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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
dark
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're not in the mood for amatonormativity put this one down. It's a bit taxing.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
magic school from the adult perspective—god i loved this—the voices are so strong and specific and the motivations are so particular and this was just endlessly delightful
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lives up to the hype, hallelujah!!! I am firmly on the Emily Tesh train. this book is so obviously written by someone who has been a teacher, with such equal affection and frustration for academia—really quite lovely to find in an otherwise on-the-surface standard magical school fantasy, and part of what sets this book apart. also just rollicking fun! first half is stronger than the second half, and in particular that first third is a tightly balanced rip roaring section and the book never reaches its heights again, but overall I devoured it. GOOD BOOK!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The flavor text I would give for this book: Imagine Pride & Prejudice as an urban fantasy with your Elizabeth being a 38 yo school headmistress with a demon in her head. And, y’know, having all the societal niceties of a woman middle aged who hasn’t dated in over a decade.
Now, getting into what I loved. God, I *loved* Saffy. Just enough posh self-righteousness to make her feel like a true headmisstress, while also being complicated, messy person falling into the perfect pitfalls of the story. And Laura and Saffy’s chemistry was TOP tier, it’s hard to find a sapphic couple that does it for me and they instantly had that spark. Also, the antagonist may be one of my favorites in recent memory! I don’t think I’ve been so intrigued by one in… a long, longggg time.
Truly no one in this book felt overwritten, and I was SO pleased with the ending. And I highly suggest the Owlcrate book with the additional chapter after the end, it was the icing on top. It truly hits the spot! Now if only we could increase that into a whole extra book. Something that always gets me with Emily Tesh now is I come away wanting more while also have been fed with no crumbs. Gimme the crumbs enough for me to have a whole new slice Emily! I’ll be waiting.
Anyways, THIS is my book of the summer. This is the warm hug of a book I’ve been yearning for all year. Emily Tesh you impressed me with Some Desperate Glory but you’ve gifted me with something truly irreplaceable with this one. The way I could not stop the tears flowing from my eyes, multiple times throughout this book. I never thought I’d relate so much to a 38 yo headmistress to a magic school and yet here we are. Thank you for the heart of this book. Just like a certain someone, I will use it energy it has given me to continue on to find my ‘self’, and hopefully not seriously harm one while doing so. 🥰
Now, getting into what I loved. God, I *loved* Saffy. Just enough posh self-righteousness to make her feel like a true headmisstress, while also being complicated, messy person falling into the perfect pitfalls of the story. And Laura and Saffy’s chemistry was TOP tier, it’s hard to find a sapphic couple that does it for me and they instantly had that spark. Also, the antagonist may be one of my favorites in recent memory! I don’t think I’ve been so intrigued by one in… a long, longggg time.
Truly no one in this book felt overwritten, and I was SO pleased with the ending. And I highly suggest the Owlcrate book with the additional chapter after the end, it was the icing on top. It truly hits the spot! Now if only we could increase that into a whole extra book. Something that always gets me with Emily Tesh now is I come away wanting more while also have been fed with no crumbs. Gimme the crumbs enough for me to have a whole new slice Emily! I’ll be waiting.
Anyways, THIS is my book of the summer. This is the warm hug of a book I’ve been yearning for all year. Emily Tesh you impressed me with Some Desperate Glory but you’ve gifted me with something truly irreplaceable with this one. The way I could not stop the tears flowing from my eyes, multiple times throughout this book. I never thought I’d relate so much to a 38 yo headmistress to a magic school and yet here we are. Thank you for the heart of this book. Just like a certain someone, I will use it energy it has given me to continue on to find my ‘self’, and hopefully not seriously harm one while doing so. 🥰
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Magical boarding school but from the perspective of the teachers. Liked a lot of what it was doing: the minutiae of being a teacher and running a school, how Walden is very much a flawed protagonist who thinks she's too old and experienced to fuck up like her teenage students, only to turn around and cause an even bigger mess. But it didn't quite gel together for me and I'm still chewing over why. Part of it is how the social commentary about the privileges of Chetwood doesn't really resolve, and part of it is the whole Mark subplot, which dragged the pacing down because he was so obviously bad news. Overall I found it interesting but flawed, and as an entry in the "former teacher writes their Thoughts About Teaching filtered through a genre lens" not as brilliant as Kanae Minato's Confessions.