This book is a beautiful, begrudging love letter to educators and education.

Emily Tesh's character voices are some of the strongest I have ever encountered. I absolutely adored Walden, even though I constantly wanted to shake her. The sapphic love story that develops in this novel is hilarious and sweet and full of excellent banter.

The Incandescent is a lovely next step for the concept of dark academia/academic fantasy. It is about the way academic systems fail people and the people trying their best to prevent them form falling through the cracks. A hilarious, moving, page-turning read!

Two years ago I reviewed Emily’s last book, Some Desperate Glory (review here) which was a science fiction novel. I liked a lot of it, although my general impression at the end was that it was a little predictable and – gasp! -overrated. But what do I know – Some Desperate Glory then went on to win the Hugo Award for the Best Novel for 2023!

Nevertheless, despite my reservations there was a lot of it I liked, so when this new book arrived for review, I was intrigued, mainly because it sounded like it was going to be different. And so it is – The Incandescent is an urban fantasy set in the now of 2025. Think Harry Potter, but with Emily’s spin on it.

From the publisher: “Dr Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions.

Walden is good at her job – no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. But it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from . . . is herself.”

Let’s get the obvious Hogwarts comparisons out of the way first. Yes, this is a story about a private school who are teaching children and young adults’ magic. But really there the comparisons stop. This is clearly a book for grown-ups, written from the perspective of adults and with all the sensibilities that experienced adults provide.

Focused around Dr Sapphire (Saffy) Walden, Director of Magic at the school, the plot gives us her experiences of being an ex-pupil and a teacher, as well as a manager – she is, as the book explains, an “academic turned educator turned school management”, which gives us a unique perspective to the school over time.

“The difference between a schoolchild and a schoolteacher, one of Walden’s mentors had once remarked, is that a teacher who finds herself miserable at school can leave.”

It is this that makes the book work for me. It also helps that the book is literate and intelligent, with nuanced characters that felt honest and also have depth and resonance. The actions of those we meet seem genuine – not forced, and cobbled together for the sake of a plot point, but as people would do say and react if such an environment was actual.

“Teaching wasn’t about being right, or being clever, or being in charge. It was about making them believe.”

Through Saffy Tesh makes the important point that there are major, major benefits in being a teacher – the positives of teaching, of developing professional relationships, of helping young people learn and grow, even with the added complication of having magic involved. It would be easy to just spend most of the book telling the reader about Saffy’s love for the job, and the students she teaches and whilst the novel does do that, in terms of plot much of the book is also about how Saffy herself develops over the course of the novel.

The flipside of this is that there is also a lot of trials and tribulations of being a teacher, even without the magic element. With the tension of potential OFSTED inspections, lesson observations, endless meetings, preparation and marking and so on, the academic year progresses and embeds the fantasy element in some semblance of normality. The pressures these cause were spot-on – and I say that with nearly 40 years of experiencing such things in both state and public schools myself.

We also have the magic element, of course. Much of Saffy’s work involves maintaining the wards around the school, ensuring that the nasty demons being kept at bay stay that way. There are minor imps around the school that leaven the dark atmosphere a little – for example, the Gremlin-esque imp in the school photocopier may cause some wry moments to anyone that has had issues with such a machine – but the nasty ones on the whole are really nasty, giving a sense of genuine peril to the characters, both teenage and adult.

As if teaching wasn’t enough, as a manager as well as a teacher Saffy has a lot of additional administrational tasks to do, magic as well as mundane. Dealing with difficult colleagues as well as students is part of the job, and Saffy finds a number of them irksome. In particular, Laura Kenning, the commander of the Marshals (a kind of magic police force) at Chetwood, seems to really get under her skin. So too the arrival of a new member of staff given the task of overseeing the school after a major magical incident there, both of which affect Saffy’s professional and personal life.

All of these elements are fixed into a setting that feels appropriate. I was pleasantly surprised how well the book’s setting worked. Chetwood feels like a real school, whose long history and attractive countryside setting adds to the book a great deal. There’s a lot of backstory for both the history of Chetwood School with its 600+ years of magic, and its adult characters which I enjoyed a great deal. (I would love to read more stories from Chetwood’s past.)

The upshot of all of this is that these elements work together to create a realistic feel to the events of the novel – and I say that knowing that I’m talking about an urban fantasy. When romance becomes part of the mixture, I did feel at times that the book should be subtitled “The Life and Loves of Saffy Walden”, although it does humanise Saffy somewhat. it’s well done on the whole, even when I felt it made the book more of a soap opera – Saffy’s romances in the book create a tension that is straight out of the “will they – won’t they” playbook.

All of these elements drive the book forward, and should keep you reading until the end. The main issue I had was towards the end when I felt that some of the things in the final scenes were perhaps a little too convenient in wrapping things up. The denouement was not bad – but not quite as effective as I hoped it was going to be after such a careful set up. I will also say that the title doesn’t really work for me, although I accept that that may be a personal bug-bear.

Nevertheless, in summary, The Incandescent is a book that for me was a major, major improvement on what Tesh has written before. Although there were elements that didn’t quite earn it the very top marks from me, as a sort of British version of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians it is one of the best books I’ve read this year and certainly one of the best urban fantasies I’ve read in years. For anyone wanting to try dark academia or simply enjoy a fresh and original take on it, The Incandescent is recommended from me as one of the best in a currently popular sub-genre.

The Incandescent was such an entertaining and unique take on dark academia for the magical. The dark part is generally down to the demons, they are literally everywhere and the magic to keep them at bay is complex and flawed. The rest of the story is very much a witty and fun take on academia through the eyes of the educators.
The FMC is a teacher and a great character to explore the themes of power, privilege and identity through. Her experience and devotion to her work is a testament to her character. I was totally there with her watching her seemingly mundane life unravel.
Throughout the author is able to show us a very real story of adulthood and the pressures of life. Another very true to life element was the romance subplot, this was absolutely charming. Overall I absolutely loved the whole feel of this book.
At times there were some pacing issues but these are forgiven as I found it a compelling read and highly recommend to the teachers out there, fantasy and academia lovers.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

This was definitely one of my favourite reads of the year so far! Even though there was one aspect that I was slightly disappointed with it does everything else so well that I still had to give 5 stars.
The Incandescent is a dark academia with a very heavy focus on the academia part. In fact, it is absolutely a love letter to teaching while also exploring the systemic failures of educational systems and how this impacts students and teachers alike.
We follow a teacher at an elite magical school and see a lot of the day to day effort that goes into her work. I really liked Saffy and her character development. It felt refreshing reading from the perspective of an almost 40 year old main character.
I was absolutely ecstatic when I realised this included a sapphic love story, with a butch modern knight no less! However, we get surprisingly little page time from the main love interest and only get very few scenes of them developing their relationship at all.
The setting and world building is another point where this story shines. We have a creepy old magical school in alternate world England with all the atmosphere that brings with it. The magic is unique, expertly interwoven with our own world and the theory behind it thoroughly explained through our main characters academic career or teachings. 
I loved the humour that was brought into the story through the demons possessing mundane items like phones and photocopiers.
I also really enjoyed the ending with it being one of the most satisfying conclusions to a book I’ve read in a while.
All in all, I’ll be keeping a look out for this author’s future work! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

If you're looking for a story with magic, mayhem, and a quietly unraveling protagonist, The Incandescent might catch your interest, but you’ll want to go in with your expectations tuned to something a bit more introspective than explosive.

At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was going to be a dark academia thrill ride: powerful magician, elite school, demonic threats. And yes, that’s all there. Doctor Walden, our main character, is the kind of person you'd trust to hold reality together with nothing but sheer competence and a cup of tea. She’s measured, powerful, and just a little bit lonely, which is exactly where things start to get interesting.

But the magic here isn’t just spellwork. It’s metaphor. Emily Tesh plays with power and identity in ways that feel deeply personal, if sometimes a bit elusive. There’s an aching sense of disconnection running through the book, as Walden tries to hold everything together while slowly realizing she might be the biggest danger of all. If you’ve ever found yourself quietly spiraling while looking absolutely fine to everyone else, you’ll get it.

That said, The Incandescent isn’t without its rough patches. The pacing lags in places, and some of the more intense emotional moments are muted rather than cathartic. There’s a cool detachment to the prose that suits Walden’s personality, but it also creates a bit of distance between reader and story. I found myself wanting to care more than I actually did, which is a frustrating place to be in as a reader.

Still, there’s something oddly beautiful about this book. It’s not a page-turner, but it’s a slow, steady simmer. If you’ve got patience for quiet character work and enjoy magic as a metaphor for the self, especially the parts we try to lock away, The Incandescent might hit just the right note for you.

