I loved how messy this story was, with still maintaining relatable characters and a solid plot. A lot of fun!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC Audio Copy!

This was such a joy to read. I am a huge fan of dark academia books and was really excited to finally have one from the POV of the professor instead of the student. I also really enjoyed the character growth that we saw throughout the book. I loved the romance even though it was such a minor portion of the actual story, but it really brought a lot of characters personality out. I hope that we can someday have more in this world.

Really enjoyed this! It's a slow-building plot, but I never mind that when the characters and situation are compelling enough. As someone who's long wanted someone to do "magical school, but from the teacher's perspective", this was a delight. As someone who works with kids, it was far too easy to empathize with Walden. So many of her thoughts could've come right out of my own head! You can tell this was written by a teacher -- there's the expected aggravation with schoolkid behavior, but also the affection and worry and amusement that go well beyond the stereotyped portrayals of teachers in most media. Tesh also hits on a particular emotional chord of being in your late 30s, on the threshold of middle age, when the kids make you think of your own life and how ridiculous you were -- but with affection, not with cringe, because being a bit ridiculous is just part of being that age, and a necessary part, too. On the whole, I really enjoyed the reflective tone of the book.

Audiobook narration is excellent, pleasant to listen to.

Am I in love with Dr. Walden? Maybe so.

We follow our protagonist, Dr. Saffy Walden, who is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy. She is a talented Magician in the field of Invocation, or conjuring demons, and teaches an A-level course in the subject to four talented students. Demonic incursions happen rarely, despite the excess of wild magic that is produced at the school, but Dr. Walden may be in for a difficult year.

I was sold at the idea of a classic magic school fantasy setup from the teacher perspective, but said teacher being a powerful, bisexual woman sealed the deal. Finding out that she is a well-written, three-dimensional, likeable character is the cherry on top. The world-building in this novel is wonderful, from the imps that possess every day technology to the spell work that Dr. Walden has tattooed on her arms. In addition, the narrator for this audiobook was absolutely perfect. I loved every second of this and highly recommend it for other Fantasy readers.

I may have screamed when I first read the summary for this book and this is one of my most anticipated reads of the spring. I love that we get a magical private school novel but from the POV of the adults who are trying to keep all of these children safe and sound. Really, though there is an inciting incident that moves a lot of the plot forward, this focuses heavily on one of the teachers here, and why she chose to come back, and as the book goes on, her own blind spots, and how that can be taken advantage of. I'm not going to spoil you for how this turns out because there's some really good twists and turns here, but you can tell that someone who has thought a lot about all the magical academy books that have come out of the last few decades. The audiobook here is also astounding in the best kind of way, as they managed to get a narrator who I can absolutely imagine as our main character, and does a very good job with the twists that come later in the book. Absolutely pick this up.

I've never read a dark academia book from a teachers perspective and I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. It's a unique take on an old format of a magical school. I liked following the teachers and I've already recommended this to some friends who are educators. Also, I enjoyed the sapphic romance!

Also, the narrator did a great job with this. I mainly listened to the audiobook and it made the reading experience better.

Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for this ALC!

Five stars, I adored this book. The Incandescent, by Emily Tesh, follows the director of a private magic academy. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys magic and dark academia, but also to anyone who wants a peek into the world of teaching, and to teachers themselves. The Magical School subgenre tends to focus a lot on the students, and it was refreshing to have one centered around the teacher. I also liked how the book covered identity, and being different roles. The audiobook is narrated by Zara Ramm, who is now a new favourite of mine. Thank you NetGelley for the ARC.

If you work at a magical boarding school, preventing demonic incursions is just part of the job, and Doctor Walden is extremely good at her job, despite her own past experience with demonic incursions.

I loved this book. I thought the perspective of a magical school from a teacher was incredible. I also loved the magic system within the book and the way it intertwined with everything. There were times with it was very action packed, with a slower more suspenseful section in the middle, but I loved the direction the book went in.

To keep things short and sweet, there wasn’t anything inherently wrong with this book. I just found myself pretty bored around halfway through and didn’t really care about the characters. Perhaps it was because there was a lot of world building through straightforward explanations.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian publishers for allowing me to listen to this as an AUDIO ARC. I think the narrator did a great job. This was a academia based in England with a touch of sapphic from the perspective of the director of magic story line. There is a touch of humor, but not heavily entwined. I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book like this coming from the perspective of a teacher vs a student. As a millennial, it was fun to read from the perspective of a 30 something year old. I found myself most engaged and interested in the events where there were dealings with demons and there was action. At times this book did feel like I was sitting in a lecture room learning about magic. From my understanding it was supposed to be sapphic, but I didn’t find much romance focused on that relationship. Saffy was a neutral character for me. Overall, it felt educational vs fictional – I was a student in this book which was an interesting experience! 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this magical academic story. I found this story from the perspective of a teacher in her 30s to be refreshing. Walden is an engaging, well-drawn character. This story is slower paced and moves throughout the school year with several moments of high drama. I found the atmosphere extremely evocative, as Emily Tesh has created a magical world that feels much like our real, mundane world. I also found Walden's character arc very interesting. This story offers some interesting commentary on class structures, particularly in the British system. Zara Ramm was a wonderful narrator, and the audiobook was an excellent way to enjoy the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for providing an eALC in return for my honest thoughts.

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh is the dark academia novel I didn’t know I was waiting for. Not because it’s dripping in shadows and secrets (though it is), but because it hands the narrative reins to someone we rarely hear from in these magical school stories: the adult in the room.

