★★

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley for the early review copy. 
This story started off as a straightforward tale of 3 best friends finding out they had been rejected from their dream magical academy. It starts to drift immediately by these talented youths gaining employment at the same school that rejected them as students. But worry not because all will be explained later on, kind of. This was a fast and easy read, with very simple sentence structure and a plot that quickly developed. I was left disappointment by how little we explored any kind of world building and other elements of this story beyond the main mystery that took place. Simply put, it was shallow and contained no reckoning with the main characters’ actions throughout the story.
This definitely sit firmly as a young adult novel and an entry-point to any fantasy novels. Something I would consider recommending to someone looking to try out a magical world, with some fun friendship dynamics, and a delightful taste of polyamory. Until a chapter right near the end of the book. I scream-laughed at the utter absurdity of it all. The turn this chapter takes is so beyond wild that it dropped my rating down a star and compelled me to send my best friend a 7 minute long voice memo in outrage. Truly an outrageous turn for the story to take, and just odd execution. It left me unsatisfied and flabbergasted.