At the center of the story is a magical school. If you’re thinking about Hogwarts, this is nothing like that. There are no teachers, no holidays and the school kind of tries to kill the students. So why enroll? In this world, magical children are in danger from monsters everywhere. Till they grow old enough and skilled enough to be able to handle themselves, the school acts as a safehouse but still cannot keep all of the monsters out.
Our protagonist El, a cynical snarky loner, is “The One”. No, not the chosen one who can bring world peace, but the one who has it in her to destroy everything. Her being half Indian and speaking Indian languages (though I don’t speak any of the languages she does) is what made me give this book a try. Was I disappointed when I didn’t see the Indian representation I hoped for? Yes. Am I offended that its almost a bait like a few book-influencers say it is? No, because nowhere is the diversity advertised.
Writing style:
This was a quick and unputdownable read for me because I’ve developed a liking for info-dumping stories these days. To give you an example, let’s say our characters encounter a monster. In the middle of an action scene, there would be a couple of pages about the monster and some history about it before we get back to the action. I found this okay because I was quite intrigued about the world, but some may not like this style.
Likes and Dislikes:
+ Intriguing premise with original world-building
– The setting raises some questions which will hopefully be answered in the next book
+ Diverse characters
– If I have to nitpick, diversity feels slapped in for selling point
+ Independent, strong, savage MC with a sarcastic remark ready at all times
– El is a loner and basically mean to everyone when it’s common sense to make friends who will look out for you in such a setting. Interesting character but desperately needed some development by the end of the book.
+ Well written side characters. Considering that most of this book was to explain the world-building and El’s thoughts, it is understandable that we get to see very little about the other characters and yet the author managed to make them memorable.
– Most of the time is spent in the world-building and then the book ends in a mini-cliffhanger. This could have been a single big book or a duology instead of a trilogy.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and am waiting to read the next books to see character development and get some answers.
