A fresh take on the magic-school trope.
Eleven-year-old Vanya Vallen has never felt like she fits in. She’s a British Indian girl in a mostly White English town. She also has ADHD (and some sensory issues), and her peers often find her behavior rude or exhausting. On top of that, she can hear books talk. Not just any books, but the books in the special annex of her parents’ bookstore. Her mum and dad rarely talk about their past, though, so she’s not sure why the books are there.
One night, however, her parents are attacked by a monster, and in the aftermath, they reveal some of their secrets (not really spoilers since they’re in the book blurb). It turns out that a host of monsters exist in the world, and her parents are part of a group of magical archwitches and archivists dedicated to stopping them. Vanya, it seems, also possesses some of their powers. This leads to her enrollment at Auramere, a library and school of magic hidden in India’s Nilgiri Mountains. Her parents don’t go with her, however; instead, she is taken there by Jasper, an old friend of her mother’s and a teacher at the school, who lets her stay with him and his husband Roman. They’re the chosen uncles she hadn’t known before.
Vanya is excited by her new classes, which are new and interesting enough to hold her attention. She might even be making some friends. But even Auramere is not secure against all of the dangers of the world, especially when the mysterious Wild Hunt is on the loose, a powerful force under the control of a new leader.
Vanya seeks to master her new skills and solve the ongoing mysteries that surround both the school and her family. But will she be able to protect the place where she finally feels she belongs?
Author Sangu Mandanna has created a protagonist and a magic school that feel happily original. The world and its monsters draw on many cultures’ mythologies, despite Auramere’s location in India. Auramere and its students and faculty are likewise diverse. There are no “houses” or similar divisions of students; in fact, most students seem to live with their families, as Vanya does with Jasper and Roman. The school uniform is a hoodie, sweatpants, and hiking boots (which Vanya contrasts favorably with wizard’s robes and a gray pleated skirt and tie; she’s apparently read those other books, too). Modern technology exists alongside magic. Vanya is not a “chosen one,” but decides to act because of her circumstances. And the plot revolves less around her and her friends as an evil-fighting group and more around her growth as an individual (with some help from her friends).
With assistance from the school’s therapist, too, she comes to be more comfortable with having ADHD and not pretending to be like everyone else. “I wanted to prove to everybody that I can be forgetful and daydreamy and have ADHD and be different and still be extraordinary,” she says at one point. Mandanna adds nuance, too, by showing that Vanya’s particular type of ADHD does not mean she is hyperactive. She’s happily also not the only neurodiverse character, but makes friends with a peer who is autistic, which provides an opportunity for connection because of some similar experiences, even as the story also acknowledges the differences between their individual forms of neurodiversity. “Maybe all this time I’d spent trying to be more like everyone else meant I’d missed out on finding people who were more like me,” she muses.
Queerness is a seamless part of this world; in addition to Jasper and Roman, another two-woman couple plays a minor part. Roman also uses a cane.
Mandanna balances the story of Vanya’s personal growth with a gripping mystery, plenty of action, and a creative mix of magical creatures and places. It makes for a highly recommended tale. The ending is satisfying even as it sets things up for a sequel, and readers should be eager to keep learning more about Vanya and her world.
