I wish I liked this more. I was really looking forward to what the author had to say about class and racism in a city ruled by fearmongers with magical wands and robes but I ultimately wasn't impressed with the execution. We start off super strong with beautiful prose and an enticing premise. The protagonist Sciona is an aspiring mage working night and day to be the first woman granted entry to the most prestigious University in the land. You're rooting for her and her assistant—a refugee from outside the border that protects the city from eternal winter—to defy society's expectations and prove every last geriatric mage wrong. Though with every interaction you start to realise even though Sciona has been objected to bigotry all her life she's no different in her xenophobia than the very elders she's trying to spite. This isn't even my gripe as it's very much intentional and something the character actively works on throughout the book, it's just that we're wasting too much time info-dumping about the history, the magic system and politics while nothing actively happens. The last 20% are really where the story actually starts to unfold, and had there been just a little less telling instead of showing, the finale would have paid off beautifully. Endless potential, but weak execution.