Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself.

“The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.”-Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight TrilogyI decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.Everyone loves Orion Lake.

From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.FINALIST FOR THE LODESTAR AWARD.

But let me tell you, this all leads to a final sentence that has not had me screaming in shock since House of Sky and Breath. News of the outside coupled with deep seated drama between rival enclaves causes lots of issues between alliances that both strengthen and hinder everyone’s preparation for graduation. Skillfully crafting the cultural and political aspects of the wider wizarding world through the eyes of new freshmen and soon-to-be-returning-home seniors, we get a bigger picture of the history that built the Scholomance and world that awaits them. The political dynamics really shined through in this installment of the trilogy. I loved the focus on them in the later half of the book. They both earned that love and affection after all they have done and all that they have gone through for other people. Her relationship with Orion, while an excruciating slow burn, is so worth it. Her goal shifting from survival to defeating the school isn’t rushed or forced. She already grew in the first book from lonely outcast to establishing a core group of friends to now in this book, becoming a true leader.

But making it through senior year will be the ultimate test for every part of all their lives. El has been thrust from the darkest of corners to the limelight as the lead in fixing the cleansing machines for the graduation hall last year and now officially dating Orion Lake, school hero. Our unlikely alliance of outcasts have made it to their final year and the ultimate goal, graduation, is frighteningly close to realization. I didn’t realize how much I missed this crew of desperate young wizards trying to survive their education until I jumped in.

Review: It’s time to head back to school and this was the perfect start to Year 13 of middle school education.

A deadly education the last graduate