Thank you to NetGalley, Courtney Floyd, and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

This was such a good and interesting read. I loved the conversations about different types of disabilities and mobility aids. This story will hit harder if you or someone you know has a debilitating condition. I felt seen in this story. Not only because I have chronic illnesses, but also anxiety. It can feel isolating when you have any kind of illness, visible or not. Dorothe is such a relatable character who deals with anxiety and panic attacks. She doesn't want to be treated differently, but at the same time, the world is hard to navigate with her anxiety. I personally thought the representation of anxiety was well explored. There was even mention of queerness and disability, which is not talked about much. I would highly recommend this book! If you loved the slower-paced story like Emily Wilde, then you would enjoy this book. It is also an academic setting.

4.25/5

"Higher Magic" by Courtney Floyd is a book like I have not read before. It’s such a fun twist on dark academia. Basically, two magic students are trying to figure out why their classmates are disappearing, and it turns into this mix of mystery, magic, and biting commentary on academia.

The main character, Dorothe Bartleby (goes by Bartleby for most of the book), is a grad student dealing with panic attacks, unhelpful parents, and this terrifying qualifying exam she already failed once. To stay in school, she tries this tech-magic thing called Digimancy and accidentally makes a talking skull named Anne. Anne was supposed to narrate literature, but instead she starts narrating Dorothea’s life like she’s in a Jane Austen novel. And honestly? Anne is hilarious and a total scene-stealer.

But then Bartleby and her classmate James realize students who asked for disability accommodations are disappearing, and the school is covering it up. So she has to decide whether to keep her head down or risk everything by speaking up. “Sometimes keeping your head down is the same as looking the other way.”

It’s got haunted campus vibes, slow-burn romance, found family feels, and one of the most original magic systems I’ve seen. Plus, it really digs into anxiety, belonging, and the injustice and discrimination that can be seen within academia.

Themes/Tropes:
Accessibility
Disabilities
Dark academia
Magic
Found family
Imposter syndrome
LGBTQIAA+
Slow-burn romance

Content/Trigger Warning:
Ableism
Discrimination

Loves:
Accommodation Representation- As someone who works in a Learning Support Services office on a college campus who works daily with students that have accommodations, I was interested to see how these would be talked about. The accommodations and the process timeline were written and similar to what I see and work with. I could tell that the author did research and wanted to ensure it was as accurate as possible.

Diverse characters- Courtney does an amazing job of explaining who the characters are, pronouns, and disabilities in a respectful way. The characters were easy to tell apart throughout the story and she does an amazing job providing details to help you imagine the characters.

Struggles: These are just my opinions and could be based on when I was reading and outside distractions.
Vocabulary- In the first few chapters I struggled with some of the word choices. I did find myself having to look up certain words at times and it did take me out of the story a bit.

Magic Context- It also took me a bit to understand the magic program and the way the magic works together.

Thank you netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Courtney Floyd for allowing me access to the book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I want to break down my review in parts so that I don't miss anything and am also clear and concise: I enjoyed the world building around the school, it's rules and inhabitants. It felt well thought-out and interesting. I enjoyed the overall plot of the story and found the mystery of the missing students compelling. I felt that all of the supporting characters in the story were for the most part full fleshed out. But this brings me to one of the issues I had with the story (though not the biggest which I will be more in depth about shortly): I don't feel like we truly know Bartleby. We know of her imposter-syndrome, her panic attacks and...that's about it. We don't even learn much about her background or family until about 70% into the story. I would have like to know who she is as a person OUTSIDE of the anxiety and insecurities. She is a teacher who teaches her students that they have all been hexed into believing they can't do magic but doesn't seem to examine this idea within herself. I would have liked to see more of Bartleby as a teacher. The school term seems to fly by with only 2-3 moments of her in her own classroom.

As I stated above I really enjoyed the mystery and was happy once it felt like things were picking up. But that doesn't happen until around Chapter 14. The beginning of this story is far too slow. I felt the beginning to be a bit of a slog. And I think it would do well if things happened sooner and if we didn't spend so much time reading about Bartleby's panic attacks and anxiety. I think describing it once is fine but I don't think we need to hear every physical detail every time she gets nervous. It slows the story down. Not a whole lot happens in the beginning of the story with the glaring exception of Alse's disappearance which doesn't really get revisited until much later on.

Overall, I think this was a solid story. But I think tightening up the beginning would help and learning more about Bartleby's background sooner and with more detail (I feel like we learned more about James than we did her) would allow readers to empathize and understand her a bit more.

This book can fit into so many categories... fantasy, dark academia, romantasy. I couldn't put this book down I eat this book up.

