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The Incandescent
Not yet published
Expected 13 May 25Naomi Novik's Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."
Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.
Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.
"Look at you, eating magic like you're one of us."
Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school's boundaries from demonic incursions.
Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.
432 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 13, 2025
38 people are currently reading
24.7k people want to read
About the author
Emily Tesh
6books1,522followersEmily Tesh is a winner of the Astounding Award and of the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. She is the author of the Greenhollow Duology, which begins with Silver in the Wood and concludes with Drowned Country. Some Desperate Glory, her first novel, was released in April 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
January 11, 2025
A dark academia fantasy almost entirely concerned with the grating mundanity of teaching. If Naomi Novik's Scholomance series asks "Why do schools (and institutions in general) fail?", Tesh provides the answer: Because teachers have been failed.
Doctor Walden is a high-ranking professor who takes pride in doing her work and doing it well. Though that work is juggling teacher, parent, and magician, she finds satisfaction in sheparding her students even as she struggles to balance that obligation with her need to be human. I loved the philosophy of this book and the way it navigates this question. Walden doesn't need to be relatable to be compelling, but she is - through her strengths, relationships, and faults. Also appreciated how this book holds a sweetness towards growing older, which is pretty uncommon in general, much less a dark academia book. PLUS excellent fight scenes and a demonic entity that I didn't find annoying.
The only thing that raised my eyebrows is the love interest, who seems to be some kind of fantasy cop situation. Her line of work seems to be more of a "modernized knighthood" than law enforcement, which bears more weight than just aesthetics, but I didn't love that aspect regardless. Tesh is deeply concerned with how flawed systems fail individuals, so the introduction of a generally flattering portrayal of law enforcement (a much more prominent and violent example than academia, it hardly needs saying) directly contradicts the core themes of the book. Will be curious to hear others' thoughts and will make a note of it in recommendations moving forward.
otherwise: love love loved. A very compelling read that I will be thinking about a lot.
Please note that I work for Macmillan but am not involved in book production. Opinions are my own.
Doctor Walden is a high-ranking professor who takes pride in doing her work and doing it well. Though that work is juggling teacher, parent, and magician, she finds satisfaction in sheparding her students even as she struggles to balance that obligation with her need to be human. I loved the philosophy of this book and the way it navigates this question. Walden doesn't need to be relatable to be compelling, but she is - through her strengths, relationships, and faults. Also appreciated how this book holds a sweetness towards growing older, which is pretty uncommon in general, much less a dark academia book. PLUS excellent fight scenes and a demonic entity that I didn't find annoying.
The only thing that raised my eyebrows is the love interest, who seems to be some kind of fantasy cop situation. Her line of work seems to be more of a "modernized knighthood" than law enforcement, which bears more weight than just aesthetics, but I didn't love that aspect regardless. Tesh is deeply concerned with how flawed systems fail individuals, so the introduction of a generally flattering portrayal of law enforcement (a much more prominent and violent example than academia, it hardly needs saying) directly contradicts the core themes of the book. Will be curious to hear others' thoughts and will make a note of it in recommendations moving forward.
otherwise: love love loved. A very compelling read that I will be thinking about a lot.
Please note that I work for Macmillan but am not involved in book production. Opinions are my own.
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August 12, 2024The bookstore employees are scared and asking me to leave because it’s “not June 2025 yet� but I’m simply too seated
October 27, 2024
a magical boarding school but from the perspective of the director of magic whose job is to keep the school running smoothly, especially from the powerful demon who has had its sights set on the school for decades
demons possessing electronic devices, a hot butch who runs into the fire after her idiot crush, students suffering through coursework (summoning demons), and all the bureaucratic nonsense you would expect but add magic
thank you to tor books for providing the arc in exchange for review!
demons possessing electronic devices, a hot butch who runs into the fire after her idiot crush, students suffering through coursework (summoning demons), and all the bureaucratic nonsense you would expect but add magic
thank you to tor books for providing the arc in exchange for review!
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August 15, 2024Longer review in due course but one of the best books I have read in years.
March 23, 2025
I had high expectations for this book. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of , which I thought was astonishingly good (the Hugo for Best Novel was very, very well deserved). And during an AMA Emily Tesh mentioned her next project - a book set in a magic school, but from the perspective of the teachers responsible for keeping all these overpowered, overconfident, hormonal teenage idiots from blowing themselves and a good chunk of the local geography to smithereens - I was very excited. When I heard she planned to use years of break-room stories from her own time as a teacher I was thrilled.
Happy to report this is easily one of the best magic school books I’ve ever read. Might even be better than Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy (I’ll need to chew on things for a while, maybe give it a reread). I can’t think of anything else that comes close.
Saffy Walden, MThau, PhD, is the lead teacher of Invocation (demon summoning) at Chetwood School, a centuries-old boarding school in England, and one of the finest places to study magic before going off to uni. It’s a rewarding job, but a demanding one. There’s all the normal teaching responsibilities - lessons, grading, helping students. There’s the more uniquely *boarding* school responsibilities, being much more involved in her students� lives and personal, moral, and social development than in a normal school. And then there’s the uniquely magical responsibilities, ranging from labor negotiations with the imp in the copy machine, to maintaining the ancient-but-impractical-to-replace magical engines that protect the school, to the occasional exorcism of a student (or maybe just their iPhone) that’s been possessed. And there are some definite bureaucratic turf wars with Laura Kenning, the chief of the school’s contingent of Marshalls, the ancient order dedicated to protecting the world from demons. Obviously, they look a little suspiciously at any invoker, and Dr. Walden is one of the world’s most powerful.
In many ways I’d call this a slice-of-life story. Much of the book is taken up with Walden doing her job, the tasks that are (for her) completely mundane. She is very protective of her star pupil, Nikki, who lost her parents to a demon when young and is a ward of the school, in part because Kenning and the Marshalls are very suspicious of the circumstances of the demon’s arrival. She has other students in her A-level Invocations class (aside from an American - I think this is, like, advanced college prep? Maybe AP?), each with their own challenges. One is a cocky kid from an old-magic family - talented, but overconfident and careless. One is another ward of the school, supremely talented, but utterly *lacking* in confidence. One is a bookworm - not really a naturally talented magician, but extremely disciplined and dedicated. Most of Walden’s energy is going towards shepherding her students towards their exams (and then, hopefully Oxford in Nikki’s case). There’s a very soothing quality to it all that makes me think of Becky Chambers.
But the stakes are much bigger, so it’s not a slice-of-life book. There’s an ancient and powerful demon that’s been lurking around the demonic plane adjacent to Chetwood for centuries, feeding off stray magic and the (very occasional) student or teacher when the wards fail. Let’s just say telling us about that demon without having it be a plot point would be a massive Chekov’s gun, and Tesh is too good a writer for that.
There are a number of magic-school tropes that this completely does away with, and it’s delightful. It’s set in more-or-less our world, but magic is open and known - Walden, for example, impresses the hell out of her students when she lets slip that the Pentagon approached her after grad school and offered her a job, which she turned down. Technology works just fine - matter of fact, the school is rather draconian about its smartphone rules because demons have a habit of possessing them. And Chetwood not only offers an excellent magical education, it offers an excellent education all-around; knowing magic is great and all, but you also have to understand, you know, math and such. The current Headmaster is actually a geography teacher, which is part of why so much of the magical side of the admin falls on Walden.
