The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones
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Description
'Funny, devastating, achingly romantic' OLIVIE BLAKE
'The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years' LAURA STEVEN
'Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry' FREYA MARSKE
'This is dark academia as it should be written' BEA FITZGERALD
'Croucher is a master of the craft' KAT DUNN
'Delicious' THE FANTASY HIVE
From instant New York Times bestseller, Nero Award-shortlisted, TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted, and YA Book Prize-winning Lex Croucher comes your new dark academia obsession . . .
Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that's produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar's best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their relationship is shattered - until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple's attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK's only school of magic but then gets a job there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls - unmissable for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
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This story was a slow-burn for me. I was a bit meh for the first third of the story, but then something gripped me. And it was not the Dark Academia setting - although this was enjoyable too - but the characters of Briar and Seb and their journey. They're not just hero and antagonist, but they're on a voyage to exploring identity and driven by a wanting to belong. Briar returns to the elite Temple School of Thaumaturgy not as a student but as a temp worker sorting through the attic, only to discover that their childhood best friend Seb has transformed into someone powerful and almost unrecognizable. The way they navigate this new dynamic, uncovering the school's dark secrets and their own place in its hierarchy, was absolutely compelling. The slow reveal of the magic system, the hidden truths in forgotten attics, and the emotional weight of Briar's search for belonging all came together beautifully. Briar's determination and Seb's complexity made their dynamic gripping, and the non-binary MC and the commentary on queerness in a structure of power and hierarchy really gripped me. 4/5 stars. Thank you to @NetGalley and @avonbooks for the eARC! #TheUnmagicalLifeOfBriarJones #Bookstagram #NetGalley
Description
'Funny, devastating, achingly romantic' OLIVIE BLAKE
'The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years' LAURA STEVEN
'Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry' FREYA MARSKE
'This is dark academia as it should be written' BEA FITZGERALD
'Croucher is a master of the craft' KAT DUNN
'Delicious' THE FANTASY HIVE
From instant New York Times bestseller, Nero Award-shortlisted, TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted, and YA Book Prize-winning Lex Croucher comes your new dark academia obsession . . .
Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that's produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar's best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their relationship is shattered - until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple's attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK's only school of magic but then gets a job there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls - unmissable for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Book Information
Posts
This story was a slow-burn for me. I was a bit meh for the first third of the story, but then something gripped me. And it was not the Dark Academia setting - although this was enjoyable too - but the characters of Briar and Seb and their journey. They're not just hero and antagonist, but they're on a voyage to exploring identity and driven by a wanting to belong. Briar returns to the elite Temple School of Thaumaturgy not as a student but as a temp worker sorting through the attic, only to discover that their childhood best friend Seb has transformed into someone powerful and almost unrecognizable. The way they navigate this new dynamic, uncovering the school's dark secrets and their own place in its hierarchy, was absolutely compelling. The slow reveal of the magic system, the hidden truths in forgotten attics, and the emotional weight of Briar's search for belonging all came together beautifully. Briar's determination and Seb's complexity made their dynamic gripping, and the non-binary MC and the commentary on queerness in a structure of power and hierarchy really gripped me. 4/5 stars. Thank you to @NetGalley and @avonbooks for the eARC! #TheUnmagicalLifeOfBriarJones #Bookstagram #NetGalley