Lex Croucher in Edinburgh

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 finds their way there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls - unmissable for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that's produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar's best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.

When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their relationship is shattered - until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple's attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.

"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, power play, and an unexpectedly tender romance . . . Fans of Ninth House have found their new obsession" - Laura Steven, author of Our Infinite Fates

Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey, reading a lot of books and making friends with strangers on the internet, and now lives in London. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes historical rom-coms and fantasy for both adults and teenagers. Their debut YA novel, Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, won the YA Book Prize 2024, the Books Are My Bag Readers' Award for Young Adult Fiction, and was an instant New York Times bestseller.