3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I read an early excerpt of this book and enjoyed it enough that I eagerly read the full book. That said, I have to admit I almost abandoned in the middle (Ivy is prettifying heard on herself and the dories she tells herself get a little old), but I'm glad I stuck with it. It's hard to pigeon hole this into a genre. There is magic, so does that make it science fiction or fantasy? I would say elements of both. There is a death to be investigated, so we have Mystery elements with some tried and true PI cliches. Ivy, the Private Investigator who is hired to investigate the death, has an estranged twin sister who teaches at the magic academy. So, that leads to some family drama elements and some digging into past relationships and beliefs. Through all of this, the author focuses on the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we try and tell others based on the parts of us that we share and intentionally present to others. This book tries to do a lit and it does some better than others. Overall, I would recommend it if there are elements that speak to you.