That Devil, Ambition

In the magical nation of Cifra, three honors students enroll in a class with a dark objective: kill or be killed. As Cifra’s only school, “built upon the traditions of a bloodier time,” that’s willing to train gifted young magicians in the dangerous art of severance, or cognitively leaving one’s body, the Stellarium’s elite honors program tasks 13 students with killing their teacher, a devil, before the last day of class. Failed attempts are punished by death, and all remaining students are killed if the devil-professor survives to the final bell. For ambitious Fabian and his friends, flighty Euphemia and numbers-loving Credence, the honors program—which secures voting rights, high-paying jobs, and student loan waivers for graduates—is the only hope of a successful future. But how does a mortal teenager kill an immortal being? Esoteric prose occasionally stifles a compelling premise. Miller (Prince of Glass & Midnight) nevertheless devises a fresh, physics- and chemistry-driven magical system and utilizes cerebral close-third-person storytelling and biting narration to confront the twisted politics of dark academia. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Rachel Brooks, BookEnds Literary. (June)

Correction: A previous version of this review misidentified two characters' relationship.