The Atlas Society is a great read for lovers of magical schools, morally complex characters who you alternately root for and dislike, and dark academia vibes. I enjoyed experiencing the story through the various character’s distinctive viewpoints, and as an audiobook listener, I was glad that different narrators were used for each character’s respective chapters. The plot went in unexpected directions, and you’ll finish the book curious to see where this planned trilogy goes in the future. In spite of the magical School setting, keep in mind that with some language, sexual content, and adult protagonists, this is a novel aimed at adults, not teens. 

A Deadly Education 
by Naomi Novik

Del Rey, 2020. 336 pages. Fantasy

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered: There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won't allow its students to leave until they graduate ... or die. El is uniquely prepared for the school's dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students. So El is trying her hardest not to use her power . . . at least not until she has no other option. 

Meanwhile, her fellow student, the insufferable Orion Lake, is making heroism look like a breeze. He's saved hundreds of lives--including El's--with his flashy combat magic. But in the spring of their junior year, after Orion rescues El for the second time and makes her look like more of an outcast than she already is, she reaches an impulsive conclusion: Orion Lake must die. But El is about to learn some lessons she never could in the classroom: About the school. About Orion Lake. And about who she really is.

Magic for Liars 

by Sarah Gailey

Tor Books, 2019. 336 pages. Fantasy

Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it.

Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life -- or at least, she's perfectly fine. She doesn't in any way wish she was like Tabitha, her estranged, gifted twin sister. 

Ivy Gamble is a liar. 

When a gruesome murder is discovered at The Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches Theoretical Magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister--without losing herself.