4/5 I really liked it.
A young mage in mage school has problems to cast spells and is bullied by the star student.
At the great choosing a mage takes him as apprentice.
He finds friends in other outcasts and has his big prove in the labyrinth...
Pretty straight forward story. but what can i say - I LOVE mage school books.
the MC is a bit to whiny but he evolves and his friends are cool as well as the described magic system. Hope the series stays this good. ( )

The book goes pretty fast through the plot, not as much world building as other books (perhaps a hyper focus on Hugh is to blame), but it makes up for it with an enjoyable clear plot. A suprisingly fun read in the genre. ( )

This book just made me happy for all the right reasons. It had an awesome world that we didn't get overwhelming details about (only enough to understand what was happening), awesome characters (who were both realistic and likeable), a great plot (magic and libraries and labyrinths), and didn't come with any unnecessary drama or romance. The writing flowed well and easily carried you through the story, and the actual order of events and pacing were also very well done.
So happy to have stumbled across this book, and will defs be moving on to the next one! Hugh is 15 so this book is kinda YA, but it's more pure and less cringey so I would recommend it to all audiences~ ( )

Fairly formulaic and quite a bit of exposition, but a nice simple read. ( )

I guess I have a weakness for these stories where somebody goes to a magic school and starts off at the bottom of the class, then discovers something unique. My favorite of that genera so far is The Zero Enigma by Christopher Nutall, but this one is pretty good too.

What I think makes this kind of book interesting, aside from the things that make fiction work in general (interesting characters, character development, exciting plot) is the magic system. If done well, the character's discovery of his or her unique gifts can be a fascinating experience for the reader too. If the magic system itself is somehow interesting, that can make the novel stand out from the immense set of magic school novels.

Hugh is this kind of character: he's the bottom of his class, he's bullied the students who are at the top, and he doesn't understand why he can't do it. In this case, Hugh is given an unexpected chance by a highly unusual mage who is particularly looking for people who don't fit the usual mold. As a result, he's stuck on a team with three others who also looked like failures. But this teacher realizes that these students don't fit the usual categories, and so of course they have trouble with the usual tasks.

In this case, the mage's students aren't performing well because previous instructors haven't realized key things about how their magic works. So there's some exploration of the logic of magic in this world, as Hugh and his friends grapple with their unique gifting. (Unlike The Zero Enigma, that's not the focus of this story, though, and for that reason I rate it a bit lower.)

I found this novel very satisfying, as the boy who think's he's a failure realizes that he's absolutely unique. (Even the fact that he thinks he's a failure turns out to be something interesting about him.) And, being cast with two other rejects, for the first time in his life, he also has friends--another sort of emotional hook for me. ( )