I know that there is controversy about this book, and I'd be lying to say that I don't see why. There's a paragraph here that perpetuates racist stereotypes about dreadlocks that did absolutely nothing for the book.

So you might be wondering.... Emm, why'd you give it 5 stars then?

Honestly it was a really good book. And I've given 5 stars to other books that have committed more grievous errors. Acknowledging our mistakes is key to moving forward and learning. If it happens again, then I'll tank my review and stop reading Scholomance.

All of that aside, this book was delightful. I loved the dark academia vibes combined with the lethality of a GoT book. This is not a new take on Hogwarts by any means, it's a book of its own. I loved the magic system, both the categorizations and the differentiation between mana and malia. El is definitively an antihero just trying to survive her junior year, and I loved having her as our reluctant protagonist. It lives up to the HYPE!!