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tspice24's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
pagebypaigebks's review
3.0
“Never stop defending your right to be who you are.”
I'd like to thank Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: racism, murder, ableism, death
I love boarding school settings and anything to do with magic schools so I had high hopes going into this one! The idea of following individual students each trying to solve a murder was intriguing. Unfortunately, since there were 18 individual short stories it was hard to keep track of all of the storylines and perspectives, especially since some characters make appearances in other stories. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if there were only 7 or 8 stories so that I could become more invested in each perspective. Due to the wide range of characters, there were also a variety of magical abilities and rules that needed to be explained in each chapter which caused the story to feel slow at times. However, I enjoyed the school setting and thought that it was really interesting that the school constantly changed locations.
Overall I loved the concept but would have enjoyed fewer characters to help the flow of the book.
I'd like to thank Penguin Random House for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I've also posted this review on Instagram and my blog.
Instagram Post
Blog Post
Content Warnings: racism, murder, ableism, death
I love boarding school settings and anything to do with magic schools so I had high hopes going into this one! The idea of following individual students each trying to solve a murder was intriguing. Unfortunately, since there were 18 individual short stories it was hard to keep track of all of the storylines and perspectives, especially since some characters make appearances in other stories. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if there were only 7 or 8 stories so that I could become more invested in each perspective. Due to the wide range of characters, there were also a variety of magical abilities and rules that needed to be explained in each chapter which caused the story to feel slow at times. However, I enjoyed the school setting and thought that it was really interesting that the school constantly changed locations.
Overall I loved the concept but would have enjoyed fewer characters to help the flow of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Ableism, Murder, and Racism
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
First of all, I love the concept of this. I wish more short story anthologies were more collaborative stories like this because I feel like I'm more invested. I also think teens would be more drawn to them than the regular short story anthologies that are being published (of which there are too many in my opinion, but I digress!).
My main issue is I think there are a tad too many characters in this one. There's a lot to remember between the stories, and widdling it down to fewer authors (which means maybe they get to write more parts?) would help with the overall clarity. And maybe a character map if you're going to have this many characters.
The mystery intertwined with the fantasy though, I enjoyed that! I loved the magic school setting, too. Such a fun concept that just needs a little bit of tweaking to really put it over the edge.
My main issue is I think there are a tad too many characters in this one. There's a lot to remember between the stories, and widdling it down to fewer authors (which means maybe they get to write more parts?) would help with the overall clarity. And maybe a character map if you're going to have this many characters.
The mystery intertwined with the fantasy though, I enjoyed that! I loved the magic school setting, too. Such a fun concept that just needs a little bit of tweaking to really put it over the edge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Gore
Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Sexism
displacedcactus's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I'm not always a fan of books that change narrators frequently, but I knew going into it that the central conceit of this book was that each chapter would follow a different student... written by a different author! With that in mind, I settled in and went along for the ride.
I never read that other magic school book -- you know, the one that was adapted into a movie series and has a ton of merch and oh yeah, a super-TERFy creator? But thanks to its cultural dominance over most of the last couple decades, I'm aware enough of it that I could tell how much this book was an answer to that series and other very similar series. Because this book is about all of the *other* students at the magical school. The queer kids. The BIPOC kids. The disabled kids. The poor kids. The troubled kids.
It's also about a school that claims it's trying to overcome its prejudiced legacy, but is certainly stumbling along the way.
Anyway, this was a fun read. Every student has their own motivation for trying to solve the mystery -- to prove they didn't do it, to gain the approval of an elder, to get things back to normal, or for a few, because they believe they are, in fact, The Chosen One. Some of these kids were really enjoyable characters and I could have read an entire book or series featuring them, and the kids that I didn't enjoy as much, well, I only had to spend a chapter in their heads. And none of the narrators were truly annoying.
If you're a fan of YA, give this a read. You'll probably enjoy it, and you'll likely encounter a few new-to-you authors to check out later!
I never read that other magic school book -- you know, the one that was adapted into a movie series and has a ton of merch and oh yeah, a super-TERFy creator? But thanks to its cultural dominance over most of the last couple decades, I'm aware enough of it that I could tell how much this book was an answer to that series and other very similar series. Because this book is about all of the *other* students at the magical school. The queer kids. The BIPOC kids. The disabled kids. The poor kids. The troubled kids.
It's also about a school that claims it's trying to overcome its prejudiced legacy, but is certainly stumbling along the way.
Anyway, this was a fun read. Every student has their own motivation for trying to solve the mystery -- to prove they didn't do it, to gain the approval of an elder, to get things back to normal, or for a few, because they believe they are, in fact, The Chosen One. Some of these kids were really enjoyable characters and I could have read an entire book or series featuring them, and the kids that I didn't enjoy as much, well, I only had to spend a chapter in their heads. And none of the narrators were truly annoying.
If you're a fan of YA, give this a read. You'll probably enjoy it, and you'll likely encounter a few new-to-you authors to check out later!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Racism, Transphobia, and Homophobia
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