If you look behind all of the aesthetics and moodiness of any dark academia novel the heart of the matter is this: a contract has been broken between the educational system and one or more character in the book. There is a crack in the foundation, the world has become unbalanced, and that’s where you’ll find the book’s central conflict. 

The Incandescent isn’t the first novel to take a different approach to dark academia than the usual student protagonist: Lee Madelo’s Summer Sons has a student’s brother as the protagonist, and Lauren Nossett’s The Resemblance has a police officer/alumni as the protagonist (including The Resemblance as DA is something I do because I believe it meets all of the markers save the aesthetics and supernatural element). It’s not the first to have a teacher as the protagonist either (The Swallows by Lisa Lutz has a teacher protag). It is the first dark academia novel I can think of to have an elder millennial, pseudo-head of house/part-time teacher as the protagonist. It’s also the first dark academia novel I can think of where the contract that was broken was between academia as an institution and the administration/staff of the school, which led to the central conflict of this book: How do you protect a school full of bright, promising, young students from demons when no one seems to want to foot the bill?

One of the best things about this book is that Tesh (being a Millenial herself, I think) knows that not everything about this book has to be taken so seriously. Doctor Saffy Walden, our protagonist, does her marking in her ratty pajamas, works 14 hours a day, is awkward talking about anything that’s not work, doesn’t date, knows her students are completely unserious about nearly everything, and deeply loathes smart phones (demons just love technology). Saffy knows she’s deeply uncool and she’s okay with that. Saffy is okay with almost anything so long as the 600 students of Chetwood are as safe from a demon incursion as possible. 

This book was very engaging and interesting, with an awkward wit to it and an unexpectedly sweet and caring side to it that comes from the teacher-student dynamic between Saffy and her four Upper 6th Invocation students. There’s a romantic and wistful dynamic between Saffy and a kind-of government-mandated demon hunter/security guard. There are a good deal of dramatic and creative magical scenes that are extremely well-written that fully capture your attention that I wish I could see fully rendered in film. 

The Incandescent will remind you that your teachers and administrators were once students too, often making the same mistakes and now living with the various outcomes, both positive and negative, of those mistakes. Everyone was young and dumb once. Only time will tell how much you learn. 5⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Adult Fantasy/Dark Academia/LGBTQ Fantasy/Sapphic Romance/Supernatural Fantasy