This book was not for me but I think it will absolutely be for some people!
I was expecting a dark academia on the cozy side. It’s definitely dark academia with Bartleby the FMC, working on passing her grad level magic exam (I think) while also teaching her own class. The book tells the tale of her blundering journey of preparing for this exam. In the end I feel more dark academia with a side of mystery but no cozy to be felt.
There is very good representation in this book. Mental health and various disabilities are described. For me the tone of the book was a bit too on the nose: FMC has high anxiety and the tone of the book reflects that. For me it was uncomfortable. I don’t think this is a problem with the book, but a problem with the reader :)

Higher Magic by Courtney Floyd has an interesting concept and a clear love for the subject. The writing is approachable and easy to follow, which makes it a smooth read. Still, the middle drags and the magic system leans too much on explanation instead of showing. It’s enjoyable enough but not especially memorable. Worth picking up if you want a fresh angle on magical writing, just temper expectations.

3.65
This is an alright premise, but it feels like the magic system only turns up when there has to be a way to move the plot along as opposed to being, you know, part of the story. Also, the motivation for the actions of a certain group of characters is extremely thin and a bit...reductive?

** ARC Review **

This book can fit into so many categories... fantasy, dark academia, romantasy. It was even giving me cozy mystery vibes. It's a great book to curl up with a blanket and cup of something warm on a rainy day. Not to mention that I'm a big fan of a book that includes mentions of my favorite literature author.

Oh Bartleby.... YOU GO GIRL!! Bartleby is our heroine and she reminds me a lot of myself. She cares deeply about her work and her students. She's willing to go up against school administration to prove her point even when she knows the outcome could be detrimental to her future.

The magic system was a little hard to follow in the beginning. Once I finally grasped the purpose of the university and it's program it was much easier to follow. I really enjoyed Floyd's inclusion of students with disabilities and their need for accommodations in certain circumstances. Nobody should be discounted just because they need some extra help and Bartleby is a fierce advocate for them.

And Anne... where do I get one???

This was so well written and enjoyed the overall concept of this book, it uses the fantasy element and had that dark academia that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this world. The characters were everything that I was wanting and enjoyed the feel of this and using the overall magical elements in a unique way. Courtney Floyd has a strong writing style and glad I got to read this.

Dorothe Bartleby is a mage student trying to pass her Branch and Field Exam while being a teacher for a Spell Composition class.

A lot of the book deals with anxiety and issues that students deal with at college for accessibility.

The magic system is confusing and not explained. The book is slow in the beginning. I feel like there was more potential to get into digimancy and have more fun with it, but it felt stiff. I feel as if the author had a great concept about computer and magic, but the final product felt overthought. I love the entire concept of the book, but I just couldn't connect to it, as much as I wanted to.

Thank you Courtney, NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eArc.

This was such a great witchy academia fantasy read!

It has all the things I love:
- Great world building
- Unique magic system
- Relatable characters
- Humor
- Found family

The storytelling was wonderful and I really like how it touched on deeper messages like disability representation, burnout, self doubt, anxiety, all things that are very real and relatable! Overall I enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend this for a great fall or winter read 🍂

4.5 ⭐️

🖤Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!

This is an unfortunate case of it’s not me, it’s you: while I’m so fully on board with what the book sets out to do, and themes it examines - it’s so welcome to have disabilities be upfront when exploring marginalized communities in SFF, especially in academia setting that tends to lean towards glamorous romantic stories - I could not emotionally connect to the protagonist. I’ve had the same experience with a few other books with a pretty immersive inner monologue of a person struggling with mental health, in particular anxiety and panic attacks - and I’ve reliably bounced off them. So YMMV, I’m sure many would come to opposite conclusions and relate deeply, and I can respect that while also saying “it’s not you it’s me”.

Higher Magic
Courtney Floyd
2/5

Higher Magic follows Dorothe Bartleby - a graduate student working on obtaining mage status at her university. I wish I could tell you more about what this book was about but honestly I was so confused 90 percent of the time that I actually can't explain any further. I can tell you there is magic - but I don't understand how the magic system works. I can tell you there is a talking skull named Anne which makes some humorous narrations throughout the book - but I can't really explain why or how. I can tell you that there is some light closed door romance but it is not a major feature of the story which I found disappointing. And that is about all I can tell you.

I have to admit, I felt incredibly unintelligent while reading this novel. I have a university bachelor's degree, but I felt like I was reading at an advanced level and I could not follow what was happening here. I really wanted to like this novel. I appreciated the representation and diversity in the book including many non-binary characters and characters with disabilities both mental and physical. I feel like there was a lot of potential with this story and it was an interesting concept. I love a dark academia setting and especially when it involves magic but I just did not connect with this one.

Maybe people more intelligent than I will be able to understand what was happening in the story and enjoy! This one just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I admit upfront that I’m not a huge fan of main characters that are in their late teens or early twenties because they can be a little immature, but I went ahead and requested this. I was glad to see even if they are fairly young characters, they are mature. I really liked Bartleby, and she seems like a very likable person. I love the representation of accommodations in higher ed as I work in one such department, but it wasn’t exactly represented correctly. But some are much better than none. Next, the first parts of the book were a little slow, and I couldn’t believe that she didn’t catch on to what was happening sooner, and I was a little confused about the magic system. However, once all that was out of the way, the book became so much more enthralling and engaging. Stick past the first part; it’s worth it. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Sometimes I find it hard to get into a book that is academia centered due to the more complex wording or subject matters. With Higher Magic I will admit that I wasn't a hundred percent sure that I grasped all of Dorothe's workings but the characters and the way that the story was told more than made up for my lack of understanding. There were some moments that dragged a bit for me in the story but overall it was great read.

