There's been a murder at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages and Ivy Gamble has been called in to investigate. Unfortunately for Ivy, her estranged sister Tabitha teaches theoretical magic at the school. Ivy and Tabitha have not had a relationship in many years, but Ivy is somewhat hopeful that she will be able to build a new relationship with her sister. IT should also be pointed out that although Tabitha is an incredibly gifted magic user, and Tabitha and Ivy are twins, Ivy has no magic. Not that she minds, of course. She absolutely doesn't want anything to do with magic at all.
As Ivy investigates the death of one of the teachers, she begins to uncover many other secrets. To aid in her investigation, she also begins to develop a relationship with one of the male teachers; but instead of telling him that she has no magic, Ivy lets him believe she does and begins to take on the persona of an Ivy with magic, an Ivy who is more fun and open than she actually is, an Ivy that she could have been if only she'd had magic, too.
There were so many different secrets being kept, and uncovered, that I was amazed Ivy was able to keep her attention on the murder. Multiple times it seemed like Ivy was so close to figuring everything out when a new piece of evidence would be uncovered that would blow up the current theory and send Ivy back to square one. Then, when Ivy did figure it out - wow! That was unexpected, yet not. Of course, in addition to the murder investigation, I really liked the characters and the relationships between the characters. Gailey gave just as much attention in the book to the relationships between the different characters and how their personalities and the secrets they keep affect their interactions with others.
Listening to the audiobook made this book even better for me. Xe Sands, the narrator, did a great job, and drew me in so much that I ended up listening to the entire book in one sitting! After the first couple of chapters, I kept thinking, "I'll just listen to one more chapter, then stop." Yet, every time I reached the end of a chapter, I had to keep going. LOL. As much as I enjoyed this book, I'm definitely going to give other books by the author a shot, too.
As Ivy investigates the death of one of the teachers, she begins to uncover many other secrets. To aid in her investigation, she also begins to develop a relationship with one of the male teachers; but instead of telling him that she has no magic, Ivy lets him believe she does and begins to take on the persona of an Ivy with magic, an Ivy who is more fun and open than she actually is, an Ivy that she could have been if only she'd had magic, too.
There were so many different secrets being kept, and uncovered, that I was amazed Ivy was able to keep her attention on the murder. Multiple times it seemed like Ivy was so close to figuring everything out when a new piece of evidence would be uncovered that would blow up the current theory and send Ivy back to square one. Then, when Ivy did figure it out - wow! That was unexpected, yet not. Of course, in addition to the murder investigation, I really liked the characters and the relationships between the characters. Gailey gave just as much attention in the book to the relationships between the different characters and how their personalities and the secrets they keep affect their interactions with others.
Listening to the audiobook made this book even better for me. Xe Sands, the narrator, did a great job, and drew me in so much that I ended up listening to the entire book in one sitting! After the first couple of chapters, I kept thinking, "I'll just listen to one more chapter, then stop." Yet, every time I reached the end of a chapter, I had to keep going. LOL. As much as I enjoyed this book, I'm definitely going to give other books by the author a shot, too.