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Magic for Liars
Critic Reviews
Good
Based on 10 reviews on
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
Book Details
- Publisher: Tor Books
- Publish Date: May 5th, 2020
- Pages: 352
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.20in - 5.40in - 0.90in - 0.60lb
- EAN: 9781250174628
- Categories: • Fantasy - Contemporary• Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths• Thrillers - Suspense
More books to explore
About the Author
More books by Sarah Gailey
What people are saying
Writer, librarian, and subjective constructor of reality.
I'm #reading Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey https://t.co/Fu2W1b0KtF
Publisher of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller and Suspense, and Other Speculative Fiction
Are you also absolutely in love with @yellowjackets96? @tordotcom decided to take a dive into the minds of our favorite characters by giving them books to read, featuring #MagicForLiars and #TheEchoWife, both by @_SarahGailey! Check out the full list🐝 https://t.co/sh33HcfEBT
Looking for your next read? You're in the right place. Personalized recs, alternating Wednesdays and Thursdays and always here: https://t.co/WMEobU4K8g
@Manikesh15 I presume you've read Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller series and Lev Grossman's The Magicians? Try Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, or a bit off to the side: A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark.
Critics’ reviews
Praise for this book
Praise for Magic for Liars
"A private investigator takes a job investigating a murder at a magic school in California. Our PI never developed magic ability, much to her dismay--so we enter that world with the same longing for specialness that she does. Whether it's the 'murder investigation' part of that summary that grabs you or the 'magic school' part, this winsome, clever book will definitely engage you."--Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Divergent series
"A queerer, older, quicker-paced Harry Potter, concerned with the childhood grudges that adults can't get over."--Refinery 29
"We can't wait to see what Sarah Gailey does next!"--Crimereads, the most anticipated crime books of summer
"With winks to multiple genres, Sarah Gailey's Magic for Liars shows that their talent has no trouble extending to a full-length novel."--Culturess
"In a very short time, Sarah Gailey has distinguished themself as one of science fiction's best new writers." --BoingBoing
"The world has little mercy; but it does have heart, and like Ivy, it carries on despite its scars."--NPR
"Magic for Liars is a perfect, spare, delectable novel that features a masterful narrative structure, terribly human characters occupying realistically magical settings, and more. The prose is spot-on and paints an intimate, flawed portrait of how a world like Gamble's would function, from the moment she tells the disbelieving bartender magic exists to the moment she walks out on her sister. I can't recommend it highly enough." --Tor.com
"There's something for almost all readers here... Gailey shows us that humans are humans, even when they are magic, and they are still flawed, damaged, and oh-so-interesting" --Booklist (starred review)
"Clever and fast-paced... a wonderfully quirky mystery filled with inviting characters and gripping surprise twists." --Publishers Weekly
"A poignant and bittersweet family tragedy disguised as a mystery but with a magic all its own." --Kirkus
"Veronica Mars with a bit of Harry Potter" --The Nerd Daily
"Sarah Gailey mashes hard-bitten detective noir into the magical YA world of Harry Potter in Magic For Liars... a Syfy series waiting to happen." --AV Club
"The sharpest female protagonist of the summer"--The Mary Sue
What people are saying
Writer, librarian, and subjective constructor of reality.
I'm #reading Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey https://t.co/Fu2W1b0KtF
Publisher of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller and Suspense, and Other Speculative Fiction
Are you also absolutely in love with @yellowjackets96? @tordotcom decided to take a dive into the minds of our favorite characters by giving them books to read, featuring #MagicForLiars and #TheEchoWife, both by @_SarahGailey! Check out the full list🐝 https://t.co/sh33HcfEBT