Magic for Liars throws off the notion that magic imbues people, institutions and settings with some kind of higher moral standard simply by virtue of its existence. The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages is no Hogwarts, rejecting the setup that everyone magical is automatically accorded a certain level of "goodness" except for the few (Slytherins) clearly delineated as evil. Author Sarah Gailey's magical teens are, first and foremost, teens. They - and their teachers - use magic as a tool. Sometimes for good, sometimes for ill, sometimes for the merely mundane. Locker graffiti, passing notes, keeping students away from the staff coffeepot...much to the chagrin of non-magical Ivy, who believes magical people should afford a weightier gravitas to their power. Against the backdrop of a gruesome murder, Magic for Liars forces readers to consider that magic is not a force for good - it's just a force, and whether it results in good, evil, or neutral actions is entirely dependent on the person wielding it.