Exposition heavy with an almost stream-of-consciousness narration but so good! I'm not sure I've read a more detailed, believable account of a system of magic or a magic school. It's as if Hogwarts was enchanted to run itself but Salazar Slytherin got to do the final round of edits and decided to build in a little Hunger Games — with the odds only ever in the favor of the powerful and privileged.

Generations later, our Slytherclaw protagonist El (who is Welsh and Indian and gives me snarky, dark Katniss vibes) is definitely powerful (though nobody knows it) and definitely not privileged. She's trying to survive junior year while keeping the dark powers within her leashed so she doesn't destroy, well, everyone and everything — the monstrous mals who keep coming for her and all the students who happen to be in the way. It's incredibly difficult work, but she's determined. Most days. Except when Gryffinpuff golden boy Orion Lake keeps playing the hero and "saving her life." That gets a little old and makes her more murdery than normal. Still. Head down and graduate. Except ... everyone's odds of graduating keep getting worse and worse... 

Not only is this a fantastically built magical world, but it's also an international one with exceptional cultural diversity rep and acutely relevant observations about privilege, cliques, personal choices, and more. You wouldn't expect it in such a setting, but there's also a healthy dose of adorkable relationship awkwardness — between both friends and "more" — to lighten the dark humor. 

Content notes: death of a parent, both light and dark powers, constant mortal danger, gruesome monsters, inequitable systems of sacrifice and privilege, stabbing, murder

My thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for a digital ARC.