Description:
"FANS OF THE MAGICIANS AND NINTH HOUSE HAVE FOUND THEIR NEW OBSESSION." -LAURA STEVEN
"I DIDN'T WANT MY TIME WITH BRIAR AND SEB TO END." -V. E. SCHWAB
Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK's only school of magic but then gets a job there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls.
For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its ornate gates, the elite boarding school--the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history--is whispered to be magical.
Briar's best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever.
When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple's grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can't completely forget their yearning for Temple, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower.
Then, seven years later, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the junk in Temple's attics. And they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all.
Discover why your favorite authors are raving about The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones!
- "I feel dreamy and half in love just thinking about the chance to return to it, even though I know what sinister turns yet await." -Olivie Blake
- "A wondrous book not just about magic and mayhem but also about love and hurt and how we survive it all together." -John Green
- "A delicious and diabolical feast for lovers of dark academia, romantasy, complex queer romance." -Casey McQuiston
Brief description:
Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey and now lives in London. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex has written historical-ish rom-coms for adults (Reputation, Infamous, Trouble) and historical fantasy rom-coms for teenagers, including Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, the New York Times bestseller which won the 2024 YA Book Prize. The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones is their adult fantasy debut.
Review Quotes:
"What a wonderful ride. Croucher's blend of light and dark, humor and trauma, is so refreshing, as is their taut, evocative prose. The pages flew by, and I didn't want my time with Briar and Seb and the crew to end." - V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"You'll love living in this novel's brilliantly imagined world. Lex Croucher has written a wondrous book not just about magic and mayhem but also about love and hurt and how we survive it all together." - John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones has absolutely everything: the institutional rot and villainy of the System; the toxic romance of social mobility and the spires of dark academia; the brilliantly integrated magical system; second-chance yearning at soul-shattering decibels; the sheer bounty of delightful, irreverent dialogue; every perfect Lex Croucher turn of phrase. Funny, devastating, achingly romantic, a hands-down favorite of the year, and probably ever. The book itself makes it impossible not to intuitively grasp the nature of a so-called Working--I feel dreamy and half in love just thinking about the chance to return to it, even though I know what sinister turns yet await." - Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six
"I literally could not put this book down. The only reason I didn't finish in a single sitting is because I had to stop every other page to savor a particularly good sentence. Briar is one of my new all-time favorite characters, and there's no one I'd trust more to follow into the beautiful, poisonous brambles of a posh magical boarding school. The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones is a delicious and diabolical feast for lovers of dark academia, romantasy, complex queer romance, and that one childhood friend you just can't shake." - Casey McQuiston, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years, with a deeply flawed queer found family and incisive commentary on systemic rot--plus sharp humour and an unexpectedly tender romance. Fans of The Magicians and Ninth House have found their new obsession." - Laura Steven, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates and Silvercloak
"A masterclass in writing nuanced, morally grey, and occasionally unhinged characters. It sucks you into the debauched underworld of an impossibly elite school and doesn't let go....A must-read for any dark academia fan, particularly for those fond of A Deadly Education, or Gideon the Ninth." - Fantasy Hive
"This book pulls off the trick of making magic school wondrously seductive and gut-wrenchingly appalling, thanks to the compelling titular protagonist and, of course, Croucher's incredible gifts for both storytelling and shoving your most tender emotions into a blender and cranking it up to ten. Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry, this is a story I will never forget. (Though I wish I could, so that I could have the pleasure of being ruined by it all over again.)" - Freya Marske, USA Today bestselling author of A Marvellous Light
"Witty, sharp, and addictive, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones deftly balances an excoriating take down of the elite with deeply human and tender queer relationships. Croucher is a master of the craft." - Kat Dunn, author of Hungerstone
"Only Lex Croucher could write a book that is so full of wit, yearning, sexual tension, rage, niche cultural references and a powerful dissemination of the elite and the institutions that protect them. Come for the found family and stay for the scathing indictment of privilege-particularly that which forms the backbone of academic institutions. This is dark academia as it should be written." - Bea Fitzgerald, Sunday Times bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen