My Five Word TL:DR Review: Great Start to New Series

I have enjoyed a few of Genevieve Cogman’s books and so was excited to pick up a copy of A Scholar’s Guide to Demonology & Other Dark Arts (ASGtDaODA) and it doesn’t disappoint. I did wonder, going into this one if it would have more of a YA feel to it being set in a school and all and of course there are the students but the focus is predominantly on Philomena (or Phil as she is affectionately known).

Phil finds herself in the difficult position of having to leave her scholarly life at Cambridge behind and find a paying job – the horror! Her father has disgraced the family, losing most of their money and desperate times call for desperate measures. So, Phil has applied for a job at Graynes, a school for girls set on the Yorkshire Moors, and although she has no teaching qualifications, she is offered a position, primarily teaching Latin but also it seems odd jobbing at just about everything else involved in school life.

What then follows is a rude awakening as Phil begins to understand that there is more to Graynes than a slightly down at heel gothic building, a bunch of incredibly unruly and highly energetic school girls and a lot of tight lipped colleagues that are either keeping secrets or are blissfully in the dark.

If you’ve heard of the St Trinians then the comparison is inevitable but this book inserts a boost of fantasy into the shenanigans and the fantasy isn’t just tacked on for good measure. This is well thought out, there’s plenty going on at the school and the scope for more adventures is very promising.

As part of the plot we have the inevitable baddie, seeking vengeance and plotting against everyone with the eventual mad dash capers in the concluding chapters as everything comes together for the grande finale.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot. I had fun reading this. It’s light hearted and enjoyable. The characters are easy to engage with. Phil was quite cool headed when put in a fix and although predominantly its all a little tongue in cheek the stakes do take a darker turn towards the end – and yet you simply know that everything will work out. I wouldn’t call this cosy but at the same time its the kind of story that has over the top villains and beleaguered teachers, surrounded by outlandish school children just waiting to be given a free reign.

The school is stuck out on the moors, the local villagers give the place a wide berth, taxis won’t enter the grounds and the education inspectors pay frequent visits to try and catch the school in any wrongdoing and presumably have an excuse to close it down.

On top of this there are mysterious crossroads, strange wards protecting the school, an extensive and labyrinthe like basement with a fascinating array of books and, of course, as the title would suggest, demons. Although here they seem more like familiars.

The rest of the cast are easy to imagine if a little bit cliched. The schoolgirls are wonderfully OTT and there’s an overall whimsical feel to the peace that puts you more in mind of simpler times. That’s probably exacerbated by the fact that mobile phones are made completely useless at the school due to some sort of blockers and also added to by the charm of the local village.

I’ll leave it there because part of the fun of this was letting the story develop bit by bit. I wouldn’t particularly say this is a fast paced read but I liked the tone and I wasn’t in a particular hurry, more just enjoying seeing things develop.

I really look forward to seeing what comes next in this series, like I mentioned above there’s certainly a lot of scope here.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars