The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner
In The Incorruptibles, the world is ruled by a sorcerous elite, who keep the rest of the populace under their thumbs. The only people who stand against them? The Incorruptibles, a rebel organization—divided into cells—who aren’t willing to support the tyranny that keeps everyone down. Lauren Magaziner blends this dystopian idea with the magic school genre, making this a fantastic upper-middle-grade fantasy novel that will appeal beyond its target audience.

Main character Fiora is the niece of a respected tailor. Both of them hate sorcerers, but when Fiora decides her uncle has secretly been working for them—including the very worst, high powered sorcerers in the world, the Radiance—Fiora’s own attempts to defend their family lead to her being taken to Incorruptibles Academy, where she can learn to become the kind of fighter the rebellion needs to finally free themselves from their oppressors. But there’s trouble on the home front. Inc Academy has been infiltrated, and unless Fiora can find the spy, she and all the other Incorruptibles are all at risk.

With the mystery broiling under the school setting, an underground rebellion, and young heroes learning to fight against their common foe, this novel hits a lot of nostalgia vibes from early 2000s hot middle grade and YA titles, but also introduces a wonderfully diverse, queer cast—and sets up a brilliant shift in status quo that will raise the stakes for the rest of the series. Watch for this one to hit bookstore shelves in June 2025.

The Incorruptibles is electrifying! The expert way Lauren Magaziner spins a story set in an alternate version of our world while making everything feel both familiar and unsettling is mind-blowing. I stayed up far too late to finish reading this book but it was so worth it. Kids are going to love this story and will probably also stay up too late at night, following every beautifully crafted sentence to understand how this new and terrifying world order came to be-and to learn how magic has been used to hurt others, rather than help them. The themes surrounding abuses of power and how power is often used to oppress rather than uplift is so very needed, especially now.

Fiora is such a fabulous hero and I would go to the ends of the world to protect her and her crew. As the story progresses and we learn more of the supporting characters' backstories, I was moved to tears. The slow reveal of all the trauma and pain the kids have all lived through and how those traumas have impacted their relationships and reactions to others is beautifully done. I wanted to give them all the biggest hug by the end. I can't wait for book 2!

Students will get wrapped up in the world of the Incorruptibles, cheering for Fiora and her teammates from each of the Inc Squads and will be on the edge of their seats waiting for the next book of the series. What makes this series different from others? For one, the "good" guys are not magical -- they are regular humans fighting back against the evil sorcerers using magic. For another, the Inc Academy (and the world these non-magical friends exist in) is all-inclusive and supportive of one another while maintaining their individuality.
Lauren writes engaging characters that readers are drawn to from the beginning of the book; she keeps readers on the edge of their seats with exciting and suspenseful events throughout the text. A wonderful story for third grade and up!

After seeing all the buzz on social media I knew I wanted to read this. I was excited to see it on NetGalley. Simon and Schuster sent me a digital ARC and I devoured the book in less than 24 hours.
This middle grade magic society book is delightful. Fiora is full of pluck. She stands up for what is right and loves fiercely. The only way for Fiora to escape from evil sorcerers attention is to head to a secret school to be an Incorruptible agent.
Loved the tech, the relationships between students and the magic system. A fun read for those looking to branch out from older wizard books.

The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner is an upper middle-grade fantasy novel set in a future where powerful sorcerers rule over ordinary humans. The story follows Fiora Barrowling, a tailor’s apprentice who unexpectedly finds herself at Inc Academy, a secret school training resistance fighters to stand against sorcerer tyranny.
Fiora’s world is one of oppression, where sorcerers wield unchecked power, and ordinary people live under their rule. After a dangerous encounter with The Radiance, the most feared group of sorcerers, Fiora is whisked away to Inc Academy. However, her arrival is met with skepticism—many students believe she hasn’t earned her place there. As she struggles to prove herself, tensions rise when suspicions emerge about a possible spy within the academy. Fiora must navigate friendships, rivalries, and intense training while uncovering secrets that could change everything.
The novel blends fast-paced action, immersive world-building, and diverse characters, making it an exciting start to a new series. Fiora’s journey is one of self-discovery, resilience, and learning to trust herself and others in the face of adversity. The book also explores themes of resistance, identity, and the fight for justice in a world where power is dangerously imbalanced.

This perfect tween summer read tells the thrilling tale of a girl who must decide between a quiet life and joining a resistance movement to free the world of evil sorcerers. Fiora is an apprentice tailor in her uncle's shop after losing her parents to a sorcerer attack when she meets an Incorruptible, a member of the underground tech force working to protect humans from bad magic. In standing up to sorcerers, Fiora uses an Incorruptible weapon against them and becomes one of their targets. Now she has to decide: retreat into a safe town with her uncle or join the fight by becoming an Incorruptible herself. Thrilling action, found family, lots of friendship drama follow as the students must overcome trust and interpersonal issues to form a true team that can defeat the big bad. Kids are going to absolutely adore this wild ride, picking which squad they would join, and deciding on their favorite tech. I can't wait for the next book!!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

The Incorruptibles by Lauren Magaziner is a third person-POV Middle Grade fantasy. Fiora’s world is run by sorcerer’s who abuse their power. When two of them harass her uncle over a cloak, Fiora fights back and ends up on the radar of the academy for Incorruptibles, students training to take the sorcerer’s down. But there’s a spy at the academy and several signs seem to point to Fiora herself.

The worldbuilding subverts the common trope of witches/sorcerers/mages being the oppressed and regular humans being the oppressors. This is not actually a secondary world fantasy—it’s set in our world in a future where humans figured out how to gain access to magic and the technology we have seems to have mostly fallen by the wayside. There are also modern topics being discussed, such as all fiction being labelled ‘Smut’ and the general populace is not allowed access to it. A lot of kids are a lot more plugged in these days to politics than we think they are, so some young readers might be very familiar with these topics due to what is happening in their own districts or in conversations around them.

Fiora has a budding potential Sapphic romance with Mel, a young girl who is determined to be the very best of the best of the Incorruptibles and take all the sorcerers down. Mel isn’t willing to wait and is a bit arrogant, but given what we learn of how corrupt the sorcerers are, it makes sense that she wants to get going right now. Fiora is more earnest in at least being on good terms with Mel and is more agreeable, though the tension is certainly there at times. This is more in the rivals-to-lovers camp if it does eventually evolve into a romance, though that isn’t one hundred percent clear quite yet. Given the normalization of Queer relationships in the text, the focus on the growth of their relationship, and how they do start out as rivals, I am inclined to believe it is highly possible.

I think a lot of readers of any age who are interested in topics of justice and wealth disparity will find a lot of parallels in this books and educators will be able to open up discussions about these topics in the classroom. The sorcerers having magic and then taking more and more, including displacing people from their homes, is a very clear allegory for what we’ve seen with the wealthy buying up so much property in some areas only to put them up on AirBnB that locals can no longer afford to live there.

I would recommend this to readers who love fantasy with strong social justice themes and readers of magic school books who want a twist on classic tropes