That Devil, Ambition is the latest dark YA Fantasy novel by author Linsey Miller, author of the Mask of Shadows duology, as well as the stand alone novels Belle Revolte and What We Devour (to name just her YA Fantasy work). The novel is based upon an idea that I feel is becoming rather common/overplayed of late: teens going to a school - usually of magic - that is deadly to its students, whether that be through the acts of the teachers, the students themselves, or the school building and spirits hanging around there (see Naomi Novik's Scholomance among others). Miller's work is generally extremely dark and uses her dark fantasy settings to play with some really interesting themes, so I was very curious to see her take on this setting.

And That Devil, Ambition pays off by really interrogating the reasoning and concepts behind this setting, all through a plot that follows 3 students involved in the deadly honors class: Fabian - an ambitious former noble looking to redeem his family line, Credence - a math genius from a foreign country who is relying upon her to succeed, and Euphemia (Mia) - a seemingly aloof an absent minded genius who struggles with other people. As part of the Honors Class, they will only graduate if they manage to kill their professor, an immensely powerful summoned Devil - but they will be killed if they fail in an attempt or if they fail to kill him by the end of the year. The three of them, and their classmates, are all forced into this honors class by oppressive student debt and impossible circumstances, and the story uses this setup to tell a strong tale about power, corrupt institutions perpetrating that power and trying to maintain it over others, debt (student debt especially) and the way it crushes those who have it, and more. It's some really good stuff and I highly recommend this book as usual for Miller.

More after the Jump:

Plot Summary:
The Stellarium of Cifra is the only school on the continent that trains magicians, particularly in the art of Severance - separating one's soul from their body - the dangerous art that is the basis of all magic. Naturally the school's tuition is a small fortune (and it's even more for the limited number of foreign students from other nations who are allowed to attend), such that most can only afford it by taking out painful student loans. But becoming a graduate of the Stellarium opens all of the possibilities of the world such that many take on those loans in hopes of accomplishing that feat...and for those who dare, there exists a path towards forgiveness of those loans: the Honors class. Students who make it into the Honors class and pass have their entire tuition reimbursed. There's just one problem: the Honors class is taught by a summoned Devil and to pass the class, the students have to find a way to kill that devil...or be killed in turn at the end of the year.

Fabian, Credence, and Euphemia (Mia) are three of the thirteen students in the Honors class this year, all needing desperately to pass. For Fabian, the top student in their class, that's to pay off his student loans and to re-establish his noble family's line after falling into disgrace. For Credence, the brilliant yet often hesitant math genius, it's to become the magician her nation of Arinsal needs...as they may not get another entrant into the school for a few years. And for Euphemia, it's to prove herself and maybe to tear it all down. The three are inseparable - Fabian seemingly the leader helping awkward antisocial Euphemia manage her life and Credence her hesitation - but their own wants and secrets will come storming out as the year goes on, as attempt after attempt on the Devil's life fails to kill him and their time to kill him comes closer and closer to the end.

That Devil, Ambition is told in three parts chronologically, with each part coming from the perspective of a different one of the three protagonists - first Fabian, then Credence, and finally Euphemia. This lends a bit of mystery to the novel as each of the three protagonists is very different, and each of them sees the world very differently. It also allows for recontextualization as we jump eyes in each act and realize things look different from another view.

For Fabian, he sees the world as one he deserved more from as he comes from a noble family that fell out of money and honor (and his parents were and are....not good), something that he aims to change: after all, if he passes the honor's class, his debts will be repaid and he will have proven his Galloway name worthy of its past prestige. To do that, he affects a visage as the teacher's pet, all the while he tries to scheme and plot his way to success...and anyone he doesn't care about is simply a tool to be used. He does genuinely care about Mia as his closest companion from home and Credence, who he befriended at first due to her math skills and since now only wants the best for her...but others can be discarded, even if those others are liked by his two friends. He also has the absolute belief that his class ranking of number 1 represents how great he truly is. And yet this atmosphere also makes Fabian internally lonely, especially as his two friends seem to find others for romantic attachments...while the person he's interested in is Irene, a snobbish noble top ranker who he absolutely cannot trust.

