I was very excited to get an ARC for The Incandescent by Emily Tesh, because Some Desperate Glory was one of my top books of 2023. Magical boarding school is a jump from space dystopia redemption arc, but Emily Tesh continues not to disappoint. The Incandescent is a zippy, fresh perspective of a boarding school story that sucked me from the beginning and spat me out at the end screaming about demons. The Incandescent comes out May 13, so add it to your to-read lists and buckle up, because keeping magical teenagers from casually or accidently making themselves into tasty demon treats isn’t a job for the faint of heart.
Chetwood Academy is one of the premier magical boarding schools in England, and Saffy Walden, as its Director, takes her duties seriously. As one of the most powerful magicians in England, she is well aware that she could be making big money in the military or private sectors, but she’s an academic at heart and a good teacher on top of it. Plus, gathering this many magical teenagers into one place is basically setting up a tasty buffet for the demons constantly looking for a way onto this plane, and keeping them safe requires a guardian of power and meticulous vigilance. But working at a boarding school is still a job, and more, a job where you are required to live with your coworkers and you’re rarely really “off.” In between demon wrangling, student wrangling, and staff wrangling, Saffy struggles to find time and motivation for a personal life. But as the crises ramp up over the school year, Saffy’s personal problems are the least of her worries, and the biggest danger to the school may actually be herself.
First of all, I had a great time with this book from the get go. This book is billed as “dark academia” but I would argue that’s a publisher add-on that doesn’t understand the tone of the novel. While there are dangers and literal demons lurking, every page is steeping in the care and trouble it is to properly educate and work with students and give them the start they need in life. Saffy does not love her job in a cutesy aspirational way: to her it is a calling, and one worth doing properly both legally and for the good of society. It was so interesting to read a school story from the point of view of the staff. The magic and demonology was so well wound in also—it was an integral part of Chetwood’s makeup, and magic was just another subject to study. I really enjoy reading this kind of thing, so I was drawn in right from the beginning and loved Saffy as a character. The fact that in a world where demons and magic are established disciplines, one of the biggest dangers is teenagers being teenagers also cracked me up.
I also loved the relationships in this book. Although I’ve never been to a boarding school, I have worked in a similarly closed-in industry where one both lives and works with coworkers, and I felt like Tesh really portrayed the mix of closeness, the desperate need for privacy, and the pressure cooker of poorly thought-out decisions that result. It’s an interesting ecosystem, made more complicated by the omnipresent students. I also appreciated that Saffy is bisexual and is portrayed having multiple relationships. I enjoyed Saffy showing that her relationship priorities are different than those of a younger person, while also containing a fair amount of awkward “does she or doesn’t she like me back.” Laura, the school’s highly competent head Marshall, does not have an easy relationship with school administration, but the more problems that Saffy extinguishes with her help, the more they actually start communicating. I appreciated that they liked each other, but they both have their lives going on, and starting a relationship is not the highest priority on either of their plates—it felt realistic to my life and I liked seeing it in a novel.
In conclusion, this was a beautiful ride of a book, and made me appreciate a boarding school story in a way that I thought I couldn’t anymore. If you’ve enjoyed any of Emily Tesh’s other books, don’t miss out on The Incandescent, and if this is the first you’ve taken a look at, this is an excellent choice. Go forth and read some excellent storytelling in May!
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