And, naturally, there’s romance. Walden might clash with Chief Marshall Kenning, but she’s also aware that Kenning is competent, dedicated, and extremely attractive.
Cannot recommend this one highly enough. She’s done it again.
Happy to report this is easily one of the best magic school books I’ve ever read. Might even be better than Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy (I’ll need to chew on things for a while, maybe give it a reread). I can’t think of anything else that comes close.
Saffy Walden, MThau, PhD, is the lead teacher of Invocation (demon summoning) at Chetwood School, a centuries-old boarding school in England, and one of the finest places to study magic before going off to uni. It’s a rewarding job, but a demanding one. There’s all the normal teaching responsibilities - lessons, grading, helping students. There’s the more uniquely *boarding* school responsibilities, being much more involved in her students� lives and personal, moral, and social development than in a normal school. And then there’s the uniquely magical responsibilities, ranging from labor negotiations with the imp in the copy machine, to maintaining the ancient-but-impractical-to-replace magical engines that protect the school, to the occasional exorcism of a student (or maybe just their iPhone) that’s been possessed. And there are some definite bureaucratic turf wars with Laura Kenning, the chief of the school’s contingent of Marshalls, the ancient order dedicated to protecting the world from demons. Obviously, they look a little suspiciously at any invoker, and Dr. Walden is one of the world’s most powerful.
In many ways I’d call this a slice-of-life story. Much of the book is taken up with Walden doing her job, the tasks that are (for her) completely mundane. She is very protective of her star pupil, Nikki, who lost her parents to a demon when young and is a ward of the school, in part because Kenning and the Marshalls are very suspicious of the circumstances of the demon’s arrival. She has other students in her A-level Invocations class (aside from an American - I think this is, like, advanced college prep? Maybe AP?), each with their own challenges. One is a cocky kid from an old-magic family - talented, but overconfident and careless. One is another ward of the school, supremely talented, but utterly *lacking* in confidence. One is a bookworm - not really a naturally talented magician, but extremely disciplined and dedicated. Most of Walden’s energy is going towards shepherding her students towards their exams (and then, hopefully Oxford in Nikki’s case). There’s a very soothing quality to it all that makes me think of Becky Chambers.
But the stakes are much bigger, so it’s not a slice-of-life book. There’s an ancient and powerful demon that’s been lurking around the demonic plane adjacent to Chetwood for centuries, feeding off stray magic and the (very occasional) student or teacher when the wards fail. Let’s just say telling us about that demon without having it be a plot point would be a massive Chekov’s gun, and Tesh is too good a writer for that.
There are a number of magic-school tropes that this completely does away with, and it’s delightful. It’s set in more-or-less our world, but magic is open and known - Walden, for example, impresses the hell out of her students when she lets slip that the Pentagon approached her after grad school and offered her a job, which she turned down. Technology works just fine - matter of fact, the school is rather draconian about its smartphone rules because demons have a habit of possessing them. And Chetwood not only offers an excellent magical education, it offers an excellent education all-around; knowing magic is great and all, but you also have to understand, you know, math and such. The current Headmaster is actually a geography teacher, which is part of why so much of the magical side of the admin falls on Walden.
And, naturally, there’s romance. Walden might clash with Chief Marshall Kenning, but she’s also aware that Kenning is competent, dedicated, and extremely attractive.
Cannot recommend this one highly enough. She’s done it again.
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August 9, 2024new emily tesh book??? IM SAT
April 19, 2025
I’ve read dozens of dark academia books, but this is the first one that focuses almost entirely on the experience of teaching and being a teacher. I really enjoyed it—it's well-written, thoughtfully crafted, and genuinely stands out from what the genre has delivered so far.
Plot-wise, the book is an interesting example of a situation where one seemingly small decision from the past, when exposed to additional external factors, spirals into large and complex outcomes, both miraculously good and disastrously bad. The story is grounded in the academic calendar of Chetwood Academy, a prestigious boarding school that teaches magic, with all the characters serving as educators within its walls.
This book perfectly blends elements of magic with the real-life dynamics of the British educational system. Surprisingly, what I enjoyed most wasn’t the magical aspects—though those are absolutely fantastic, and the demon-fighting scenes are genuinely impressive—but rather how authentic and grounded the main character’s life as a teacher felt, even within the walls of a magical school.
The story is clearly well-researched, and it's obvious that Emily Tesh draws from her own experience as a Briton, an Oxbridge alumna, and an educator. Dr. Saffy Walden, the FMC, is the Director of Magic, yet she faces the same challenges many teachers encounter: trying to do her job well while working within a system that doesn’t always support her. She’s 38, single, and caught in that liminal space—neither “young� nor “old”—which adds depth to her personal journey as she tries to balance work and life. I also appreciated the subtle yet pointed commentary on how women are often perceived differently than men in the same age/professional position.
If you’re expecting a book mostly about magic, you might want to adjust your expectations. This is primarily a novel about the experience of being a teacher, with a poignant yet spot-on commentary on the institutional challenges educators face. It’s the kind of book that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.
Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Plot-wise, the book is an interesting example of a situation where one seemingly small decision from the past, when exposed to additional external factors, spirals into large and complex outcomes, both miraculously good and disastrously bad. The story is grounded in the academic calendar of Chetwood Academy, a prestigious boarding school that teaches magic, with all the characters serving as educators within its walls.
This book perfectly blends elements of magic with the real-life dynamics of the British educational system. Surprisingly, what I enjoyed most wasn’t the magical aspects—though those are absolutely fantastic, and the demon-fighting scenes are genuinely impressive—but rather how authentic and grounded the main character’s life as a teacher felt, even within the walls of a magical school.
The story is clearly well-researched, and it's obvious that Emily Tesh draws from her own experience as a Briton, an Oxbridge alumna, and an educator. Dr. Saffy Walden, the FMC, is the Director of Magic, yet she faces the same challenges many teachers encounter: trying to do her job well while working within a system that doesn’t always support her. She’s 38, single, and caught in that liminal space—neither “young� nor “old”—which adds depth to her personal journey as she tries to balance work and life. I also appreciated the subtle yet pointed commentary on how women are often perceived differently than men in the same age/professional position.
If you’re expecting a book mostly about magic, you might want to adjust your expectations. This is primarily a novel about the experience of being a teacher, with a poignant yet spot-on commentary on the institutional challenges educators face. It’s the kind of book that will stick with you long after you’ve finished it.
Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
January 14, 2025
This was between 3 and 4 stars for me. I thought the romance(s) were weirdly underdeveloped, and there's a villain whose motivations and origins are very much never explained. The main weakness in any of Tesh's work is really hamfisted political messaging, and that's also present here in a big way. Also, the first and second halves are basically two separate stories, which might be annoying to some readers.
That being said, I had a lot of fun with this overall, and I liked Saffy Walden's perspective and the world of the book. It read a LOT like Scholomance, like maybe too much for comfort, but I liked it better than that series because a) it's about adults rather than children and b) there isn't QUITE so much exposition in the middle of otherwise exciting or plot-moving sequences. It's kind of like a mix of the Emily Wilde series and Scholomance--cozy, academia-fetishizing, much more an exploration of a world than a plot-driven adventure, with a hyper-competent professor heroine. If that all sounds good to you, you'll probably like this. If you like less exposition and worldbuilding in favor of more stuff actually happening, this book probably isn't for you.