By contrast, Credence is the closest thing of any of the three to being "morally good", as she genuinely wants to do right with her magical skills - all being underlined by her great work in math. She has a crush on Henry (and it's mutual) and can't resist connecting with him even though it might limit her options in the Honors class and relies upon Fabian to stop hesitating over whether her choices might be right or wrong - especially when she feels the pressure of her whole nation relying upon her. And so when she has to act on her own, she falls into disarray, struggling with what the Honors class and its kill or be killed mantra tries to crush into her.

And then there's Euphemia, who is asexual (but not aromantic) and seemingly on the spectrum, not really the best at communicating with anyone who isn't Fabian. Her secret - which I won't go into too much here for spoiling - is that she is far smarter and takes far more care in her own external disarray than anyone notices, and is more aware of what is really going on in the world than her two compatriots...an awareness that leads her to be willing to do some truly monstrous actions to keep herself and her friends alive.

The three characters and their differing views and personalities shine as they deal with the Devil Professor and their fellow students as days go by and their time to kill the professor gets shorter and shorter. And this allows the book to really demonstrate the real question every book like this should ask: Why would anyone create a magic school that kills its students like this? And this book answers the question: for the same reason an elite school would require crippling student loans (like this one does), to limit the school to the elite and make the less elite students have to jump through extra hoops just to reap any of the same benefits...all the while acting like the school is still also giving opportunities to those less fortunate students. The nation of Cifra uses the school and the honors class to hoard magical talent and prevent other nations from obtaining same...and to keep its own poorer students down, as they need to go through the honors class just to have a chance and most likely they'll die in the process. And of course, for the students to survive, they'll often have to corrupt themselves in the process, making them just as despicable as the system that they were forced into. All of this makes clear sense through our trio's eyes, and it comes to a head in the conclusion, where one of the main trio decides to take on the system itself, only to find out how difficult and horrible her actions would have to be to try to make a difference, even if it's at all possible. Mind you, the story does end with a glimmer of hope, but it's dark and it's powerful.

There's a lot more I could go into here as That Devil, Ambition is truly a compelling read (I basically haven't even gone into the professor Devil at all), such that even the usual Miller flaws I complain about weren't even that bad this time (as usual, some of the secondary characters I had trouble telling apart, but it wasn't nearly as bad as in the other books of hers I've read). Really the flaws don't matter here - this is an excellent thought provoking and compelling dark fantasy and I highly recommend it.

I really, really thought this was going to be a 5 star, but it ended up taking me a few months to read and I'm feeling quite conflicted - hence the 3 star rating. I thought the setting was really cool, but I found the world-building and plotting VERY confusing - a bit too pretentious and opaque for me. I was relatively content to just let things slide by me, but it just left me a bit too lost for more than a 3 star.

I was lucky enough to get a spot on Linsey Miller's street team for her upcoming novel, That Devil, Ambition. Dark academia books are already some of my favorites to read, but this book is truly unique.

As a reader, there's certain rules that you expect the author to abide by. Ways you expect the story to go. That Devil, Ambition defies those rules. I have some wicked pattern recognition, so it's not often that an author surprises me. Linsey Miller did that early on, and continued to do so throughout the book. I had no idea what to expect. How do you survive the honors class, when the objective is to kill a seemingly unkillable devil? More importantly, what are the students willing to sacrifice to survive?

The magic system took me a bit to understand, but that's partially because the limits to it are based on your own understanding of the sciences. The magic users themselves don't fully know what they're capable of with their powers (the devil does, but he's not interested in spilling too many secrets). As someone who didn't do too well in science in school, it was a learning curve for me. But I enjoyed how open-ended it felt. The field of science itself is one of constant expansion. Having that same framework for a magical system was interesting and refreshing.

The book features three main characters, and I was surprised by how much my feelings for them changed as the book progressed. I was initially most intrigued by Fabian, but I large amount of time wanting to shake him. He thinks he's the cleverest individual around, and that overconfidence is very dangerous. He also underestimates his two best friends, Credence and Euphemia. Credence is capable of things she herself never expected. But Euphemia? She knows exactly what she's capable of. She understood the stakes of the game much better than any other student from the get-go. And I adore her for it.

