I was a bit scared to read this book. From the offset, I thought it would be some sort of Black girl magic HP knockoff. But I was also hoping so much that it would be more than that! I haven't read much Dhonielle Clayton, just her first middle grade Shattered Midnight, part of a series where each book is written by a different author, which I enjoyed, and The Rumor Game which I did not enjoy at all. So this was really anyone's game. Well! I was so very pleasantly surprised! Just because it's about a school of magic does not mean it's like HP. Clayton did really well at making the Arcanum and the Marvellers entirely her own. I loved the two types of magical people, Marvellers and Conjurors and how there was something amiss between them that was teased out throughout the book. I liked the bad person and liked the snippets in between chapters of their POV and also mixed media to show what was happening outside the Arcanum. I adored Ella and her family so much! I will definitely be continuing this series.