(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC)
That being said, I had a lot of fun with this overall, and I liked Saffy Walden's perspective and the world of the book. It read a LOT like Scholomance, like maybe too much for comfort, but I liked it better than that series because a) it's about adults rather than children and b) there isn't QUITE so much exposition in the middle of otherwise exciting or plot-moving sequences. It's kind of like a mix of the Emily Wilde series and Scholomance--cozy, academia-fetishizing, much more an exploration of a world than a plot-driven adventure, with a hyper-competent professor heroine. If that all sounds good to you, you'll probably like this. If you like less exposition and worldbuilding in favor of more stuff actually happening, this book probably isn't for you.
(Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC)
April 5, 2025
I really hate that work prevented me from reading this faster because if I could have read this in one sitting I absolutely would have. Between Some Desperate Glory and The Incandescent, Emily Tesh has absolutely been established as an author I will read anything from. I just totally loved this. And also I got some light Abhorsen/Old Kingdom vibes which was wonderful.
January 9, 2025
Thank you so much to Tor Books for an advanced copy of this one. I rate this 3.5, I think-- but it is quite difficult to rate because I had some really mixed feelings, and I absolutely think it is worth a read
There are so many things I loved about this book, starting with its concept, which I absolutely ADORED. Why haven't we thought to do magical school + demons, but make it about the responsible adults, before?! Such a fun idea and so many humorous ways that this can be fleshed out (we didn't necessary get there here). I really hope to see more of this in the future. As a 38 year old reader, I also really enjoyed that this was a bit of a love story to aging and one's sense of self. It had some really great messaging about growth and maturity, including recognizing that while we can and should learn from our failures, they are also what make us who we are. I also really appreciated the social commentary on privilege in general, white privilege, and generational and institutionalized wealth. Overall, great messaging in this book-- if I hadn't been reading an e-copy, I would have annotated, which is UNHEARD of for me. I also really enjoyed the plot and was really surprised by certain aspects of it, even though I shouldn't have been. I am now a part of the Emily Tesh fan club and will be reading her backlist because of how expertly she was able to foreshadow what was going to happen, but somehow still surprised me when it did.
I know, I know, after reading all that, you probably think I am confused and meant to rate this 5 stars. I truly wanted to, and I am so SO sad it didn't quite get there for me. Where the book lost me a bit was in its personality, or lack thereof. It's hard to explain (although I sure will try), but the main character was just so technical and proficient and walled, that it almost seemed to dull down the entire experience of this book.
Saffy, the MC, is a school administrator/teacher/highly skilled invoker, and her professions (and in particular her perceived professional proficiencies) are her WHOLE personality. She thinks she is very good at her job and spends much of the book in exposition, explaining to the reader (and occasionally others) how to do her job and do it right, and then doing the things that she just explained. I get that this book is an ode to adulting, and the day to day of being a responsible adult can be fairly mundane and boring, but also, as a responsible adult reader, I get enough of that IRL and don't need to go quite so deep in the weeds of someone else's mundanity. Truly, this novel is also a paean to school administration and teaching, but-- and no shade to any school administrators or teachers out there-- there are some really boring aspects of those jobs (think, less classroom time; more paperwork), and this book went really in-depth and technical into that.
As an example, the book would be all, "ATTENTION BIG DEMON EMERGENCY," and I'd be loving it and on the edge of my seat, like "ooooh dang, shit's going down, what's going to happen next!" But you know what happens next?! Lots and lots of paperwork. And then also finding coverage so you can present said paperwork to governing boards, and then lots of meetings about who should be losing their job over said demon emergency, and then more paperwork, and probably some assemblies, and just general dotting of is and crossing of ts. And when the main personality trait of the person doing said tasks is proficiency, oh my goodness is it dull to read about. This book would have been so much more fun and impactful, imho, if it had injected some more personality into these tasks. Isn't the biggest secret of adulthood that we're all basically still just dumb kids-- except bigger and slightly more experienced-- flying by the seat of our pants while pretending everything's fine and we know what's going on?
Anyway, the pros definitely outweigh the cons (really just one con) for this book, but I do suspect that it will not find a loving home amongst all audiences. I especially recommend this one for older (middle aged?) thirty-something+ adults, people who work in education, and those passionate about organizational bureaucracy, paperwork, and tidiness.
There are so many things I loved about this book, starting with its concept, which I absolutely ADORED. Why haven't we thought to do magical school + demons, but make it about the responsible adults, before?! Such a fun idea and so many humorous ways that this can be fleshed out (we didn't necessary get there here). I really hope to see more of this in the future. As a 38 year old reader, I also really enjoyed that this was a bit of a love story to aging and one's sense of self. It had some really great messaging about growth and maturity, including recognizing that while we can and should learn from our failures, they are also what make us who we are. I also really appreciated the social commentary on privilege in general, white privilege, and generational and institutionalized wealth. Overall, great messaging in this book-- if I hadn't been reading an e-copy, I would have annotated, which is UNHEARD of for me. I also really enjoyed the plot and was really surprised by certain aspects of it, even though I shouldn't have been. I am now a part of the Emily Tesh fan club and will be reading her backlist because of how expertly she was able to foreshadow what was going to happen, but somehow still surprised me when it did.
I know, I know, after reading all that, you probably think I am confused and meant to rate this 5 stars. I truly wanted to, and I am so SO sad it didn't quite get there for me. Where the book lost me a bit was in its personality, or lack thereof. It's hard to explain (although I sure will try), but the main character was just so technical and proficient and walled, that it almost seemed to dull down the entire experience of this book.
Saffy, the MC, is a school administrator/teacher/highly skilled invoker, and her professions (and in particular her perceived professional proficiencies) are her WHOLE personality. She thinks she is very good at her job and spends much of the book in exposition, explaining to the reader (and occasionally others) how to do her job and do it right, and then doing the things that she just explained. I get that this book is an ode to adulting, and the day to day of being a responsible adult can be fairly mundane and boring, but also, as a responsible adult reader, I get enough of that IRL and don't need to go quite so deep in the weeds of someone else's mundanity. Truly, this novel is also a paean to school administration and teaching, but-- and no shade to any school administrators or teachers out there-- there are some really boring aspects of those jobs (think, less classroom time; more paperwork), and this book went really in-depth and technical into that.
As an example, the book would be all, "ATTENTION BIG DEMON EMERGENCY," and I'd be loving it and on the edge of my seat, like "ooooh dang, shit's going down, what's going to happen next!" But you know what happens next?! Lots and lots of paperwork. And then also finding coverage so you can present said paperwork to governing boards, and then lots of meetings about who should be losing their job over said demon emergency, and then more paperwork, and probably some assemblies, and just general dotting of is and crossing of ts. And when the main personality trait of the person doing said tasks is proficiency, oh my goodness is it dull to read about. This book would have been so much more fun and impactful, imho, if it had injected some more personality into these tasks. Isn't the biggest secret of adulthood that we're all basically still just dumb kids-- except bigger and slightly more experienced-- flying by the seat of our pants while pretending everything's fine and we know what's going on?
