I really enjoyed this book, and it may become of of my top books of 2025.

Adult women are so rarely featured in fantasy. They tend to fade into the background. This book did a great job of representing an under represented demographic, and I ate it up.

I listened to the audiobook, and I loved it. The vibes were immaculate, but I am looking forward to buying a print copy! Both to keep on my shelf, and to reread the bits I loved!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ALC.

Dark academia isn't normally my cup of tea but this was so good!! I liked the slower pace and the way that the story just flowed. I enjoyed Saphire as a character and found her interactions with her students and the other staff to feel genuine and enduring. I did have to get myself to stop giggling every time Old Faithful's name was brought up but that's a me problem and after a while I got used to it in relation to a demon and not the place that I visit every fall. The second half of the book was a bit predictable at times but I really don't feel that it took away from the overall enjoyment of the book. This is one I will definitely go back for a re read at some point.

The Incandescent
By Emily Tesh
Narrated by Zara Ramm
4 ⭐️

I’m 10/10 in love with the concept of this book. A 38 year old, academic professor to her core, suddenly finds herself dipping her toes into dating for the first time in a decade or so, straddling the line of what it means to be 40 professionally and personally, and balancing her confidence in her intellect with her social insecurities. I am here allll day for this. Overall, I had a good time with this book. The first third of it kind of meanders around building what it means to be a professor and student at this prestigious magician boarding school. The middle third is where the romance entanglements come to play. And, the third is where most of the main plot lives. For anyone who adores dark academia, go in with tempered expectations. I’d call this “academia goes awry” more than dark academia myself. Still a worthwhile read but likely won’t end up being what you’re thinking of when you see the description. The audiobook was a solid listen. I thought Ramm did great. They kept me in the story throughout.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Emily Tesh, and Macmillan audio for this audiobook ARC.

This book had incredible writing. Emily Tesh is very talented at writing atmospheric books where you feel immersed in the setting and story. I also loved the narration and found it fit with Tesh's writing style exceptionally well.

I enjoyed this a lot, though it is most definitely not a “sapphic dark academia fantasy” as described.

The romantic subplot isn’t a big driver of the narrative, which was fine by me as I’m not a fan of Romance, but something to know depending on why you might be interested in the book.

It’s also more Light Academia than Dark, despite the demons figuring centrally to the story. I wish this had been labeled more accurately by its publisher, but the product is still a good one.

What I really loved about this is the tone, sharp and a bit flippant, very academic and consistent with the setting. This is a well-rendered campus novel of sorts. A fantastical campus to be sure, but one that I think will resonate with readers who love the setting and atmosphere of a school and the academic tone and content that goes with it.

The story also has a solidly imagined and written magical system, and I loved the magi-academic discussions of it between the characters.

Amazing. 5/5 Stars. I loved the atmosphere of this book, and the characters. The characters were so likable even though they were flawed, which was so nice to see. I think the romance had an amazing pace and felt so right for the way those two were portrayed and I was rooting for them the whole book. I loved how it switched perspective when it came to the phoenix, it felt like such a creative way to show that it wasn’t our regular main character, but like it was pretending to be. I didn’t want to stop reading.

Review: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

The Incandescent is a thoughtful, introspective dark academia fantasy that turns its gaze not on the students of a magical school, but on the faculty. At its center is Doctor Walden, a brilliant and flawed professor whose internal monologue forms the beating heart of the novel. Tesh builds a magic system that is rich and detailed, yet wisely refrains from letting world-building overshadow character work.

I loved how much of the story lives in Doctor Walden's mind. Her reflections-on teaching, duty, loneliness, and aging-give the book a philosophical weight that lingers long after the last page. Tesh writes with what feels like lived experience when it comes to the complexities of teaching, particularly the emotional labor involved. There's a sense that Tesh knows what it's like to be responsible for young people's growth while being quietly unraveled by your own unspoken griefs.

Doctor Walden is not always the most likable, but she is compelling. We see her pride, her fatigue, her fierce protectiveness of her students, and her slow, vulnerable attempts at connection. The narrative doesn't ask us to forgive her flaws; it just lets us see them clearly, and from that clarity, empathy follows.

This is a rich, memorable read. I’d recommend The Incandescent to anyone who enjoys a magical school setting but is more interested in the inner lives of the adults than the escapades of students.

Thank you to Net Galley, Tor Books, and the author for providing me with this ARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

While I'm not a posh bi Director of Magic and teacher of advanced Invocation at an English boarding school, I am a high school teacher and so many moments in Dr. Walden's thoughts in The Incandescent resonated with me and made me laugh. Imps don't possess my students' cell phones but the phones are still a nuisance! Students' education and safety are our top priorities. They sometimes remember us, but yes, so often they mostly forget us. And whether it's magic or math, formal observations go neatly into a professional development folder and are never referred to again.

