Reviews - The Incandescent

1.08k reviews for:

The Incandescent

Emily Tesh

4.17 AVERAGE

jordansvt's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

silberwhatever's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny medium-paced

extrabees's review against another edition

5.0

dark 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

This would be an awesome book anyway but I particularly enjoyed all the niche teaching in the UK references throughout the book.

For example, having a demon mention that they can’t do anything that breaks the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe In Education really tickled me

shrubb's review against another edition

4.5

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

margueriteslifeofcats's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ckpeebler's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

I really had medium expectations going into this fantasy standalone seeing as magic schools have been written about before, and because I'm always scared that they are secretly fanfiction of a certain type. It was to my absolutely delight that I was completely blown away by this magic school book, mostly because the best parts of the book actually aren't about magic at all. The humor was written in a style similar to the Emily Wilde books, where the subject matter is serious but served with a side of snark and quirkiness. The romance was sweet but not the center story for this novel, something I appreciate because it was borne out of the characters went through, and not just attraction. The aesthetics of the magic school made me feel as though I was really there, just mostly in the teacher's lounge, a side of magic schools we rarely ever see. I've never read such a comprehensive book about teaching as a lifestyle, as a calling, as a job. This book is not afraid to get into the details of the extremely hard work it takes to teach kids (no matter what subject, English, maths, history, ethics, and even magic). In fact the whole book is mostly about what it means to be create and live a teaching philosophy that is unique to every teacher, based on background, experience, knowledge. Our main character is shaped by what happens to her as a student and is shaped again by becoming a teacher to a student who on the surface has nothing in common, but when it comes to youthful mistakes and brilliance, have more in common than they think. I appreciate the boundaries that were woven into this book so much: even though we as readers are made to care about the students through the eyes of this teacher, the relationships between the two sides were incredibly appropriate, and not even this being a fictional book could make the author lose her way in demonstrating how important these boundaries are for the safety of children. The second side of this novel is the main character struggling under the surface of herself: the question of, did I make the right career choice, did I make the right relationship choice all those years ago, is it worth it to teach when more money could be made elsewhere, why are all my clothes either professional or band t-shirts from 20 years ago, etc. I believe from all perspectives, the adults and the teenagers, the book is about how life makes you feel ancient and so so young at any point in time, and what we do when confronted with our ideas of mortality and immortality. This book had a perfect, realistic ending with one of the best finishing sentences that joins together all these ideas in one single line of dialogue.
I will also say separately, because I have no statement from the author to base this on, but I feel as though it must have been inspired by Wizard of Earthsea because of a similar main plot point that was executed so wonderfully and to me felt like an homage to the first big magic school book with ethics. Even if this is not the case, it made me appreciate this book even more for having read Le Guin's masterpiece.