ivy Garland is summoned to get to the bottom of things, even though she
Though the subject matter and language are definitely not YA, the whole tale has a very YA feel to it, possibly because the lives of the students at the Academy play such a large part in the story. The mystery moves along at a good pace, though many of the big reveals are pretty obvious from early on. The resolution of the case becomes a bit morally ambiguous; how the reader feels about this may determine whether they consider the book a hit or a miss.
Equally important to this story is how Ivy comes to terms with some heavy-duty emotions and attitudes rooted in her adolescence. She's the POV character throughout, and the weakest point of the book is the package of flaws Gailey has saddled her with. There's a thin line between complex characterization and self-parody; some readers may find that it's been crossed here and there, distracting from the mainstream flow.
This combination seemed to be a perfect mixture of a reading experience that would be fun, intriguing, and give me the Harry Potter realistic world my 30+ self longs for, but the story fell
It was an ok read, I was still interested enough to continue just hoping that maybe the book would give the jolt I was wishing for, but that did not happen. It started off slow and had the buildup to a conclusion that was predictable.
The writing was a little jarring at times, in that, I as the reader would get confused about what/who/when was being referenced since the author is a little heavy-handed with descriptive flourishes that don't add anything to the scene or the sentence.
The characters weren't fully fleshed out, many just stock characters (view spoiler).
After a week or two, I will completely forget the plot and these forgettable characters.