TL;DR:
Come for the demons and academic drama. Stay for the soft unraveling of a woman trying to be the strong one all the time. Just be prepared for a slower, more internal journey than the blurb might suggest.

Okay, so this was a perfect take on dark academia. In every dark academia book I've read its a student MC, and they are super confident in their abilities even though they have not finished their schooling. They survive by sheer luck or are saved by a teacher or some kind of experienced adult. In this book the FMC, Doctor Walden, is the undeniably best backup you could get. She has decades of experience behind her and the power to show for it. She loves being a teacher, making sure the academy itself doesn't slide into a demon realm, and saving students from themselves.

It's original, it's exciting, and the frustration I've felt from YA MCs having a teenage fueled response based on an inflated ego due to a superiority complex is nonexistent. It's such a relief to read about Doctor Walden who actually has the life experience and knowledge to deal with malevolent forces attempting to kill everyone and destroy everything.

I can't recommend this enough! I want to yell from the rooftop how much I love this book!

I think I need to go through my ratings and round down my 4.5 stars, because this is standing out from my other 5 star reviews! I'd give this book 6 stars if it were possible.

3,5 stars

The Incandescent should be everything I want from a magical school story. Yet I have some mixed feelings about it as a whole.

We meet director of Magic Saphire Walden as she is taking care of one of her mundane tasks at a magical school. We follow her for a whole school year as she preps her 4 eldest students for their A Levels (United Kingdom, senior year high school). Unfortunately that doesn't go quite according to plan.

This story is heavily character focused as we follow Walden in the mundane of her task with some magic thrown in here and there. While I liked Walden as a character I struggled with her lack of emotions. We're doing a deep dive into a character. But this character is hiding a lot from herself. She buries herself in her work to not have to deal with her emotions that go as far back as 20 years ago. Of course that comes with consequences. I don't think the story wrapped up that portion of Walden very well.

After the events of October it was like watching a slow moving train wreck that you can't really look away from. She is making all the wrong decisions. And the one character that would have called her on that, is removed from her vicinity. Well isn't that convenient. The wrap up of the consequences of that did not at all feel satisfying to me. It is like Walden just shrugs. Oh well. Oopsie. Again, she buries herself in learning something to not have to deal with her emotions and she shows no inclination that this will change in the future. So clearly she has learned so very little. I find that very frustrating.

Having said that, I was very charmed by the setting of the school, the mundane things that were shown and some of the relationships between the characters. Especially the bits and pieces we get from our four students through Walden I found great to see and the way she clearly knowns them felt very endearing to me. I thought the key keeper was also a great add. Walden is also a character that sees a lot. She observes a lot. And Tesh uses that to show us the rest of the school. It has a lot going for it in that regard.

This is marketed as a dark academia. It sits on the border of that. It doesn't quite hit the macabre I think. The mundane of the story shifted a lot of the mood where it didn't quite feel like a dark academia at a lot of times.

Despite my mixed feelings I do think that The Incandescent is worth a read to those who love magical school settings or those who would love to read these settings from the end of the teachers.

Very clever thesis on being a schoolteacher, and privilege and power and academia. Incandescent adolescent indeed - and the titular character being the protagonist was a great twist

This is such a smart, thoughtful take on magical academia. Rather than the usual glamour, it focuses on the everyday realities of teaching: lesson plans, difficult students, and the quiet weight of responsibility. Saffy is a wonderfully nuanced protagonist, and her voice brings both humor and depth to the story. A compelling, well-crafted read that lingers after the last page.

This magic school novel offers a refreshing twist, focusing on the teachers who must keep a group of powerful, overconfident, and reckless teens from destroying themselves and the school. The author draws from her own teaching experience, which adds a unique touch.

Easily one of the best magic school books I’ve read, it might even surpass Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy.

Saffy Walden, MThau, PhD, is the head of the Invocation department (demon summoning) at Chetwood School, an ancient boarding school in England known for producing top-tier magical talent. Her job is demanding, balancing typical teaching duties with the added complexity of a magical institution. Managing everything from quirky magical creatures to dangerous exorcisms. She’s also caught in bureaucratic turf wars with Laura Kenning, chief of the school’s demon-fighting Marshalls.