Anyway, the pros definitely outweigh the cons (really just one con) for this book, but I do suspect that it will not find a loving home amongst all audiences. I especially recommend this one for older (middle aged?) thirty-something+ adults, people who work in education, and those passionate about organizational bureaucracy, paperwork, and tidiness.
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November 5, 2024DNR around 75% and then read the last chapter to just see how it went. I don’t want to be mean to a book that’s not even out to the public yet, so I won’t officially rate it yet but it’s going to get a 1.5 or 2 out of 5 eventually. Thank you to Netgalley for the arc!
I got so frustrated with this book. It fell into the whole trap of an author who doesn’t really do historical research in a meaningful way, or care about it in a progressive way. Very small picture problem with an incredibly obvious bad guy that for some reason no one sees. Maybe that makes sense in the world, but it just makes for something incredibly boring and frustrating for the reader. The end solution is that of a liberal, like fairytale attempts at changing the system that somehow actually work rather than examining the system harshly and concluding that the system itself is the issue. The world feels limited and small because it’s not really an accurate reflection of what it is and was.
Honestly, incredibly liberal book in general; the main romantic lead is essentially a magic cop but it’s okay because she’s a really good magic cop who is later tutored by a communist (why would a communist wizard tutor a cop). The role of magic cops in this world are mildly ridiculed but ultimately seen as some sort of necessity, with a supporting character deciding to go to cop school. The aspect of privilege at this beautiful, 50k a year boarding school is somewhat self consciously addressed but again, not meaningfully, let alone intersectionally. Additionally, every person of color is described super explicitly as what they are (Black, white, Indian, etc) instead of incorporating their race as part of who they actually are. Like if their race wasn’t mentioned, it wouldn’t have mattered if they were white or Black or anything, and you’d probably asssume they were white. That’s how you know that this book was surface level diverse rather than actually diverse. Not to mention all the main characters were white lmao; white authors, you can write main characters that are not white, it’s okay and good. The main character is bisexual and the main romantic lead is a lesbian, not that it matters because the romance was boring and uninspiring and written like someone who only relies solely on lesbian tropes from the internet. The role of the military industrial complex is touched upon, critiqued in one sentence, and then justified by the end. Like explicitly justified because the person doing war crimes is an Asian lesbian and if white men can do that, why can’t she? Word for word. It exploded my head a little bit because what is Emily Tesh trying to say?? I guess the politics of this novel boiled down to the typical, middling politics of a neo liberal who wants to checkmark woke bulletpoints while dodging the actual interesting issues because that would mean developing a moral backbone.
Honestly, this book is making me reconsider my 3 star rating for Tesh’s other book I’ve read. I have a feeling if I went back and reread it, it would face many of the same issues. This book is very clearly trying to be another Scholomance (magic school for children, diverse cast, literally says it in the description, posh sort of English setting, etc), but it fell flat where the Scholomance series shines because it fails to adequately challenge the status quo while patting itself on the back the whole time for being surface level progressive.
I got so frustrated with this book. It fell into the whole trap of an author who doesn’t really do historical research in a meaningful way, or care about it in a progressive way. Very small picture problem with an incredibly obvious bad guy that for some reason no one sees. Maybe that makes sense in the world, but it just makes for something incredibly boring and frustrating for the reader. The end solution is that of a liberal, like fairytale attempts at changing the system that somehow actually work rather than examining the system harshly and concluding that the system itself is the issue. The world feels limited and small because it’s not really an accurate reflection of what it is and was.
Honestly, incredibly liberal book in general; the main romantic lead is essentially a magic cop but it’s okay because she’s a really good magic cop who is later tutored by a communist (why would a communist wizard tutor a cop). The role of magic cops in this world are mildly ridiculed but ultimately seen as some sort of necessity, with a supporting character deciding to go to cop school. The aspect of privilege at this beautiful, 50k a year boarding school is somewhat self consciously addressed but again, not meaningfully, let alone intersectionally. Additionally, every person of color is described super explicitly as what they are (Black, white, Indian, etc) instead of incorporating their race as part of who they actually are. Like if their race wasn’t mentioned, it wouldn’t have mattered if they were white or Black or anything, and you’d probably asssume they were white. That’s how you know that this book was surface level diverse rather than actually diverse. Not to mention all the main characters were white lmao; white authors, you can write main characters that are not white, it’s okay and good. The main character is bisexual and the main romantic lead is a lesbian, not that it matters because the romance was boring and uninspiring and written like someone who only relies solely on lesbian tropes from the internet. The role of the military industrial complex is touched upon, critiqued in one sentence, and then justified by the end. Like explicitly justified because the person doing war crimes is an Asian lesbian and if white men can do that, why can’t she? Word for word. It exploded my head a little bit because what is Emily Tesh trying to say?? I guess the politics of this novel boiled down to the typical, middling politics of a neo liberal who wants to checkmark woke bulletpoints while dodging the actual interesting issues because that would mean developing a moral backbone.
Honestly, this book is making me reconsider my 3 star rating for Tesh’s other book I’ve read. I have a feeling if I went back and reread it, it would face many of the same issues. This book is very clearly trying to be another Scholomance (magic school for children, diverse cast, literally says it in the description, posh sort of English setting, etc), but it fell flat where the Scholomance series shines because it fails to adequately challenge the status quo while patting itself on the back the whole time for being surface level progressive.
April 21, 2025
Got an arc from work 4.5/5
This was fun! I adore Tesh’s debut duology so I was really looking forward to reading this and it did not disappoint! Took a bit to get going I felt and I called one of the “twists� but decidedly NOT the other, and I just wanted to sink a whole day into reading this.
If you’re mourning the loss of a certain magical book from your childhood, pick up a book for the adult you are now and read this. I promise, it’s worth it.
This was fun! I adore Tesh’s debut duology so I was really looking forward to reading this and it did not disappoint! Took a bit to get going I felt and I called one of the “twists� but decidedly NOT the other, and I just wanted to sink a whole day into reading this.
If you’re mourning the loss of a certain magical book from your childhood, pick up a book for the adult you are now and read this. I promise, it’s worth it.
February 28, 2025
I loved this book and I would definitely recommend it! I really enjoyed how this book follows the professor teaching overpowered students instead of the typical story the other way around. Dr. Saffy Walden was also a wonderfully human character to follow, and her POV was genuinely enjoyable. A lot of the book seemed to have a similar vibe as “Emily Wilde�, but I personally find Saffy less annoying, and her flaws come up more often which I appreciated. I also found it interesting the nuance between describing her as “Walden� or “Saffy� depending on the situation and her own feelings.