Being Director of Magic at Chetwood School, of course, means Dr. Walden has many administrative responsibilities beyond meeting with new teachers and preparing students for exams. She's responsible for the school's magical wards and precautions that protect Chetwood's students from demonic incursions and possessions -- demons love technology and the wild magic that teens are brimming with. She's a great magician and great at her job, but as someone who works with teenagers knows, teenagers will always try to find a way around the rules. As the threat of demonic incursions rises, Dr. Walden must come to terms with her own shortcomings.

Zara Ramm was a great narrator, bringing to life Dr. Walden's dry British humor and view on the world. I was immediately hooked by The Incandescent, and it did not disappoint throughout.

There were genuinely moments in this where I thought it could be a new favourite. I love the system with the demons, I love the introspection of a clever person who got into academia and teaching because they truly love the kids and what they're doing and is constantly striving for the very best for their students all while taking an active role in their decision-making and not becoming complacent with how things are.

Unfortunately I think that's where my praises end. I found the ultimate directions and conclusions to sap my interest and investment, the characters and their relationships to simplify, the world-building to lessen, the narration to spell things out too much (often making me question how much this falls into YA prose and nuance).

The queer rep was good. Phoenix on the cover was kinda neat.

Thank you Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for the ARC!

Have you read the Incandescent by Emily Tesh? If not, and you're a fan of dark academia, then you're missing out!

If you have been longing for a book that has a magic school setting, a really cool bisexual headmaster, demons, snarky teenagers, and people making choices that have long-term consequences, then this is the book for you!

This book is an actual critique of academia and the system, how it is racist, classists, and corrupt. It shows how it puts too much on teachers, lacks support for students, and is designed to keep people out. Throughout this book we get to see the FMC actual struggle with the systems within the academia system and try to support her students while dealing with that. I loved how it was a love letter to those who love dark academia while being a critique of the system itself.

In addition, the magic system was so cool, the characters were complex and mostly lovable, and we got to see the everyday decisions of the FMC. I mean yeah, she had to battle demons but she also has paperwork and lesson plans to write.

Seriously, y'all gotta check this one out.

Thank you Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for the ARC! Copy of the book photographed here is the Goldsboro edition, bought with my own money.


Ahh, this was such a breath of fresh air.

The book was enjoyable loved reading about a bisexual character in her 30’s the ending was a bit of a letdown but hopefully there will be another book to finish the love story.

A light, breezy novel about a teacher who genuinely cares about her aspiring wizards. Yes, it's a magical school novel--from the point of view of a teacher! But more interesting than the demon bound in the basement or the arcane lesson plans is how she much she cares. Getting through to troubled students, whether they're struggling with affording the school or being part of a demonic conspiracy, is difficult to navigate. Her way of thinking about them and appealing to them is the real magic here.

4.5/5
I love the idea of a dark academia that centers around teachers rather than students as I'm old enough that I can relate more easily with teachers. Walden is the director of magic at a prestigious old boarding school. Her main job is to keep the school's many demons in check. This becomes trickier than usual when she is unexpectedly tempted by a possible workplace romance and her star pupil is threatening to give up on her studies. The vibes of this book are perfect and Zara Ramm is an engaging narrator. Definitely recommend the audio!

The Incandescent is a unique dark academia following a teacher instead of the student. Getting this unique perspective allows for new levels of academic critique not often seen in the genre. Not to mention getting a satisfying sapphic romance. Some parts of this are the slow, daily academic life, and other parts are fast paced demon fighting. Overall, it's a very enjoyable read, and the audiobook is a great way to read it. It's a satisfying stand alone that doesn't sacrifice any world building elements or character growth. I'll look forward to what Tesh writes next.

A fantasy book surrounding an educated, well meaning adult was such a great change of pace! This story was well told but I also love the layers we could peel back to discuss how this character matured as a response to her early traumas and the lack of dealing with her emotions and guilt. She is a perfectly flawed human that is relatable and I loved reading her story!
Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to arc read.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for this ARC of The Incandescent by Emily Tesh! It was such a lovely world built through the characters’ dialogue and personalities. Following Dr. Walden around the school and the area was such a joy—the dark academic setting combined with sapphic millenial characters made for a silly and hopeful read. I listened to the book whenever I could outside of work because it was so exciting to me to figure out what the demons, phoenix, Mark, and the Sixth Formers would do. I could feel the delight in Walden’s characterization and growth throughout the novel as Nikki made mistakes and succeeded. I love when a writer pays attention to the things like the nuances of school rivalries all the way to the challenges of diverse peoples. I’m so glad I listened to this and look forward to seeing what else Tesh comes up with in the future!

4.5 stars. This book did something incredibly good to my brain.

