Watch it all unfold through the eyes of the fastest learner, and the most rare talent in her class. Imagine what kind of people other students around you would become. Imagine what kind of person you would become. Imagine this is your life for two and a half years. And if you do not pass your exams, your grandmother, or your brother, or your parent dies. When you ask what is it that you are supposed to be studying, they respond that telling this to you now is like explaining relativity theory to a two-year old. They are rude, condescending, and even their praise sounds like they hate your guts.

They ask you to perform exercises that make no sense. They hold your family and your loved ones hostage. Take out all joy from studying magic.Ī longer version is this. Think of Harry Potter set in a concentration camp. A short version is think of the darker version of The Magicians without the Fillory obsession. Once she graduates high school she learns that she is accepted as a student to the 'Institute of Special Technologies' located in a small provincial town that no one has heard much about. Throughout her senior year, she continues doing what she is told. Sasha observes that if she does not do what she is asked, someone close to her suffers - falls ill, may die. The man asks her to perform a certain action (swim naked at 5am). The protagonist, a 16-year old Sashka (Alexandra) meets a strange man during a summer vacation at a Black Sea beach resort. The book takes place mid-to-late 1990s in Ukraine. And according to the newly minted giant review database no one has officially reviewed Vita Nostra yet.īingo Squares: (a) reviewed on r/fantasy (you are welcome), (b) Non-Western setting (hard mode), (c) fewer than 2500 Goodreads ratings (1085 as of the moment) There is a bingo square that calls for a book with a non-Western setting, preferably written in a language other than English. A few people on this here forum expressed admiration for the book. Not an easy review to write - in fact I still do not quite know how I will wind up formulating some of the thoughts I have on this book.

Vita nostra book