"What a wonderful ride. Croucher's blend of light and dark, humor and trauma, is so refreshing, as is their taut, evocative prose. The pages flew by, and I didn't want my time with Briar and Seb to end." –V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A delicious and diabolical feast for lovers of dark academia, romantasy, complex queer romance, and that one childhood friend you just can’t shake." –Casey McQuiston, #1 New York Times bestselling author

For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its ornate gates, the elite boarding school—the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history—is whispered to be magical.

Briar's best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever.

When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple's grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can't completely forget their yearning for Temple, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower.

Then, seven years later, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the junk in Temple’s attics. And they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all.

From New York Times bestselling and TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted author Lex Croucher comes an extraordinary dark academia fantasy about dangerous privilege, corrupted power, and two former friends caught on opposite sides of the secrets rotting at the heart of Britain’s most prestigious boarding school.

"A HANDS-DOWN FAVORITE OF THE YEAR, AND PROBABLY EVER." -OLIVIE BLAKE

"A WONDROUS BOOK." -JOHN GREEN

"FANS OF THE MAGICIANS AND NINTH HOUSE HAVE FOUND THEIR NEW OBSESSION." -LAURA STEVEN