Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.5/5)

Hi friends!

I have found myself with quite a few books to review from our friends at NetGalley. Seven to be exact, eeeks! I have quite a bit of reading to get to. Luckily, my next big book event is not until August, and the weather is beautiful today, which made it perfect to sit outside this cafe with a cold drink and read. The first up, sorted by release date, is The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher. Lex’s newest novel is releasing very soon on June 9th from Harper Voyager, and it is a dark academic fantasy novel.

I have been wanting to read another dark academia novel since I finished Katabasis, so I was really excited to get this book. It features a school of magic, a queer main character, and a slow burn enemies-to-lovers storyline. Yes, all things I love.

We have our main character, Briar, and her childhood friend Seb, who are inseparable until one day Seb leaves for the magical school, Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Briar gets a job cleaning at the school years later, and she comes across her friend Seb, only he does not go by Seb anymore. Now he is Bastian, and he is a villain. Briar seeks to learn more about what is happening at Temple and spends much of her time in the school’s attic, rummaging through forgotten relics. There are a lot of posh people, especially among the upper-class students, and there is also a lot of hazing in the early parts of this story between upperclass and new students.

Sounds interesting, right? Well, the reason I am only giving this book 3.5 stars is that it was slow paced. It was a good story, but it took a while to get to the point where I was really interested. When Lex says it is a slow burn, they mean it. This story is more about the individual characters’ lives than the magic, and the fantasy sometimes feels a little overlooked. Plus, I could not get over the hazing of the students by their peers being overlooked by the staff.

While this was not my cup of tea, plenty of people will love it, especially if you are looking for a character-driven story. It is beautifully written and has an interesting plot.

So let me know if you agree or disagree with my star rating, and until next time, I hope you find a perfect 5-star read to add to your collection.