Magic for Liars, by Sarah Gailey (Tor)
In short: now I know
why readers have been raving about Sarah Gailey.
In long: this tale
begins as a murder mystery set in an exclusive,
private high school for the
magically gifted. The first-person narrator is a private detective who’s
wearied of digging into cases of infidelity and embezzlement, and both excited
and intimidated by her first murder investigation. So much is not all that
astonishingly new territory. But this is where the story gets complex. Ivy is
an unreliable narrator, whose
unerring sense of the truth shines through her layers of self-deception, guilt,
and inadequacy. To make matters worse, Ivy’s brilliant, charismatic, and
magically talented sister teaches at the school and was romantically involved
with the murder victim.
The unfolding of the
mystery parallels Ivy’s exploration of her own past, her relationship to her
sister, and who she herself might have been “in another life,” if she and her
sister had been close, if she had been magical, if she had gone to a good
school, if she were attractive and confident, and so forth. The line between Ivy’s
wishful imagination and the possibility that she is in the process of unlocking
hidden potential is ambivalent, as it should be, making Ivy a complex and
utterly sympathetic character. This subtlety arises from superb narrative skill
and deep insight into the human psyche, all within the framework of a
fascinating familiar-but-new magical world, all the agonies of revisiting high
school, and a murder mystery full of twists and surprises.
Strongly
recommended.
The usual
disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to
praise it. Although chocolates and fine imported tea are always welcome.
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