Magic for Liars
#8173.61 adjusted 3.62 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 2019 Reading commitment Low Sarah Gailey Last reviewed 2026-09-08
Overview
Magic for Liars (2019) is a standalone contemporary fantasy novel by Sarah Gailey, following Ivy Gamble, a hard-boiled private detective with no magic of her own, hired to investigate a murder at the Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, the same magical school her estranged twin sister teaches at. The novel is notable for its non-exposited magic system, leaving readers to piece together how the school's magic works rather than explaining it outright, an approach that reinforces Ivy's own position as an outsider looking in. It was Gailey's debut novel and a 2020 finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and was named one of the best fantasy novels of 2019 by a major entertainment news outlet.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Magic for Liars (2019) core · 3.61 (36,263 ratings)
Quick answers
- How many books are in Magic for Liars? Magic for Liars's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Magic for Liars finished? Complete (2019).
- How much reading does Magic for Liars take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Magic for Liars ranked? #817 in this site's official ranking, based on 36,263 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #817?
Ranked #817 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.61 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (36,263 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #816, The Beginning Place (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 36k ratings · Ranks #817 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best First Novel), 2020: finalist: Magic for Liars
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.61 across 36,263 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Magic for Liars (Sarah Gailey) accepted 2026-09-08
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Sarah Gailey -- Wikipedia Tier 2
- sfadb - Locus Awards 2020 Tier 3
Last reviewed: 2026-09-08
Rule: Core = 1 novel (2019). Admitted as a single-work universe.