I am so freaking mad that I slept on this series and author. Naomi Novik has the first sentence in book 2 quite literally a breath after the ending of Scholomance. El doesn't know why her mother sent her warning about Orion Lake, but she does what any good teenage wizard does. Completely ignores the warning. The stakes are higher, it's not just pass or fail - it's live or die. Even with everything they did to fix the equipment. Dry wit, sarcasm, and gallows humor ensue. 

Particularly, the sarcasm and gloom that radiates from El mirrors so much of my own high school and college experience, I can't help but feel a kinship towards her. Novik writes her outcast with such love and heart, you can see her tread that super fine line between lonlieness and protection. El's tenuous alliance with people she still can't  believe WANT to be around her, it's a nice little bit of sweet with all the sour that is Scholomance. I get El's headspace and why she shuts everything down before it starts. It's easier to survive when you don't have to care. But here she is, caring. And see where that gets her? 

I'll caveat this with the statement that this series might not be for everyone. The first book is like 60% info dump on the magic system, the schol itself, and the politics and mechanice of the students and their alliances. It's how my brain works when I try to get across loads of info, so even though it felt heavy but managable to me. I had a friend beg me to retry this series and it paid off. Personally, I've grown to love El, Orion (the numpty), Aadhya and Liu, Precious (iykyk) and yes, even Chloe. (Magnus, you're still a dick tho.) Oh and that entire cake metaphor with Orion and Leisel, just… chef’s kiss of perfection. 

And once again I do not have the next book ready and waiting, which I now very much regret!