Emily Tesh's newest novel is like the magic school version of that House M.D. episode that follows Cuddy around all day. I absolutely loved it. And in order for you to love it too, you have to go into it knowing that this one's not about the kids at the school. There are a million books about the kids; and this book should not be faulted for not being about the kids. This is Saffy's story: an overworked and underloved, 38-year-old magic instructor whose best intentions and human-natured shortcomings start to allow things to escape through the cracks, risking the lives and reputations of everyone at her institution.

Tesh sold this world to me from page one, and as a result, here's my inevitable bemoan about how I wish it had been a little longer. But in all honesty, though, I can only dock it half a star for this, because I absolutely see the point of all the narrative choices made here. We only know what Saffy knows and when she knows it. Certain people drop in and out of the story, just as they drop in and out of her life. A teacher doesn't get to follow every thread in the life of a student. As I said before, this is Saffy's story.

Additionally, this book absolutely does not talk down to its readers, nor does it coddle them. Overall, I found this book to be an incredibly strong and fresh fantasy novel that does not walk the line between adult fiction and young adult fiction, like many books (both some I like and dislike) do. The writing style was perfectly adult and clever while not trying too hard to be overly flowery-- thus fitting Saffy perfectly. Personally, I adore a well-told single, third-person narrative. (Okay, okay. Yes, there is some second-person in here, as a treat, but Tesh pulled that off too.) This book just knows what it is, and I ate it up. I really can't recommend this one highly enough.

p.s. this book also did some much-needed rewiring of my brain when it came to books about magic schools. as a millennial, the-series-that-must-not-be-named had such a subconscious chokehold on me for so long, that i'd avoided books about the topic for much of my adult life. but now that that ship has sunk--history will not prove to be on the side of terfs, end of story--i found this book's magic system utterly charming and well-thought-out.

I finally finished the Incandescent by Emily Tesh!

So I had put it down at about 35ish% because it felt rather like an end to that narrative section. I wasn’t expecting the a climactic battle to happen early in the story and it threw me, so I stopped reading for a bit… and promptly forgot about it until I realised it was publishing day 😬

Anyway- my thoughts:

The book focussed on the mundanity of academic life and teaching, how it feels to be an aging millennial working with young people. I both loved and hated it at the same time. Love because it felt so real, but hated because it was too real, despite the obvious inclusion of magic and demons.

As mentioned above, it felt disjointed at about the 1/3 point. As an avid reader my mind is accustomed to a narrative structure that builds both character and plot steadily towards a sudden climax before a brief resolution at the end. I’m not used to a sudden explosion of action midway through a book.

That said, when getting back to reading the exploration of the Phoenix and the tension there was very interesting, but I wish they tied it more closely to the school discussions about humanity and personhood and demons from the beginning.

I felt like Mark was unnecessary. As much as he brought to the plot and triggered certain events, I could just as happily read a story with him left out entirely. I feel like it would have made me like Saffie more.

Finally- the message from the 6th formers at the end really brought the book back around to its grounding in everyday academia despite all that occurred. It was well done.

The Incandescent is described as a sapphic, dark academia that depicts the story of a school teacher trying to teach young magicians and navigate the demonic presence, I saw all of this lacking and a lot of "filler."

Overall, the major points of its advertisement come true, Dr. Walden is the director of a magical boarding school in England, which faces many demonic incursions. Throuhgout the novel, Dr. Walden, and students alike struggle with their magical abilites and their interpersonal relationships with those closest (emotionally and physically) to them.

I am a HUGE fan of dark academia, it is hoenstly one of my favorite subgenres of fantasy novels, however, I felt this one in particular to be lacking the "dark" element. Yes there "evil" magicians, and yes demons were causing incursions throughout the the campus and interfering with students and staff, but the story never felt "dark." The Incandescent always felt hopeful, and I never thought there was any real danger lurking.

In terms of the queer or sapphic depiction on this novel, yes Dr. Walden, our main character, is bisexual and she has relations in the book with both men and women, that is not the whole point of the story (although I'm not sure what is). Just because a story has a non-straight main character, or features relationships between couples of the same sex, I don't believe it is particularly a "queer book" (however, I know some may--and that's okay!).

Overall, the book was okay. It did what it said it would, but nothing stood out. The writing was alright, however I found myself getting bored many times, and the different parts of the book felt like different books, ununified and lacking a clear goal.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audio ARC!

4.5/5 stars

WOW! This was exactly what I WANTED Deadly Education to be - it was dark and ominous but not whiny or ridiculous. I think part of it was the more mature main characters - I really enjoyed Warden's POV as well as the setting and the plot. And the shift in POV at the end....it took me a second to catch on but it was really well done once my brain caught on. It was just a very well put together dark academia with a mature adult as the lead, which in my experience is not common in this genre.

I highly recommend this for anyone that enjoys dark academia and fantasy!