3 stars
Overall, I enjoyed this witchy tale.
I will start by saying this is the first book I’ve read in the Chrestomanci series (I didn’t even know it was a series when I picked up this book). However, from what I can tell, the books do not necessarily have to be read in order.
For me, the beginning was brutally slow. It took quite a while to set the scene and the whole beginning did not really interest me. There is a great deal of time spent setting up the social dynamics and the boarding school and how much everyone dislikes it. There’s also a lot of detail on various bullying relationships between the children without anything being done about it, which I don’t think has aged very well. This was a pretty dark and dull way to start off a book about witches.
However, once mysterious magical happenings began occurring, things got much more interesting.
It did take me a bit to get into the narration as well because it follows so many characters. The book is quite spread out between them so it was hard to really get to know any of them and none of them were particularly interesting in themselves.
Yet the second half was absolutely fascinating and I really enjoyed it. I think if readers could have jumped in halfway it would have been an excellent read. It was fascinating to explore the rules of witchcraft and magical dynamics as well as uncover who was a witch. The whole mix-up beyond the school and the interplay of historical events was also an engaging twist that I really enjoyed.
While the book started very slow, once it ramped up, I was hooked and completely engrossed in the story and worlds created. I wish so much time hadn’t been spent setting up the premise and had just jumped in to the actual story. I absolutely loved the second half of the book.
After pushing through the first bit, I was unsure if I wanted to read the rest of the books in the series, but after getting to the end, I didn’t want to leave the universe created and the promise of exploring other worlds.