Overall, this story felt fresh and completely different than other books on the market. It kept me at the edge of my seat right until the end. I cannot recommend it enough. I'll be anxiously awaiting its release date on June 3rd.

The best way I can describe this book is a mixture of Assassination Classroom and A Deadly Education so if those are your vibe you will enjoy this. The book is broken up into three sections each one from a different students perspective but continuing forward in the story. I was fully invested in Fabian's chapters, and I did not expect the turn in the story that pivoted us to Credence's section. Honestly here at the end I still don't think I have recovered from it. The character journey that Credence takes over the course of the book was really well done. She sees the most change and development I think throughout the story. Euphemia was honestly my least favorite, she was by her point in the book the most predictable for me. I was able to predict the outcome but it was still interesting for me to see how it came together.

This book is dark academia done right. So many books out there claim that they are dark academia when really they're just dark academia aesthetics or vibes. This book literally understood the assignment. Dark academia, at its core, is supposed to criticize the obsession with academic pursuits at "all costs" and the brutal elitism of those higher echelons of institutions that seem older than devils themselves. This does that so well.

That Devil, Ambition is a story about a small group of students accepted into the "honors" class their senior year. In this course, they have one year to figure out how to kill an immortal, un-killable demon who is their professor. I mean, you can't get a more compelling set up then that.

Additionally, many of the students are in poverty who need to pass the class in order to get the debt of their very expensive school loans forgiven--or they need to reclaim their family name and secure high positions after graduation. Thus, each student in the class has a desperate reason to pass the course. You can feel their hope, ambition, distress and truly experience all the sacrifices they've made to get to this point. The course also tests who they are as people and how far they're willing to go to achieve their goals.

What I loved even more than the amazing plot set up, the ominous school setting and the critique of academia, was the characters. The author did an amazing job of helping me truly feel who these people were. You get three different points of view and each character tells you 1/3 of the story. I especially loved Fabian (the first POV we got). He was someone who presented himself one way to the world (perfect, polished, unfazed) while being something else inside (compassionate, imperfect, tenderhearted). The author used ( ) to show the reader the parts of Fabian that even Fabian didn't want to admit to himself. I absolutely loved this. It showed his dichotomy and struggle with his academic persona and his true persona so well. I'm bringing this up because I've never seen an author use this particular technique before, but I LOVED it. It really helped me understand Fabian and connect to him even more. I also saw one reviewer says she didn't like all the ( ), but I LOVED them.

My 2nd favorite character was Mia. She, like Fabian, wasn't all that she appeared. Her secrets and duplicitous personality was interesting and made me ache for her when she had to make hard decisions. I was right alongside her feeling everything she was feeling. This is what really made this book memorable to me and made it stand out. I loved the characters so much that when the book was over, I just wanted to spend more time with them. I wanted to know they were okay (someday). I wanted to hold their hands as they went into the very unfair world they were given. Thank you for writing such beautifully imperfect characters who I could love.

Lastly, I was also really touched by the author's note in the beginning. I'm not sure if that will be in the final copy of the book or if it was just included for Net Galley readers, but the author talks about the struggles of finishing college after the loss of her father when he died. That she pushed herself too hard when she wasn't ready. This struck a cord with me as my father died two weeks before the end of my fall semester in college my junior year and I pushed through to finish out my courses and take finals. Even though I was told I could take "incompletes" on my courses so I could grieve and finish them later, I didn't want to. I didn't trust myself to come back to it. So, instead, I sat in the university library and cried quietly in my cubicle while reviewing my notes for a final on the novel As I Lay Dying (a story about children carrying the dead body of their parent in a coffin...) It was rough and I barely made it through. Taking that perspective into this story gave it a real-life heartbeat for me. I could feel the reality of the author's loss mirrored in the characters and in my own heart. It brought in an authentic ache throughout the story that made it more than just fiction to me. It, in a way, helped me grieve again and feel all the emotions of my past once more.

Thank you to the author for writing such a wonderful book! I hope to see many more like this in the future.