Much of the story is a slice-of-life narrative, following Walden as she supports her students; each with their own unique strengths and challenges. The book has a comforting, almost cozy feel, as Walden cares for her star pupil, Nikki, and helps others navigate their magical education and personal struggles. But there’s a looming danger in the form of a powerful demon that has haunted the area for centuries, a threat that is definitely not ignored.

What makes this book stand out is how it subverts many magic-school tropes. Magic is widely known, technology works alongside it, and students are held to high academic standards beyond just magical studies. Chetwood is both a place for magical education and a well-rounded school that emphasizes real-world knowledge. There's also some romance, particularly between Walden and the ever-competent and attractive Chief Marshall, Kenning.

This book is an absolute must-read. The author has delivered another fantastic story. Highly recommended!

I loved some desperate glory, so when I heard Emily tesh was doing a school fantasy I knew I would love it! And god did I.
This story was so clearly written by someone with a deep love of teaching and engaging with teenagers, and really made me sympathise with all my teachers from years past.
As a fellow Cambridge alum I loved the peak into the academic world I know so well, and the commentary on the social issues that come with it.
The story itself was fantastic, with some great character work and a wonderful premise! The world was the perfect amount of removed from ours that felt like you'd stepped sideways into a familiar place.
This is definitely my favourite read of the year so far, and has solidified Tesh as one of my favourite authors.

It doesn't happen often, but this time I discovered this book through Netgalley. I was scrolling through the database and the cover caught my interest. When I read this book was set in a magical school and was for readers of A Deadly Education, I was sold. I requested a digital review copy and Orbit granted me one.

It's hard to describe this book. It's not filled with action. It's not action packed. It's not really romantic. And yet, yet I was intrigued from start to finish. Especially because the book is insanely atmospheric. The author does an amazing job painting the picture of the magical school, of the dorms, the sports fields, the entire scenery. It also does an amazing job introducing us to the students and their influence in the main character of the book.

And the main character I loved most of all. It doesn't happen that often that the main character of our stories is well into her thirties, having a job and just doing her work. It's clear that she cares a lot about her school, her students and what she's doing. And despite her character flaws, she's clearly not that great when it comes to personal communication, she's so easy to love because we spend all the time in her head and mind. As a thirty-something year old myself she was insanely relatable.

On top of that I loved the magic and lore. At times the explanations of the magic feel a little academic, but that totally fits the setting and the main character. So, after making it through the beginning of the book, where things could be slightly overwhelming, I really loved seeing the demons at work, starting to understand the magic, getting a feel for the risks and the danger. Although I understand this story is told, I would be happy if the author would write more stories with this lore!

Starting this off with a few disclosures. 1) I am an academic, I do research for a living, and I teach, and I adore it (mostly). 2) I am in my early 30’s and lord knows there are many more books with young FMCs than there are those closer in age and experience to where I am now in life. These two things said, this is the slice-of-life fantasy I have dreamed of.

This story is about Dr. Sapphire (Saffy) Walden, her beloved Chetwood Academy, and the students she cares for and educates over the years. Skilled at evocation, Saffy (Dr. Walden), serves as a professor and the director of the elite magical boarding school. She is brilliant, and blunt. As a 38-year-old woman, she knows what her life is and what the future will look like. She is content, maybe. The school’s safety balances delicately on a system of wards and protections both new and hundreds of years old. As Saffy’s past decisions haunt the present, she must maintain control of her school, her lessons, and herself lest the balance tip and doom them all to the demonic realm lurking below.

After reading, I saw a pitch of this book as “A Deadly Education meets Rivers of London,” and I wholly agree. I have not read Tesh’s other work, but will be adding them to my list after The Incandescent. This story reminds us that the daily minutiae matter, and that there is beauty in the mundanity. However, it was also wonderfully moody, reflective, and a breath of fresh air for the genre. I can’t promise everyone who reads this will love it. I did, and am excited to delve into Tesh’s other work (and a reread of The Incandescent).

Happy release day to this brilliant book! Out now in both the US and UK. And thank you to @emilytesh and @orbitbooks_uk for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy - it's taken me days to write this review, because the book left me reeling with thoughts and needed a while to wrap my mind around them.

The Incandescent is a richly layered story that blends the reality of modern teaching life with dark academia and demon lore. Set in a magical school outside of London, it follows a passionate but overwhelmed teacher navigating the pressures of education, personal demons (both literal and metaphorical!) and a past that keeps seeping into her present. As tensions rise inside and outside the classroom, the boundaries between reality, magic, and memory begin to blur.

