I'm kinda surprised by how much I liked this? It's a hit or a miss for a lot of people, and I totally understand why, but there was just something about it that clicked with me (and to be fair, I really enjoyed the audiobook too).

Magic for Liars is a murder mystery set in a magic school but with surprisingly little magic. Honestly, this is what made the book miss for a lot of people. There's this expectation of magic, and while it does exist, it's more of a background theme than anything. We're kind of left outside of the magic system because the main character doesn't have magic herself, and it leaves both her, and us as extension, on the outside looking in. I knew this fact going in, that it'd read more like a contemporary than a fantasy, and that made this book not disappoint me in that regard. I was honestly expecting even less magic than there was, so it was a pleasant surprise to see just how much was still in the book. It was also just super interesting and theoretical, more sciencey than spiritual, and I would love to see a whole book set in the world to explore more of it, but I'm also happy with the look into the world we got from this book alone. There was just enough to keep me interested.

While some aspects could definitely be seen as predictable, I was constantly engaged with the story anyways, and personally didn't find it too predictable overall. I really liked the mystery itself, and all the pieces that became woven into it, as it seemed to span across so many characters and personal stories. It was enough standard murder mystery for me to find comfort in the common tropes, but the touch of magic added a whole new layer that made it really unique to me.

I also just quite liked the flawed characters and dynamic relationships to and with each other. I really liked Ivy as a character, and my friend totally hit the nail on the head when she compared her to Jessica Jones. She was both a good detective and deeply flawed, and she had a lot of baggage that this book only began to sort through, especially regarding her relationship with her sister and magic as a whole. It dealt with a lot of tough topics and feelings without having to set everything right by the end, and I really appreciated that. I also just really liked how the teenagers were done too, as they didn't feel exaggerated or fake at all.

Overall, I really loved this and it's making more excited to read more of Gailey's work! When We Were Magic was such a... confusing? book in terms of how I felt about it, but this book proved that there's more I like about Gailey's writing than dislike.