I found the pacing of this novel a little weird to begin, we get a huge “boss fight� about a quarter of the way in, as well as being introduced very quickly to a not-quite-enemy turned lover. After that was over and I still had most of the book left I was like “now what?� But I ended up really appreciating this deviance from the “norm� of storytelling and I think it made the ending more powerful. The middle of the book is a little slower, and we get to see more of the inner workings of a school, but we are also given a mystery to ponder over with Saffy, along with a FWB situation with someone who is not the aforementioned lover >:(
And then the end was wild! Wild enough to text some friends “AAAAAAAA�!!! multiple times. I was bamboozled. The ending itself probably bumped my rating up from 4.5 to a solid 5 stars. Definitely will be staff picking this at work when it releases!! Thank you NetGalley and TorBooks for the arc :)
I found the pacing of this novel a little weird to begin, we get a huge “boss fight� about a quarter of the way in, as well as being introduced very quickly to a not-quite-enemy turned lover. After that was over and I still had most of the book left I was like “now what?� But I ended up really appreciating this deviance from the “norm� of storytelling and I think it made the ending more powerful. The middle of the book is a little slower, and we get to see more of the inner workings of a school, but we are also given a mystery to ponder over with Saffy, along with a FWB situation with someone who is not the aforementioned lover >:(
And then the end was wild! Wild enough to text some friends “AAAAAAAA�!!! multiple times. I was bamboozled. The ending itself probably bumped my rating up from 4.5 to a solid 5 stars. Definitely will be staff picking this at work when it releases!! Thank you NetGalley and TorBooks for the arc :)
February 5, 2025
I’m an Emily Tesh maniac; I have enjoyed everything she’s written and this was no exception. While “The Incandescent� did not reach the exhilarating highs of “Some Desperate Glory� for me, I doubt it was meant to: its main character is a middle-aged teacher rather than a teen fated to change the world, and her job is to guide those fated teens to make good decisions in their education and personal lives. The magic system and demonic worldbuilding were really well-done and explained clearly, making plot developments sensible but not predictable. There’s a little bit of romance in here � minor - and a twist that is telegraphed rather purposefully from the beginning so much that it is barely a twist, and on the whole this was a very fun, easy-to-read novel from a unique perspective in fantasy.
Want to read
August 15, 2024The Incandescent is the grown-up answer to the magical boarding school tale."
new emily tesh! i repeast, new emily tesh!
new emily tesh! i repeast, new emily tesh!
April 22, 2025
I love an 'older' FMC and I've been well treated recently with excellent FMCs that are my age (like the FMC here in The Incandescent, Dr Saffy Walden) or older. I'm hoping that FMCs over 30 become more common because I generally find them more interesting than younger protagonists since they've already lived a bit (or a lot) of a life! Saffy felt like a real, flawed person and her actions throughout the book made sense.
The Incandescent had a lot of technical lore dropping to do in the first 10-15% of the book to explain the world and how the magical school runs, but once that was all established, things really got going and I was surprised by where the plot went. I expected that most of the storyline would be about Saffy and Laura taking down Old Faithful, but instead that was resolved pretty quickly and time moved on through the school year.
The book was full of British humour and references (I don't know how much a reference to John Lewis will translate in America, for example) but as a Brit, I liked it. There were a few things that kept it from getting a higher rating. Sometimes it got a bit too much into the minutia of teacher life, and I'd have liked to have seen more of Saffy and Laura together. There were some unresolved questions relating to the 'villain' that I'd have liked answers on as it was a bit vague - mainly 'why?' and 'what happened to them?'
I definitely get The Scholomance comparisons after reading The Incandescent, but it's nice to see it from the adult, teacher perspective. I was getting a bit of Gideon the Ninth vibes as well, but obviously not the space bits!
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, but this is my voluntary and honest review.
The Incandescent had a lot of technical lore dropping to do in the first 10-15% of the book to explain the world and how the magical school runs, but once that was all established, things really got going and I was surprised by where the plot went. I expected that most of the storyline would be about Saffy and Laura taking down Old Faithful, but instead that was resolved pretty quickly and time moved on through the school year.
The book was full of British humour and references (I don't know how much a reference to John Lewis will translate in America, for example) but as a Brit, I liked it. There were a few things that kept it from getting a higher rating. Sometimes it got a bit too much into the minutia of teacher life, and I'd have liked to have seen more of Saffy and Laura together. There were some unresolved questions relating to the 'villain' that I'd have liked answers on as it was a bit vague - mainly 'why?' and 'what happened to them?'
I definitely get The Scholomance comparisons after reading The Incandescent, but it's nice to see it from the adult, teacher perspective. I was getting a bit of Gideon the Ninth vibes as well, but obviously not the space bits!
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, but this is my voluntary and honest review.
April 21, 2025
I got this as an ARC through my local bookstore -- thanks to Tor for the advance copy.
Yeah, I loved this. This was stellar.
10/10. I had exactly one issue with this entire book. I could not suspend disbelief far enough to imagine Laura waiting 8 months for Saffy, who did not deserve it. Laura is hot, smart, self-actualized, and did I mention hot? She is riding around London on a motorbike. Laura is Girlfriend Material.
However, a friend who also read the ARC pointed out that Saffy has pretty hot tattoos. This resolved the issue for me.
Yeah, I loved this. This was stellar.
10/10. I had exactly one issue with this entire book. I could not suspend disbelief far enough to imagine Laura waiting 8 months for Saffy, who did not deserve it. Laura is hot, smart, self-actualized, and did I mention hot? She is riding around London on a motorbike. Laura is Girlfriend Material.
However, a friend who also read the ARC pointed out that Saffy has pretty hot tattoos. This resolved the issue for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2024
I cannot wait to touch my copy.
Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early for an honest review.
Gawddamn I loved this book. It was especially powerful to me because I've been an educator, so being inside an educator's head was like coming home.
Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this early for an honest review.
Gawddamn I loved this book. It was especially powerful to me because I've been an educator, so being inside an educator's head was like coming home.
February 3, 2025
Emily Tesh looked into my heart and pulled this book out!! Oh my gosh this was good. It's slow, and character-driven and a bit pretentious, but in all the ways I love!!
I constantly read books set at schools that don't give you enough SCHOOL I want to be in the classes and learning, and in this book, you're following from the perspective of a TEACHER! You get sooo much learning and also so much interesting insight on teaching and education. The MC is quite isolated and lonely (without admitting it) so her journey is also lovely to watch.
There's some romance, some intrigue, some demonic possessions, and truly, I cannot praise this book highly enough!!!!
I constantly read books set at schools that don't give you enough SCHOOL I want to be in the classes and learning, and in this book, you're following from the perspective of a TEACHER! You get sooo much learning and also so much interesting insight on teaching and education. The MC is quite isolated and lonely (without admitting it) so her journey is also lovely to watch.
There's some romance, some intrigue, some demonic possessions, and truly, I cannot praise this book highly enough!!!!
January 21, 2025
Oh this was so good. Thank you to Edelweiss for sending me the ARC.
THE INCANDESCENT is comped with Naomi Novik's Scholomance series, which I was hesitant about as I did not really get on with that trilogy. Rather than being focused on the students of a magical school, this book is focused on one of their teachers. Specifically, Dr Saffy Walden, the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy, set in the rural English countryside. Saffy is magician specialised in demon evocation and teaches it to a small set of A Level students -- but things start to go awry after they summon a more powerful demon than they were bargaining for during a practical lesson.
It's got magic, inter-office teacher drama, romance, jealousy, lots to say about the self and personhood and being present in your own life. And it went SO HARD in so many places. I really enjoyed myself.