The first thing that stood out to me was how incredibly true-to-life the depiction of teaching in England felt. Having trained there myself, I was amazed at how accurately it captured everything, down to the absurdly relatable moment of the photocopier going on strike (luckily without an imp haunting it, in real life haha). The protagonist felt so real and tangible: flawed, yet self-aware, deeply committed to her students and her job, and facing struggles that felt so relatable. She lives her teacher persona, Dr Walden, as a shield even in her limited non-work-related life and we see her try to break down hat wall throughout the story, attempting to be "just Saffy". Her slow-burn romance with Laura was beautifully done - tentative, and ultimately so sweet. I especially loved the passionate little group of students that rallied around Dr Walden - they added such warmth and fire to the story. The school setting, threaded with demon mythology and a rich history, created a darkly magical atmosphere that kept pulling me in. And it loved that we got to experience it, and the story, fromt he perspective of the teacher rather than the student, which is what happens most often!The writing was thoughtful and introspective, and still has me thinking about parts of the book over and over.

If anything, I found myself wanting a little more resolution. Some of the bigger confrontations or showdowns seemed to be pulled away just as they reached their climax, and I was left with questions I hoped would be wrapped up more clearly. Still, that unfinished quality almost felt intentional, like the story was meant to haunt you a bit after the final page. Well and truly a memorable and thought-provoking read.

I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys dark-academia and urban fantasy, as well as demons and demon-hunting with a twist!

Just found a new favorite fantasy!!!!

I DNF-ed Emily Tesh's Some Desperate Glory previously so I was hesitant to request for this one at first. But the synopsis completely drew me in and I was really excited to start it. And oh my god, I'm so glad I decided to take a leap and request for this.

My main issue with Some Desperate Glory before was the over telling but not showing and the main character, but I did not find those issues in The Incandescent at all. I do think there was still some of the telling but not showing though, but in the grand scheme of this book, I think it was necessary and even fitting for the concept of this book.

Fantasy books about magic schools are common - they're not anything new. But it was the execution of The Incandescent that makes this concept a little fresher and more unique. Instead of the focus being on the students of the magic school, we follow the teacher instead - Saffy or Dr. Walden. I would say one of my favorite thing about reading this was that we get this point of view of someone being a teacher, on how they try to educate the students. Teachers are human after all, so it was really great that we get to follow this perspective more and seeing the love Saffy has for her job and her passion. However, that's not to say the students weren't interesting. I loved the little group and their love for what Saffy teaches. It's fun because they still act like teenagers, and yet it's also really wonderful to see them respect Saffy. I just lovedd their little student-teacher dynamic.

I also loved the romance down to the awkwardness of it??? Saying this very affectionately but I loved how awkward Saffy is in this aspect.

Set in a magical school we follow Walden, Walden is not a student, she’s the 38 year old director of magic. We follow her life as a top-notch teacher, securing the school from demons & a falling into a romance.

The setting is almost exclusively at the school, it’s heavy academic. Personally I’m not always the biggest fan of academic books but I absolutely loved this. Carried by the delightful Walden.

The character work is what stands out for me, the characters each have distinct personalities, they’re quirky, and are filled with humour.
Throughout the book I had a strange feeling that I knew Walden from my school years and felt like I was being privy into the life of someone I knew 😳, that’s to say that it felt like having someone familiar tell you their story and you’re admiring everything about them.

I enjoyed the plot, it had some low moments where i wasn’t as interested, though it also had plenty of great moments.
Dark plot at times, demon attacks, possession, and threats.
Lots of small funny moments throughout, possessed printer, girls summoning a demon to inhale smoke so they can sneakily vape, and a possessed bus.

I really appreciate reading about real adult characters. The book overall has a somewhat cozy vibe to it, though i wouldn’t count it as a cozy read as there are high stakes.

4 ⭐

Magic school! Heavy emphasis on the school part. I recently discovered that Emily Tesh is a teacher and it really shows here, because what we get in this book is an incredibly detailed exploration of the concept “what if there was magic and demons and someone had to teach an A-level in it?” I loved it.

NetGalley and the publisher provided a copy for review, but I also bought it because come on.

I really really enjoyed this one!

