This one started strong for me, but soon just felt like a poor man's Harry Potter. The villain was too predictable, and the book just felt repetitive--I think it could have been pruned quite a bit. This one definitely has kid appeal, though, and I'm mentally filing it away to hand to all those voracious readers who just can't get enough of Keeper of the Lost Cities and Hogwarts. 3.5 stars.

The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents is an outstanding middle grade debut! Nicki Pau Preto is fantastic at building complex worlds that make you long to be a part of them and I think that Last Hope may be the book of hers that I'd choose to fall into. The magic system is well thought out and made so much sense to me (I'd love to take a quiz that would determine what kind of magic I would have)! I enjoyed how characters with the same type of magic didn't use it the same way and how realistically they would go about using it in their life. I particularly adored how life at Last Hope was portrayed as whimsy, but also chaotic. This is the first book that I think truly shows how terrifying it must be to be a kid with magic.
That's what the Main Character, Vin Lucas is going through: that fear of unknowable power. I think there's a lot of kids who are going to read Vin's story and see themselves and their own anxiety portrayed, perhaps for the first time. And while the kids reading the book aren't going to have magical explosions I think that Last Hope may bring hope to a lot of people who feel like outsiders.
Vin isn't the only character that felt like they could come off the page, though! All the characters from the Headmistress Ava Hope to a small fire sprite all have complex personalities, which is impressive for a book of this size. I loved reading Vin's experience getting to know the larger than life Magical Delinquents and sincerely wish to see more of each character in future books!
The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents is one of those stories that prove that Middle Grade books are the best books on the market today for any age. Books can be fun and serious by being filled with laughter and lessons simultaneously! I recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt lost or alone in this unmagical world. I think it will have you believing that maybe we haven't seen the last of hope.