Emily Tesh's writing is so immediate and evocative. It has such a specific voice that I was hooked into the story after reading a couple of pages.
Saffy is not the most cuddly character around, but I loved her immediately. She was smart and relied on her sense of intelligence and education as a bit of a crutch. She had a bit of a superiority complex and everyone knew that, but she was never unkind or unfair. She was committed to her job and helping both her students and fellow teachers succeed. I've seen other reviewers complain she came off cold, but I can't disagree harder. Saffy was maybe a little awkward, a bit stuffy, and too in her head at times, but I wouldn't call her cold at all.
The reason this is getting 4 stars instead of 5 is that it took me a little while to get into the novel as the first ~20% or so was mostly just the day-to-day mundanity of being a senior teacher at a prestigious boarding school. I do think it went a long way to sheer up some of the world building and set up some plot beats later on, but this trend continued throughout the book - paragraphs of Saffy talking about going to meetings, doing marking, observing a class, how to study well, etc. I found myself getting a little impatient at times to get back to plot or character dialogue -- but that's just a personal preference.
Something I ADORED in this book was the slow burn between our main character and her main love interest, who is described as a "butch avenging angel." The bickering, the almost teenaged awkwardness, the longing that Walden really didn't want to look at head on... Chef's kiss. Oh and yes, it is a f/f romance!
The book also does some fun stuff with its writing style and perspective/POV later on, which was fun to read.
And I cannot stress enough how insanely hard this plot goes. I literally stayed up until 2am multiple nights in a row because I couldn't put this down.
Loved this one! Publishing in may 2025.
THE INCANDESCENT is comped with Naomi Novik's Scholomance series, which I was hesitant about as I did not really get on with that trilogy. Rather than being focused on the students of a magical school, this book is focused on one of their teachers. Specifically, Dr Saffy Walden, the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy, set in the rural English countryside. Saffy is magician specialised in demon evocation and teaches it to a small set of A Level students -- but things start to go awry after they summon a more powerful demon than they were bargaining for during a practical lesson.
It's got magic, inter-office teacher drama, romance, jealousy, lots to say about the self and personhood and being present in your own life. And it went SO HARD in so many places. I really enjoyed myself.
Emily Tesh's writing is so immediate and evocative. It has such a specific voice that I was hooked into the story after reading a couple of pages.
Saffy is not the most cuddly character around, but I loved her immediately. She was smart and relied on her sense of intelligence and education as a bit of a crutch. She had a bit of a superiority complex and everyone knew that, but she was never unkind or unfair. She was committed to her job and helping both her students and fellow teachers succeed. I've seen other reviewers complain she came off cold, but I can't disagree harder. Saffy was maybe a little awkward, a bit stuffy, and too in her head at times, but I wouldn't call her cold at all.
The reason this is getting 4 stars instead of 5 is that it took me a little while to get into the novel as the first ~20% or so was mostly just the day-to-day mundanity of being a senior teacher at a prestigious boarding school. I do think it went a long way to sheer up some of the world building and set up some plot beats later on, but this trend continued throughout the book - paragraphs of Saffy talking about going to meetings, doing marking, observing a class, how to study well, etc. I found myself getting a little impatient at times to get back to plot or character dialogue -- but that's just a personal preference.
Something I ADORED in this book was the slow burn between our main character and her main love interest, who is described as a "butch avenging angel." The bickering, the almost teenaged awkwardness, the longing that Walden really didn't want to look at head on... Chef's kiss. Oh and yes, it is a f/f romance!
The book also does some fun stuff with its writing style and perspective/POV later on, which was fun to read.
And I cannot stress enough how insanely hard this plot goes. I literally stayed up until 2am multiple nights in a row because I couldn't put this down.
Loved this one! Publishing in may 2025.
February 6, 2025
Shortform thoughts: Absolutely brilliant, so enjoyable, loved it so much, damn her for making me actually want to go to grad school and get my education degree.
Longform thoughts: This is so layered in the way Tesh does so well. It's Saffy's story, and the story of Chetwood and the cycle of a school in general, and the story of cycles in life, and the story of a demon and the story of wanting. The pacing here was so delightful, and having very serious shit go down in chapter 7 just for more and more serious things to occur later was such a fun rollercoaster. I was on the edge of my damn seat - not quite crying over they're about to die oh my god like in SDG, but still very much a reading until 1AM just to finish experience. I appreciate that Tesh won't pull punches of consequences, but isn't doing grimdark everybody dies nonsense. It's just not my thing.
I loved Saffy as a main character and narrator so, so deeply. She reminded me of my most beloved high school teachers and myself at the same time in a way that was really lovely. As a narrative technique and a characterization, the way she realized she was wrong and then still proceeded to make a terrible choice was so painful and so fun. Her love for her students was so sweet, as well as her confidence in herself and her abilities. She felt like such a whole protagonist. 10/10. And her and Laura!!!!! Laura was AMAZING and I was so grateful that their dynamic was imperfect and awkward and funny and very sincere. All you have to do is tell me there's a "butch avenging angel" and I'm SEATED.
Uhhhhh holy shit, chapter 28 my fucking beloved. I'm throwing in all my specific thoughts and my favorite quote here:
My absolute favorite quote, completely out of context: "A self is a home is a purpose is a life. But above all those, a self is a choice."
Longform thoughts: This is so layered in the way Tesh does so well. It's Saffy's story, and the story of Chetwood and the cycle of a school in general, and the story of cycles in life, and the story of a demon and the story of wanting. The pacing here was so delightful, and having very serious shit go down in chapter 7 just for more and more serious things to occur later was such a fun rollercoaster. I was on the edge of my damn seat - not quite crying over they're about to die oh my god like in SDG, but still very much a reading until 1AM just to finish experience. I appreciate that Tesh won't pull punches of consequences, but isn't doing grimdark everybody dies nonsense. It's just not my thing.
I loved Saffy as a main character and narrator so, so deeply. She reminded me of my most beloved high school teachers and myself at the same time in a way that was really lovely. As a narrative technique and a characterization, the way she realized she was wrong and then still proceeded to make a terrible choice was so painful and so fun. Her love for her students was so sweet, as well as her confidence in herself and her abilities. She felt like such a whole protagonist. 10/10. And her and Laura!!!!! Laura was AMAZING and I was so grateful that their dynamic was imperfect and awkward and funny and very sincere. All you have to do is tell me there's a "butch avenging angel" and I'm SEATED.
Uhhhhh holy shit, chapter 28 my fucking beloved. I'm throwing in all my specific thoughts and my favorite quote here:
My absolute favorite quote, completely out of context: "A self is a home is a purpose is a life. But above all those, a self is a choice."
April 25, 2025
Dr Sapphire Walden is a professor and Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy, an elite magical boarding school. Like any teacher/administrator, she's stretched thinner than she'd like, from overseeing the wards that protect the school from demons to teaching A-level evocation magic. Her approach is all about risk management - assume that something will go wrong and think instead about how to mitigate repercussions. (Dr Walden and I would get along smashingly as colleagues.) When planning an A-level class about summoning a demon, she knows that her students won't do it perfectly, but it's a learning process... until they summon a powerful demon called Old Faithful who has been hanging around the school grounds on the demonic plane for centuries, and dragging up old memories from Walden's own A-level year.
