The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones: Discover the next dark academia sensation from the instant New York Times bestseller
Jun 2026 · Hachette UK
Ebook
320
Pages
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Eligible
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infoThis book will become available on June 9, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
From instant New York Times bestseller, Nero Award-shortlisted, and TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted 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, Seb, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Seb 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 Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
Dark academia meets 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.
PRAISE FOR LEX CROUCHER:
'Exactly what I needed right now' ALICE OSEMAN
'A total, rollicking delight' CASEY MCQUISTON
'Fun and genuinely funny' RAINBOW ROWELL
'I loved this book to a degree that's slightly ridiculous' BECKY ALBERTALLI
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, Seb, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Seb 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 Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
Dark academia meets 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.
PRAISE FOR LEX CROUCHER:
'Exactly what I needed right now' ALICE OSEMAN
'A total, rollicking delight' CASEY MCQUISTON
'Fun and genuinely funny' RAINBOW ROWELL
'I loved this book to a degree that's slightly ridiculous' BECKY ALBERTALLI
About the author
With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex Croucher's books include adult Regency romcoms Reputation, Infamous, and Trouble (Zaffre); and YA medieval romcoms Gwen and Art Are Not in Love and Not for the Faint of Heart (Bloomsbury). Gwen and Art Are Not in Love was an instant New York Times bestseller, winning the Books Are My Bag Readers' Award for Young Adult Fiction as well as being shortlisted for the Café Nero Children's Fiction Award. In 2023, Lex was also one of four authors shortlisted for the inaugural TikTok Book Awards. You can find them on Twitter @lexcroucher and on Instagram and TikTok @lexcanroar.
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