P.S. Warning: Spoiler-y item. Stop reading here if you haven't read the book yet. <spoiler> One thing that was left unanswered for me by the end that I wanted to understand was why the university let a devil come and kill their students and consume their souls. I figured that there was some dark deal or reason for it. Something like they only have magic because of the deal with the devil and if they broke it, they would all lose magic or something like that. I don't feel like that part was ever explained. That is the one thing I still want to know and understand. </spoiler>

Another dark, thoughtful book by Linsey Miller, this one on the theme of what we sacrifice for expensive schooling and how inhuman the cost can make us.

Another great work from Linsey Miller! This story did not let up for a second, and I have a feeling I am going to be thinking about it for awhile to come. I just loved what it had to say about academia and the costs of schooling.

This is literally assassination classroom. But make it dark academia I guess. I was really looking forward to this one, especially because it's dark academia and has LGBTQ+ rep, but the main plotline was very slow and boring for me to read through. Things got a bit better in the middle and ending part of the book, specifically point of view wise, but it made the first part feel so pointless.

very well written story with a bunch of very well written characters. dramaatic and tragic. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

This was... pretty good! Frankly, I come out of it with not too many emotions because I wish I liked the characters more. I thought it was clever to have one character per term and split the book up into three sections, but I also wish that the viewpoints were split up a bit interspersed in between. I thought this was very strong and I did have a good time! I just am finding that I'm not as into dark academia as I thought I was.

That Devil, Ambition by Lynsey Miller is a sharp and compelling historical fantasy that explores power, ambition, and the cost of success. Set in a reimagined 19th century, the novel follows Jules, a young woman determined to rise in a world that offers her little opportunity—except through a dangerous magical bargain. Miller’s prose is both lyrical and razor-sharp, weaving together rich historical detail with an undercurrent of dark magic. With its fierce heroine, biting social commentary, and immersive atmosphere, That Devil, Ambition is a must-read for fans of historical fiction with a supernatural twist.

Fabian is attending one of the most interesting schools ever. A professor that is a devil that is summoned each year is not only the teacher, but the main lesson. It’s kill or be killed between the students of the honors class and the professor.

There is a very diverse group of students and so many twists and turns. The need to find out how to kill the professor is so intriguing that it makes the whole book really engaging. Plus, its fast pace makes it really easy to get hooked on.

Well, that was WILD FUN!

Things I liked:
-The overall premise. BRING IT ON!
-The structure (3 POVs that don’t alternate).
-The Professor (and Pendleton). I feel sorry they had to deal with these kids. But also loved how they did want to see them succeed

Things I wished were better:
- The twist. In my opinion …. It wasn’t a twist. Felt like the book tried to make the twist mean more than it really did.
- The ending. Very anticlimactic. It’s thematic in terms of dark academia, sure, but IMO the premise promised a vicious showdown and a devilish clash of wits.
- The explanation of severance and entire idea of the overworld. It was both very hand-wavy but also central to the intricacies of the magic system and certain plot points.

Things I didn’t like:
- The students’ overall approach to the honors class. Felt they kept trying to take short cuts rather than put their heads down, come to class, ask questions, study.
-Euphemia in particular. I grew frustrated with her views on the honors class and the Professor. She had so many thoughts of her own that she never listened to what the Professor was saying /behind his words / – he was in fact giving her all the info she needed to pass the class, but she was very myopic in her motivations and aims and then sulked and blamed others for the decisions she made – something the Professor does call her out on.

In my opinion, the Professor did no wrong. He TRIED to teach y’all. LOL.

I am a sucker for a dark academia/magic school story, and this one absolutely hits the ground running—so much so that my notes from reading are mostly just “oh I’m loving this! I LOVE this!” That Devil, Ambition is pure unhinged fun. Fabian is a year away from graduation in a magic school. Along with his friends Euphemia and Credence, he’s ready for their final honors class. Which, oh, begins with the summoning of a devil who will be their teacher for the year. Their only assignment is to kill the Professor Devil before the end of the year—a task which, if passed, will grant Fabian his pick of jobs and his full tuition (which is MASSIVE) reimbursed. If he fails, they’ll murder mother, who serves as his tuition loan collateral. Are you in?? Yeah, I thought so. All the characters are fucked up, harboring dark secrets, driven by their personal desires and determination. That Devil, Ambition is an absolute ball, a delight, a joy—if you’re a dark magic school sicko like me who likes stories about young people doing high-stake murders and having Emotions about it.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⅓ — i don't have the words to describe how brilliant this is. turning the last page left me with the kind of emptiness i usually feel after finishing a four season tv series. that's how invested i was. the section one ending hit me like a freight train, and everything that happened after continuously left me reeling.

