The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones with Lex Croucher
Wed 10 Jun 2026
7:15pm at Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Book+Ticket includes a ticket with a copy of the book. All tickets include 15% off any books purchased on the night, author talk, Q&A and signing.
Other ways to book:
Email books@mrbsemporium.com, call 01225 331155 or pop into the shop at 14-15 John Street, Bath. BA1 2JL.
From instant New York Times bestseller, Nero Award-shortlisted, TikTok Book of the Year-shortlisted, Lex Croucher comes your new dark academia obsession…
Dark academia meets contemporary fantasy in this timely page-turner about a student who fails to gain admission to the UK’s only school of magic but then gets a job there years later and unearths the ugly secrets simmering behind its ancient walls – unmissable for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Can’t make it to the event? Order a signed and dedicated copy here
About the book:
Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that’s produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar’s best friend, Sebastian, just wanted them to stay together forever.
When Sebastian gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn’t, their relationship is shattered – until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple’s attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Sebastian, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become the villain.
‘A wondrous book’ JOHN GREEN
‘Funny, devastating, achingly romantic’ OLIVIE BLAKE
‘The freshest contemporary fantasy I’ve read in years’ LAURA STEVEN
‘Wildly creative, very funny, and searingly angry’ FREYA MARSKE
‘Croucher is a master of the craft’ KAT DUNN
About the author:
Lex Croucher grew up in Surrey, reading a lot of books and making friends with strangers on the internet, and now lives in London. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes historical-ish rom-coms and fantasy for both adults and teenagers. Their debut YA novel, Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, won the YA Book Prize 2024, the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award for Young Adult Fiction, and was an instant New York Times bestseller.