CBR Square- School
I read The Incandescent by Emily Tesh because she promoted it on Threads as a book with a magic school where the adults are allowed to be competent. And that doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes, but when the students get themselves into trouble with their magic, they go to an adult who can help them and she does.
So this is entirely told from the adult perspective, and one demon. I really liked it a lot. Dr. Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School. Some of the time this can get a bit slow as she is grading papers, dealing with high school students crushes, and teaching. In this world, magic is partly integrated into society and mostly not thought about. Dr. Walden could have worked at the Pentagon as an example. There’s also some about the class divisions in British society which was interesting. It is clear that Dr. Walden comes from privilege. I think this is part of the reason why she thinks she can handle the demon that is tattooed on her arm, her privilege and her upbringing and going to this fancy prep school have convinced her she can.
I really liked the romance in this, Dr. Walden is bi and I can’t remember the last bi character I read that actually has relationships with men and women in the same book. This book has a definitely beginning and end so we don’t get some stretched out sequels, BUT, I did think the end was a bit rushed and I did have to listen to the last few chapters again so I didn’t miss any details.
Overall I enjoyed this and will seek out other books by Emily Tesh.