Dr. Walden, Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy, is not your usual brooding, brilliant student protagonist. She’s a mid-thirties academic, painfully competent, quietly awkward, and methodically unraveling magical disasters like it’s her job—because it is. And for once in fantasy, it’s not the teen heroes saving the day while the professors conveniently vanish into plot holes. Walden shows up, and watching her navigate bureaucracy, demonic incursions, and her own emotional landscape is weirdly riveting.

This book has the bones of classic fantasy—demons, secret knowledge, arcane history—but it’s clothed in something much more grounded. Think faculty meetings and spellwork, gothic buildings with bad plumbing, magical theory next to mundane course loads. It’s the kind of realism that makes the magic feel all the more earned.

Tesh brings an elegant, dry wit to her writing, and Walden’s perspective offers a refreshing, nuanced critique of academia from the inside. This isn’t your typical chosen-one story… it’s about power, responsibility, institutional rot, and the subtle emotional weight of being a woman in her late 30s trying to keep it all together. The fact that Walden is allowed to be messy, self-reflective, and not have it all figured out is a quiet act of rebellion against the usual tropes.

Narrator Zara Ramm is a perfect match for the character, her voice adds warmth and just enough edge to Walden’s inner monologue. It made the audiobook a joy to listen to and deepened the already richly textured prose.

In short: if you’ve ever rolled your eyes at magical schools where the teens outsmart every adult or if you’re simply craving a fantasy that feels like it grew up a little, The Incandescent is for you. Sharp, thoughtful, and grounded in the real-world logistics of running a magical institution, it’s easily one of the most original takes on the genre I’ve read.

I enjoyed this book very much. Though I was more into the day to day of managing a magical school, and the struggles that come with it. The parts that I didn’t quite enjoy involves a certain male character that is introduced like 30% into the book. I could see red flags coming for miles, and was just stumped the MC, with as smart as she is, did not notice once until it was too late. Other than that, maybe the story would have benefited from having a dual POV with one of the teenagers featured. Overall, I wish we had more time in this world, it was rich and the magic system was interesting. I wanted to study the relationship between the demons and the magical worlds a bit more. Kind of sad it is a stand alone.

It reminded me a bit of The Scholomance by Naomi Novik in that they both really put some thought into the world. Emily Tesh gets better with every book :)

I fell in love with the writing style as soon as the audiobook started. The descriptions and the narrative voice were captivating and I just could not put the book down. On my first listen I went through a whole third in one sitting!
I found the characterization of every character very strong, especially for a main character. She definitely felt like a real person and in fact reminded me of some of my favourite highschool professors. This book made me realize that I do not often read about mature MCs and this is a mistake that I will strive to correct immediately,
You can tell that Doctor Walden cares so much about her students and about the school as a whole, it is truly heartwarming. I really connected with her,
The audiobook was very high quality too. The narrator did a great job and the audiobook was very engaging.

ARC Review of The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

I read an ARC copy from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVED this book, I couldnt put it down, and that is not surprising because I also loved her other book Some Desperate Glory which is also 5 stars.
This book has everything, the atmosphere, the intrigue, the best main character and shes 38 which is almost my age and I loved that a lot instead of another teen or 20 something MC.
AND that twist at the end I should have seen coming but I didnt, Im going to tell everyone to read this. Where can I buy a beautiful special edition for my collection?
Also, the audiobook was fantastic, I just sank into it. 5 stars!

Absolutely hilarious. A must read for any teachers who love fantasy.

Those of us who always really wanted to teach at a magic school but just can’t find the right job listings may be reconsidering that desire after reading The Incandescent.
I strongly suspect Emily Tesh must be a teacher, because the accuracy of some of the jokes in here was just too fantastic! I laughed out loud multiple times, and have already leant it to a colleague at my school.

The characters were well rounded and wonderful, I really loved how Doctor Walden used her own life experiences to help her students, and her humour was absolutely perfect.
The world building was fun and fed well into the story, slowly unveiling itself as the plot developed, and what a plot it was. I loved the twists and turns as day to day life at the school devolved into disaster, and was totally gripped.

The narrator was flawless and really added to the story. I found myself drawn in by the way she portrayed Walden particularly and helped give life to this already vibrant character.

Overall, I absolutely loved The Incandescent and can’t wait to read more by Emily Tesh in the future!

The Incandescent was empowering, mystical and unique. Imagine Harry Potter but from the professor's POV. Set in a modern London, this magical surrealism novel takes you on a journey following a very powerful professor who is independent, self-aware and incredibly selfless. The audio narration is beautifully done and truthfully made the experience for me. I would recommend this to lovers of Blood Over Bright Haven.

I am DNF'ing this book 75% of the way through. The pacing was just off. The tension didn't stay consistent, and after the kids were saved in the first act, I felt like the whole book was done, and then I had to keep reading? Furthermore, this was billed to me as a sapphic romance, but 75% through, the love interest has barely appeared. I don't feel like I know her at all.

I really wanted to love this book, but it's just not working for me. I needed more consistency with the tension, and better development with the characters. I liked the premise, but it just fell flat.

The Incandescent is a truly unique fantasy novel. Even as it is magic focused, Tesh is able to capture the feeling of being a teacher and the feeling of surprising romance. Every character feels real, and, even as the setting a distinct departure from Tesh’s Greenhollow Duology, the yearning undertone of her writing is present and makes the work really shine.

Dark academia at its finest! I went back and forth from the physical book to the audiobook and it made for a great experience! I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter so this was very entertaining with a simple enough world-building element. I loved Dr. Walden and her no-nonsense mentality.