I loved this book. One problem I often run into with Dark Academia is that it focuses on the students, and I don't tend to prefer the young adult/new adult perspective in most of my books. Walden was the perfect POV character for me: she's a bisexual 38-year-old no-nonsense director with a strong sense of empathy. She allows herself to be continually surprised by her students and colleagues, even when she'd prefer to be a pessimist, and perhaps most importantly she allows herself grace and forgiveness and growth from her mistakes. Emily Tesh masterfully writes a well-rounded and relatable character, whose experience in the face of demons feels like a breath of fresh air in the genre.
The magic system is all about contracts (fantasy writers take note, this is the way to my heart), and while some people have more proclivity towards magic than others, there's no innate magical ability that allows one person to be a magician over another. There's a practicality to Walden and to this book that speaks to me, from the mistakes we make to the successes we see to the love we find.
I was hooked from start to finish.
I loved listening to the audiobook, narrated by Zara Ramm. I think the worldbuilding is approachable for most people to listen to this one if you enjoy an audiobook.
Thank you to Tor and MacMillan audio for eARC and ALC for review. The Incandescent is out 5/13/25.
I loved this book. One problem I often run into with Dark Academia is that it focuses on the students, and I don't tend to prefer the young adult/new adult perspective in most of my books. Walden was the perfect POV character for me: she's a bisexual 38-year-old no-nonsense director with a strong sense of empathy. She allows herself to be continually surprised by her students and colleagues, even when she'd prefer to be a pessimist, and perhaps most importantly she allows herself grace and forgiveness and growth from her mistakes. Emily Tesh masterfully writes a well-rounded and relatable character, whose experience in the face of demons feels like a breath of fresh air in the genre.
The magic system is all about contracts (fantasy writers take note, this is the way to my heart), and while some people have more proclivity towards magic than others, there's no innate magical ability that allows one person to be a magician over another. There's a practicality to Walden and to this book that speaks to me, from the mistakes we make to the successes we see to the love we find.
I was hooked from start to finish.
I loved listening to the audiobook, narrated by Zara Ramm. I think the worldbuilding is approachable for most people to listen to this one if you enjoy an audiobook.
Thank you to Tor and MacMillan audio for eARC and ALC for review. The Incandescent is out 5/13/25.
Read
December 4, 2024Thank you to the publisher and my local indie bookstore Neighborhood Reads for the chance to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Dr. Walden is Tired. Being Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy isn't for the faint of heart with six hundred students who are one mis-written line away from inviting demons in.
The lush worldbuilding makes you feel like you're on Chetwood Academy grounds. With its sprawling lawns and beautiful centuries old buildings...which are crumbling around Dr. Walden who is doing her best to keep demons, and the limited budget, from total disrepair
With her sensible sweaters, Dr. Walden looks unassuming and no one would guess the government has tried to recruit her for her power. Power few know about because being possessed by a demon, no matter if you're the one holding the leash, is incredibly dangerous. But don't worry, she has a handle on it. Usually.
Tesh keeps the pace moving, literally, as we follow Dr. Walden through her days of teaching and dealing with the finer points of running a school. But when a summoning goes awry and Old Faithful, the largest demon on school grounds, breaks through the wards, Dr. Walden is the only one powerful enough to have a hope of stopping him.
The last thing she needs in the middle of fighting for her life, and the life of her students, is for her crush, Marshal Laura Kenning, to stride in and offer a hand, or more like her sword.
Anyone who has ever worked in a school environment will be nodding along from page one. Tesh does a wonderful job capturing the mundanity of forms, of convincing the demon jamming the printer to finish making copies and reminding yourself your students are brilliant and will do great things...if you all manage to survive the demon they summoned.
Dr. Walden is Tired. Being Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy isn't for the faint of heart with six hundred students who are one mis-written line away from inviting demons in.
The lush worldbuilding makes you feel like you're on Chetwood Academy grounds. With its sprawling lawns and beautiful centuries old buildings...which are crumbling around Dr. Walden who is doing her best to keep demons, and the limited budget, from total disrepair
With her sensible sweaters, Dr. Walden looks unassuming and no one would guess the government has tried to recruit her for her power. Power few know about because being possessed by a demon, no matter if you're the one holding the leash, is incredibly dangerous. But don't worry, she has a handle on it. Usually.
Tesh keeps the pace moving, literally, as we follow Dr. Walden through her days of teaching and dealing with the finer points of running a school. But when a summoning goes awry and Old Faithful, the largest demon on school grounds, breaks through the wards, Dr. Walden is the only one powerful enough to have a hope of stopping him.
The last thing she needs in the middle of fighting for her life, and the life of her students, is for her crush, Marshal Laura Kenning, to stride in and offer a hand, or more like her sword.
Anyone who has ever worked in a school environment will be nodding along from page one. Tesh does a wonderful job capturing the mundanity of forms, of convincing the demon jamming the printer to finish making copies and reminding yourself your students are brilliant and will do great things...if you all manage to survive the demon they summoned.
April 16, 2025
Emily Tesh is so real for this. it’s the magical academia we didn’t know we wanted. It is bold and unashamedly the narrative needed by anyone who has been a teacher, or loved a teacher, or lived with a teacher, or listened to a teacher ranting at the pub about
a) their form, they just won’t put their phones away and it’s either overconfidence or underconfidence, plus they always leave their coursework to the last minute
b) their management, can you believe how many meetings they’re scheduling in? It’s just a complete waste of time and
c) these bloody piles of marking, you just never really get to clock off plus there’s always that one parent who rings to complain and the photocopier never works unless you bribe it. no, not that last one? anyway
If Giles from Buffy had been a bisexual woman, teaching high school and achieving middle management (no way Giles wouldn’t have been a Head Of something if he’d wanted), you’d get something quite like this.
Tesh’s narration is warm, humorous, and utterly delightful, as you follow Saffy, teaching a sixth form set, drowning in paperwork, navigating school politics, possibly tempted by office romance - and, as an elder millennial, seated in the confidence of her professional skills and knowledge. But will that be enough to see off threats to the school - and her students - both supernatural and mundane?
I loved every moment of this and you will too.
edit to add that there is a very hot butch woman and she has a sword and a motorcycle so
a) their form, they just won’t put their phones away and it’s either overconfidence or underconfidence, plus they always leave their coursework to the last minute
b) their management, can you believe how many meetings they’re scheduling in? It’s just a complete waste of time and
c) these bloody piles of marking, you just never really get to clock off plus there’s always that one parent who rings to complain and the photocopier never works unless you bribe it. no, not that last one? anyway
If Giles from Buffy had been a bisexual woman, teaching high school and achieving middle management (no way Giles wouldn’t have been a Head Of something if he’d wanted), you’d get something quite like this.
Tesh’s narration is warm, humorous, and utterly delightful, as you follow Saffy, teaching a sixth form set, drowning in paperwork, navigating school politics, possibly tempted by office romance - and, as an elder millennial, seated in the confidence of her professional skills and knowledge. But will that be enough to see off threats to the school - and her students - both supernatural and mundane?
