The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones
Discover your next dark academia obsession from the award-winning New York Times bestseller
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- Published: Jun 09 2026
- Pages: 464
- ISBN: 9781399624633
'Funny, devastating, achingly romantic, a hands-down favourite of the year, and maybe ever . . . I feel dreamy and half in love just thinking about the chance to return to it' OLIVIE BLAKE
'The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years, with a deeply flawed queer found family and incisive commentary on systemic rot - plus sharp humour, power play, and an unexpectedly tender romance . . . Fans of Ninth House have found their new obsession' LAURA STEVEN
'Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry, this is a story I will never forget. (Though I wish I could, so that I could have the pleasure of being ruined by it all over again)' FREYA MARSKE
'Witty, sharp and addictive, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones deftly balances an excoriating take down of the elite with deeply human and tender queer relationships. Croucher is a master of the craft' KAT DUNN
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 finds their way 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.
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'The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years, with a deeply flawed queer found family and incisive commentary on systemic rot - plus sharp humour, power play, and an unexpectedly tender romance . . . Fans of Ninth House have found their new obsession' LAURA STEVEN
'Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry, this is a story I will never forget. (Though I wish I could, so that I could have the pleasure of being ruined by it all over again)' FREYA MARSKE
'Witty, sharp and addictive, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones deftly balances an excoriating take down of the elite with deeply human and tender queer relationships. Croucher is a master of the craft' KAT DUNN
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 finds their way 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.
Press Reviews
- Freya Marske, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Marvellous Light
This book pulls off the trick of making magic school both wondrously seductive and gut-wrenchingly appalling, thanks to the compelling titular protagonist and, of course, Croucher's incredible gifts for both storytelling and shoving your most tender emotions into a blender and cranking it up to ten. Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry, this is a story I will never forget. (Though I wish I could, so that I could have the pleasure of being ruined by it all over again)
- Laura Steven, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates and Silvercloak
The freshest contemporary fantasy I've read in years, with a deeply flawed queer found family and incisive commentary on systemic rot-plus sharp humour, power play, and an unexpectedly tender romance. Fans of The Magicians and Ninth House have found their new obsession
- Stephanie Butland, author of Lost for Words
What. A. Novel! I wanted to eat it with a spoon. Briar Jones is a wonder: scrappy, strong, vulnerable, and determined. I rooted for them every step of the way. Lex Croucher's writing is evocative, witty, and affecting, and the world they create is vivid and absorbing. This is a magical boarding school story for our times, and I'm sure it will fly
- Kat Dunn, Nero Book Award-shortlisted author of Hungerstone
Witty, sharp and addictive, The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones deftly balances an excoriating take down of the elite with deeply human and tender queer relationships. Croucher is a master of the craft
- Olivie Blake, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six
I was physically incapable of putting this book down. The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones has absolutely everything: the institutional rot and villainy of the System; the toxic romance of social mobility and the spires of dark academia; the brilliantly integrated magical system; second-chance yearning at soul-shattering decibels; the sheer bounty of delightful, irreverent dialogue; every perfect Lex Croucher turn of phrase. Funny, devastating, achingly romantic, a hands-down favorite of the year, and maybe ever. The book itself makes it impossible not to intuitively grasp the nature of a so-called Working - I feel dreamy and half in love just thinking about the chance to return to it, even though I know what sinister turns yet await