El is completing her junior year at her magical high school, and is understandably starting to get nervous about senior year and graduation. But her school is no Hogwarts. Instead of cozy four-poster beds in dormitories, delicious all-you-can-eat meals, and a sweeping vista of mountains and lakes, Scholomance is a teacher-free zone where students have to learn quickly to stay alive, what with all the evil beasts that feed on magical kids (yes, really) that lurk in the building, including in bedrooms and in the cafeteria's trays of food. Oh, and that view? It's a black void that causes anyone who enters to lose their minds.
El has some amazing (if somewhat potentially evil) powers, which she hopes can help her make alliances to see her through graduation next year — graduation being a literal monster gauntlet to escape the school alive — if only her aloof and sarcastic personality doesn't repel them all. So it's something of a surprise when Orion Lake, the big hero on campus, goes out of his way to pay attention to El. What's that all about?
Novik's creativity in building Scholomance (which is based on a school of the same name in Eastern European folklore) is absolutely amazing, from the classes and creatures to the students themselves. Despite the impossible setting, the characters are nuanced and relatable, even the jerks you don't want to like. I can't wait to see what comes next in this series!
*This book will be published September 29, 2020.
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