Adult contemporary fantasy following the director of magic at a magic school in England - this was right up my street.

It was really refreshing to follow a 38 year old protagonist, and I loved sinking back into the world of British education - it’s obvious Emily Tesh grew up in the UK and went through the system themselves, she did a fantastic job of making Magic seem like an effortless part of the curriculum and school system.

I liked our main character Saffy or Dr Walden, her motivations and her gripes. I did struggle to connect with other characters and the plot was a little easy to see coming, which is what dropped a star for me, but it was still a really enjoyable ride.

I will be honest in that i think this book is well written and the world-building is immersive. The story for myself is is slow pased and I bit info-dumpy at times. I has currently stopped reading the book without finishing it, only because of my personal read habits. I am a mood reader and this type of story is not something that is my current fixation. BUT from what I've read so far is a cozy, heavily academic slow burn kind of read. The demographic of readers who are looking for that type of story will not be disappointed. I will personally be picking this back up whenever I feel the need for this type of book, which I do have and will be happy to give my full range of thoughts at that time. However for now this has been a good to great read like 3.75

Actual Rating: 3.5

Any hint of an adult approach to the concept of magic schools and as a major fan of the fantasy genre I’m naturally going to be intrigued. With the added bonus of demons thrown into the mix here ’The Incandescent’ was a natural ‘must read’ for me and on the whole I was highly impressed. Admittedly it wasn’t quite the new favourite that I was hoping for but it was an inventive and engaging read throughout that left me wanting more.

Before anything else I feel like I should stress the fact that this is an adult, academic approach to the concept of magic schools – told through the point of view of a member of staff. This isn’t a tale of someone finding out magic exists and getting swept away in the wonder of it all; this is the intrigue of the supernatural – with all its potential and dangers – woven into the realities of life as a teacher at a classy boarding school. Its paperwork and meetings with magical ward maintenance on top. It’s magic has a more academical feel to it too – no wand waving involved – and I will admit that parts of it went a little bit over my head. It’s exactly the story that the blurb promises you so I’m not faulting it for that; I just want to make clear that it truly does focus on what it highlights within its premise and comes at you with a truly unique tone when it comes to this kind of tale.

Whilst reading ’The Incandescent’ Walden’s voice struck me as feeling incredibly realistic throughout. In all honesty I found myself wondering if the author had teaching experience and based on the acknowledgments I’m guessing the answer is yes. The tone is spot on for this kind of narrative and fully immerses you within its characters mind.

The other thing that really struck me whilst reading ’The Incandescent’ was how marvellously creative the world that its set within was. In many ways it’s our very own world but with demons and magic woven within. Ever wondered how demons and technology would interact? Here you get your answer alongside some oddly intriguing imps which were somewhat of a highlight for me. This novel’s take on ghosts, emotional echoes and other similar topics left me longing to uncover more. It was a world that I couldn’t help but find myself fascinated with.

Character wise there are some interesting individuals to meet and everybody felt believably fleshed out. Although I will admit that no one blew me away with that ‘new favourite’ feeling that you sometimes come across. Romance wise I felt similarly overall too; I liked it well enough but it didn’t get under my skin in that ‘oh my gosh I must gush about these two together’ way.

Towards the end there’s a very noticeable shift in tone and that’s what made me feel compelled to drop this to a 3.5 rating. For some readers maybe – hopefully – this will work but honestly it threw me. Even once I knew what was going on I simply couldn’t seem to get into these particular chapters in the same way which is a shame as there’s a dynamic at play that generally tends to intrigue me. Plus I personally felt like some details were skimmed over a little surrounding this time. Several things happen but I don’t feel like you ever get a true level of depth to the various how’s of it all. Or even an exact ‘what’ in one case’. The story ultimately ended in a place that I was happy with yet it felt slightly rushed to get there.

So overall I’d recommend checking ’The Incandescent’ out, although please do take its more academical approach into account. Its a tone and vibe that I can see some readers falling for but it’s also one that I know may not be for everyone. Personally I struggled with one segment of it, towards the end, but I don’t necessarily think this would be the same case for everyone; although I will say I wouldn’t be surprised if other readers also came away craving a bit more clarity surrounding certain answers. Yet ultimately this is an intriguing tale with a distinctive voice and many ideas that left me longing to know more about its world. This wasn’t a new favourite for me but it was still highly enjoyable, besides one small section.