We have a bit of everything in this story, unique magic, a quirky and eccentric but lovable cast of characters. Queer and mental health representation. A bit of romance, a mystery to solve and best of all a talking skull that narrates by using the words of classic literature works like Pride & Prejudice. I had a really good time reading this, it had funny moments and relatable moments. Dorothe is not a perfect character and that is what made her more endearing, she felt real and manage to work through some personal struggles to help her students. I liked her relationship with James, it was very subtle but very them. I definitely will look forward to more of this author's works.

Higher Magic felt like a cozy mystery wrapped in a fantasy academia novel.

Filled with unique characters, a very unique magic system, and a talking skull, Higher Magic takes you on quite the journey. I enjoyed the side characters, and the premise of the mystery. I also enjoyed that the main character and others, were not your "average" heroes.

However, I struggled alot with the tone of this book, and at times wanted to tell the characters to get on with it. The majority of the second half of the book is meant to be faster paced, but to me it felt as if there were alot of conversations and explanations.

*review posted on goodreads*

There’s a lot I could say about Higher Magic. About the cleverness of the worldbuilding. About how Digimancy is one of the most original systems of magic I’ve seen in ages. About the hilarious, mortifying brilliance of Anne, the sentient Jane-Austen-channeling skull who narrates Bartleby’s inner monologue like she’s a tragic romantic heroine. But what I want to talk about—what lingered—is how deeply human this story is.

Bartleby is a disaster in the most endearing, real way. She’s anxious. She’s isolated. She’s trying so hard to prove she belongs in a system that was never designed for someone like her. Watching her navigate the institutional gauntlet of academia felt painfully familiar. Especially the part where survival means making yourself small, palatable, and endlessly productive.

And then comes the twist that isn't a twist so much as a devastating truth: students who seek disability accommodations are vanishing. Not metaphorically. Literally. And no one seems to care.

That’s when the story shifts. It stops being just about Bartleby getting her degree and starts being about what kind of person she wants to be in a broken system. There’s a moment—quiet but pivotal—where she realizes she cares more about protecting her students than protecting her future. And it hit me like a punch to the chest.

This book doesn't sensationalize disability. It doesn’t tokenize it, or use it for trauma points. Instead, it centers disabled students as worthy of protection, of magic, of being believed. It holds up a mirror to real-world systems that erase and exclude people with disabilities, and it says, No more. It says, We deserve better.

And Bartleby—scared, brilliant, deeply imperfect Bartleby—decides to stop playing by the rules. She decides to fight. Not with flashy spells, but with the most radical thing she has: her voice. Her knowledge. Her story.

It’s cozy dark academia with bite. Funny, sharp, and full of heart. But it’s also quietly revolutionary. And that’s why I loved it.

Five stars, no question.

Wow, Higher Magic by Courtney Floyd is an absolute gem! From start to finish, this book was an incredibly fun ride. What truly sets it apart is its unique magic system, which felt fresh and endlessly fascinating. But beyond the clever magic, the disability representation was handled flawlessly, weaving seamlessly into the story and enriching the characters without ever feeling tokenizing. And speaking of characters, Bartleby and James are simply delightful. Their dynamic and individual journeys kept me utterly engrossed. Bartleby’s anxiety and inner monologue was very relatable. Anne was also splendidly written! If you're looking for a fantasy novel that's both imaginative and heartfelt, pick up Higher Magic immediately!
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a good dark academia fantasy read. This book quickly grabbed my attention and I liked following Dorothe in this story. The author did a great job with the world building and I liked the magic system she created. Overall this was an enjoyable read. Heads up that this book does have content warnings.

📖 Great world building
📖 Unique magic system
📖 Found family
📖 Diverse characters

Thank you to @readmirabooks for the gifted arc.

“Higher Magic” by Courtney Floyd follows Bartleby (she goes by her last name) as she works towards her second and last attempt at passing her magic program’s qualifying exam, similar to a thesis defense. As the deadline approaches, Bartleby’s attention is divided between an issue with students across campus disappearing and her latest attempt the exam project, the talking skull/computer program named Anne.

This book grappled largely with imposter syndrome, and issues that students with disabilities deal with on academic campuses, in both obtaining accommodations and dealing with those who negatively about accommodations. The book was also set in a world with a unique mix of magic and technology.

While those elements were great, the book was very slow to start, and I found the first 30% to have minimal impact on the story, with little world building and mostly following Bartleby’s inner thoughts. After that point, the book picked up pace and the mysteries became more consuming, and involved a minor romantic subplot. The book also had some great representation, but it would have felt more impactful if the main character had truly acknowledge her own need for accommodations earlier.