I loved every moment of this and you will too.
edit to add that there is a very hot butch woman and she has a sword and a motorcycle so
April 25, 2025
The Incandescent was a story about a year(-ish) in Saffy Walden's life as a teacher in a magical boarding school, which mostly involved a lot of 14-hour busy workdays, but there were also a couple of serious magical disasters. I very much liked how academia-oriented the story was: the school was not just a backdrop; it was Saffy's life and blood. How she taught and her relationship with her students was one of the high points of this story (they were very lovely students). I really liked the worldbuilding as well, it was quite detailed but you may have to look up British school system a little if you're not already familiar with it.
What I'm not really a fan of was the pacing. So, there were a couple of high-tension fast-paced situation but there was also a stretch where this book slowed down into a cozy, mundane, academia pace. Which was not my preference, so it was kinda hard for me to go through that part, especially because this book also had some fast-paced parts.
Overall, I found it very refreshing to read a magical school story from the PoV of the teacher, who was also a woman in her late thirties. There was also a little romance, but it was not too prominent, like it's there because it's a part of life.
eARC provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK.
What I'm not really a fan of was the pacing. So, there were a couple of high-tension fast-paced situation but there was also a stretch where this book slowed down into a cozy, mundane, academia pace. Which was not my preference, so it was kinda hard for me to go through that part, especially because this book also had some fast-paced parts.
Overall, I found it very refreshing to read a magical school story from the PoV of the teacher, who was also a woman in her late thirties. There was also a little romance, but it was not too prominent, like it's there because it's a part of life.
eARC provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK.
March 28, 2025
*I received a copy via the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
Ugh, I wanted to love this book so badly. I love a dark academic fantasy as much as the next person, but they can get repetitive. I liked how the main character was a professor rather than a student because it helped it stand apart from other books that use this trope. There was a lot of emphasis on the day-to-day tasks of an educator, everything from the mundane like grading to planning to endless meetings to the rewarding aspects of getting to shape young minds. I liked Walden as an MC, but she came across as very clinical, so it made it hard to get to know her on an emotional level. The magic system and world-building were interesting, but I found it quite dense. There's also a little romance in here, which I could've done without, as it just felt like an afterthought. I liked Tesh's writing, so I'd be interested to read more from her, but I think in this instance, it just wasn't the book for me.
Ugh, I wanted to love this book so badly. I love a dark academic fantasy as much as the next person, but they can get repetitive. I liked how the main character was a professor rather than a student because it helped it stand apart from other books that use this trope. There was a lot of emphasis on the day-to-day tasks of an educator, everything from the mundane like grading to planning to endless meetings to the rewarding aspects of getting to shape young minds. I liked Walden as an MC, but she came across as very clinical, so it made it hard to get to know her on an emotional level. The magic system and world-building were interesting, but I found it quite dense. There's also a little romance in here, which I could've done without, as it just felt like an afterthought. I liked Tesh's writing, so I'd be interested to read more from her, but I think in this instance, it just wasn't the book for me.
April 24, 2025
While the entire story is wonderful, this book truly SHINES in the last 100 pages. I was so intrigued by the concept and am so lucky I managed to get my hands on an arc during Eastercon. It follows the story of Saffy, one of the senior teachers of the posh southern boarding school that teaches magic. Getting to see her interact with the students and care deeply about them, and just in general see the whole magic school POV from the adult's perspective was delightful. The analysis of identity, growing up, loss of the self and grief that happens in the last 100 pages is truly the strong point of the narrative, and god knows I'm a sucker for 2 person POV. Saffy's slow relationship with Laura is also adorable. AND. AND. What a clever display of bisexuality within the entire book. Truly an amazingly rounded book.
April 25, 2025
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this early, I’m rating it 3.75 stars.
I liked it, I didn’t love it. I feel like my understanding of what this was going to be didn’t quite live up to my expectations which is totally ok.
Here’s what I did enjoy, the mix of demons and magic in an academic setting. I love fantasy in an academic setting, but I feel like I would’ve enjoyed this more with some multi POV. I respect Walden an odd amount, she was quite cool, witty and knowledgable.
I think this is perfect for fans of Deadly Education & Atlas six. It’s entertaining and sophisticated without being pretentious. There’s some awkward teen energy at points as it follows some steep learning curbs when dealing with magic and everything that comes with it. I would read a spin off from this world for sure.
I liked it, I didn’t love it. I feel like my understanding of what this was going to be didn’t quite live up to my expectations which is totally ok.
Here’s what I did enjoy, the mix of demons and magic in an academic setting. I love fantasy in an academic setting, but I feel like I would’ve enjoyed this more with some multi POV. I respect Walden an odd amount, she was quite cool, witty and knowledgable.
I think this is perfect for fans of Deadly Education & Atlas six. It’s entertaining and sophisticated without being pretentious. There’s some awkward teen energy at points as it follows some steep learning curbs when dealing with magic and everything that comes with it. I would read a spin off from this world for sure.
March 7, 2025
An atmospheric and riveting sapphic dark academia novel, set at an English boarding school for magicians.
Dr. Saffy Walden has dedicated her life to two things: the pursuit of magical excellence, and her position as Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy. Her days are filled with marking, meetings, and the endless minutia of administration. One of the most important parts of her job is keeping the demons, some of whom are centuries old and unimaginably powerful, away from the centuries-old school and her young charges.
It was rather refreshing to read a story about a magical school from the perspective of one of the adults that keeps it running. This point of view allowed the story to feel simultaneously nostalgic and fresh. As someone who works in education, I really enjoyed the bureaucracy of it all. Dr. Walden is a flawed yet loveable protaganist, and Tesh does an excellent job at slowly unravelling her backstory for the reader.
Tesh has a way with words, and the prose was achingly beautiful at times, adorably silly at others. Some moments were heartbreaking and poignant, others quirky and goofy, which created a nice balance.
I would have liked to see the romance storyline developed a tad more, as it felt like a bit of an afterthought. I enjoyed its inclusion and was happy with its conclusion, but I would have liked to develop more of a relationship with the relationship along the way.
Overall, this is a lovely read and I recommend it- fun, wildly readable, and a unique perspective on a much-loved genre.
(Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!)
Dr. Saffy Walden has dedicated her life to two things: the pursuit of magical excellence, and her position as Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy. Her days are filled with marking, meetings, and the endless minutia of administration. One of the most important parts of her job is keeping the demons, some of whom are centuries old and unimaginably powerful, away from the centuries-old school and her young charges.
It was rather refreshing to read a story about a magical school from the perspective of one of the adults that keeps it running. This point of view allowed the story to feel simultaneously nostalgic and fresh. As someone who works in education, I really enjoyed the bureaucracy of it all. Dr. Walden is a flawed yet loveable protaganist, and Tesh does an excellent job at slowly unravelling her backstory for the reader.
Tesh has a way with words, and the prose was achingly beautiful at times, adorably silly at others. Some moments were heartbreaking and poignant, others quirky and goofy, which created a nice balance.
I would have liked to see the romance storyline developed a tad more, as it felt like a bit of an afterthought. I enjoyed its inclusion and was happy with its conclusion, but I would have liked to develop more of a relationship with the relationship along the way.
Overall, this is a lovely read and I recommend it- fun, wildly readable, and a unique perspective on a much-loved genre.
(Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book!)
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