That Devil, Ambition

Gr 9 Up–A dark academia fantasy for fans of Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education and Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning. The professor leading the honors curriculum their final year at the Stellarium of Cifra is a devil, literally. Summoned every year for each crop of students, the professor is both the teacher and the lesson: if they can’t kill him before the last day of school, the devil kills them. The Stellarium is the last school of magic on the continent, and students who pass the entrance exam will pay the exorbitant tuition for the chance to learn. Fabian’s student loans are so large the bank required his mother’s life as collateral, and he’s been aiming for the honors class ever since, using his friends Euphemia and Credence to help cultivate a deceptively agreeable image. As the year proceeds, the class is whittled away with each failed assassination attempt. Miller divides the book into three points of view, one for each term of the year, which ensures no character feels safe from the Professor. The story meditates on themes like the cost of education, self-worth via academic success, and survival versus sacrifice inside a horror story. The characterizations are a little thin, but stakes are high, the premise is fun, and the pacing makes for a delightful binge read.