Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher

‘A wondrous book’ JOHN GREEN

‘Funny, devastating, achingly romantic’ OLIVIE BLAKE

‘The freshest contemporary fantasy I’ve read in years’ LAURA STEVEN

‘Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry’ FREYA MARSKE

‘This is dark academia as it should be written’ BEA FITZGERALD

‘Croucher is a master of the craft’ KAT DUNN

‘Delicious’ THE FANTASY HIVE

From instant New York Times bestseller, Nero Award-shortlisted, TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted, and YA Book Prize-winning Lex Croucher comes your new dark academia obsession . . .

Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that’s produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar’s best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.

When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn’t, their relationship is shattered – until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple’s attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.

Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK’s only school of magic but then gets a job there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls – unmissable for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Ninth House meets the British boarding school system in your next dark academia obsession – the adult fantasy debut from the New York Times bestselling author of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love

About the Author: Lex Croucher is the New York Times, Indie & USA Today bestselling author of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes queer historical rom-coms and fantasy for both adults and teenagers from their flat in London.

09 Jun 2026
 

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones: Discover your next dark academia obsession from the award-winning New York Times bestseller by Lex Croucher ISBN 9781399624640