Casey McQuiston meets The Secret History in this unmissable dark academia fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lex Croucher following former childhood best friends who reunite at magical boarding school after years, only to find themselves enemies on opposite sides of the ugly secrets hidden within the gilded walls. Welcome to the Temple School of Thaumaturgy...and your newest dark academia obsession. For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its looming ornate gates, the elite boarding school—the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history—is whispered to be magical. Briar's best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever. When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple's grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can't completely forget their yearning for Temple, for the extraordinary, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower. Seven years later, a summer job advert appears: a temp position sorting through the junk in Temple’s attics. And when Briar takes it, they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all, but darker and far more horrifying than Briar could have ever imagined. "Exactly what I needed right now -- a delightful, heart-warming, hilarious historical romp, overflowing with queer panic and terrible jokes. I loved it." - Alice Oseman, bestselling author of Heartstopper on Gwen & Art Are Not In Love "Fun and genuinely funny, with lovely friendships and first-rate dialogue. Gwen and Art may not be in love, but I fell for them both." - Rainbow Rowell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Simon Snow Trilogy, on Gwen & Art Are Not In Love "A total, rollicking delight ... Lex Croucher is one of my favorite romcom authors, and they should be yours, too." - Casey McQuiston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red, White, and Royal Blue, on Gwen & Art Are Not In Love "Congrats to Gwen and Arthur on their permanent acquisition of my ENTIRE heart. Suffice it to say that I loved this book to a degree that's slightly ridiculous." - Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, on Gwen & Art Are Not In Love Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey and now lives in London. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex has written historical-ish rom-coms for adults ( Reputation, Infamous, Trouble ) and historical fantasy rom-coms for teenagers, including Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, the New York Times  bestseller which won the 2024 YA Book Prize. The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones is their adult fantasy debut.