El Higgins is the last person you would think would be a hero. Orion Lake is much more the hero type. Bold and decisive, Orion wants to save everyone at School of the Wind University, a school of magical arts. Mostly people are grateful when Orion swoops in and saves them from the nasty magical creatures that infest the school, but El was not. Her whole plan to just fly under the radar, do the least amount of work possible and not make any connections or alliances was now in jeopardy because of Orion’s single action.

What El, (short for Galadriel) didn’t want anyone to know was that her affinity in magic was spells of mass destruction. One of the fringe lines of study it was often associated with the dark arts and so most magical people shunned those with such an affinity. But with Orion pulling her into the spotlight, suddenly her plan is in jeopardy.

Snarky, grouchy and just trying to get by, El is a great anti-hero and Novik makes sure to have have many other interesting characters for her to play off of. This is not Hogwarts by any stretch of the imagination, more like Hunger Games played out in a magical setting where the school itself is constantly testing its students. Death is not uncommon creating an atmosphere of fear and danger, while each student must use whatever talent they have in order to survive.

I really enjoyed these books and look forward to reading the third in the series, The Golden Enclaves!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian, Lauren and Sharon

Book study worthy? yes

Read in ebook format.