my favorite thing about fantasy is almost always the worldbuilding/magic system, and that devil, ambition had an entirely unique, intricate universe. i loved the science-y bits sprinkled in, as using real-life terms to describe things made understanding the magic system easier. the whole severance thing is genuinely so interesting, i need to see it in live action.

and don't get me started on the actual plot. thirteen honors students have to kill their immortal devil professor to pass or die trying. like yes, give me more immediately. it's paced excellently—just when you think you've seen everything or you're getting bored, something insane happens.

the characters are bewitching as well, of course. there's three point-of-views, but instead of alternating, they each get one section and one term. usually, when books are structured like this, i miss the first character and can't get used to the later ones, but credence and euphemia were even more engaging than fabian. they were all so distinct, and i loved seeing how differently they each approached the situation. and then seeing each of them slowly come to the same realization about the school and have three different breakdowns? i love angst. each new pov unveiled whole personalities the other characters didn't know. like fabian's euphemia vs. euphemia's euphemia? excellently done.

note: i don't know who did the blurb, but this isn't even remotely similar to either asid or gallant, in either writing style or narrative, so don't open it expecting that. but if you like all of us villains, you'll absolutely love this.

Linsey Miller’s That Devil, Ambition is a captivating exploration of ambition, morality, and the price of power. With a richly crafted world and a protagonist who is both ruthless and deeply human, the story examines the fine line between dreams and destruction. Miller’s sharp prose and intricate plotting make this a must-read for fans of dark, character-driven fantasy. A gripping tale of ambition that lingers long after the final page

While this was well written, the just non stop bleakness of it really took me out of it. The pacing should work but instead of that heart racing feeling of what will happen next, I just kinda sighed.

Welcome to the Stellarium, a school for magicians but with a particular honors class. Every student accepted in the honors class has one year to kill their devil of a teacher or be killed themselves.

This book is dark academia by the very definition. It’s bleak. It’s depressing. As each student gets picked off one by one in horribly shocking and graphic ways, you lose more hope that any of them will actually survive. It was written fabulously but such dark themes are just not for me.

The magic school vibes were very lacking, and the actual magic used far too theoretical and intellectual to hold the average reader’s attention for long. In short, I imagine it will have a pretty niche audience.

I have read dark academia in the past and even watched darker animes or television shows, but something about the poor students losing their hope and constantly grieving not only their futures but the unfairness of it all just jarred me in the worst possible way.

I have been a big fan of Lindsey Miller’s since I discovered her Disney series from the prince’s povs but I don’t think this was the book for me. The writing is solid but the mood just brought me down and reminded me too much of how awful the world of academia can be.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC! That Devil, Ambition is an unrelenting, brilliant exploration of dark academia at its most raw and devastating. The author doesn’t hold back.

The academic setting is immersive, pulling readers into its atmosphere while grappling with heavy, thought-provoking themes. What stands out most is the book’s refusal to merely critique academia—it focuses instead on how ambition corrodes, how students break under pressure, and how the pursuit of greatness can destroy from within. Its exploration of death is equally compelling, examining mortality, its trivialization, and its transformative power.

The prose is sharp, the characters nuanced, and the themes unforgettable. The ending lingers, offering a delicate sliver of hope amidst the darkness.

Thank you to Net Galley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the ARC. I feel super conflicted on how to rate this book. I both liked it and disliked it. I loved the first third and I loved the friendship between Fab, Mia, and Credence. The magic system was super interesting and the dark academia aspect was well written in the first part. I enjoyed following along to see whether the characters would survive and be able to graduate. However, the plot unraveled a bit towards the end, while I liked the revelation and the scheming, the end felt a bit anticlimactic.