I really enjoyed this. Bianca was a fantastic character. She was fierce and smart and resourceful and brilliant. Leda and Camille were supportive friends. And Miss Mabel was the perfect evil villain. The writing was engaging and the plot intriguing and it was a great book and I'll be sure to pick up the rest of the series. ( )

Within The Network, sixteen year-old Bianca is cursed. In order to save herself, her mother and grandmother from the curse, Bianca must find a way to work with Miss Mabel, the only one who can remove the curse. As a first-year student at Miss Mabel's School for girls, Bianca is not expected to enter The Competition, a deadly test of skills usually reserved for third year witches. Winning The Competition is the only way to work directly with Miss Mabel. Bianca must use all of her skills in hexes, curses, cunning and potions in order to show her worth and outwit Miss Mabel. Miss Mabel is more cruel then she seems and Bianca soon finds herself bound to Miss Mabel and her sinister intentions for the whole Network.

Miss Mabel's School for Girls is a fast-paced Young Adult fantasy. Miss Mabel's jumps right into the action as Bianca finds her way into the school and immediately volunteers for The Competition. I felt a little lost within the world of The Network and Miss Mabel's at first, but I was absorbed by the action. It was apparent that Bianca is determined to reverse her curse and tenacious, but I wanted to know more about the curse and its dangers. One of the best parts of the story for me were the characters. There are many well written female characters with distinct personalities; in fact, there are barely male characters in the book. Some of my favorites are the friends Bianca made, Leda and Camille. These young women formed a wonderful friendship that helped Bianca through her trials with Miss Mable. Miss Mable was deliciously vicious in her teachings, coming up with vile and malicious ways to test Bianca and what she needed from her. The book ends on a large cliffhanger with nothing resolved and a whole host of new issues, so it looks like I'll need to dive into the next book in the series.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

I found it interesting, but would have liked it better had I realized it was a series. There's something very frustrating to get to the end of the book and find that the answers are all waiting until the next book- especially when you haven't got it.
It must be fairly good if I want to see more of the characters, but I'm still frustrated.
The world is still only sketched in, I want more details ( )

This was very well written, but too dark for me. I thought from the cover it would be cozy, but it's really dark fantasy. Not TOO dark, but darker than I prefer. ( )

So I'm a sucker for all things related to witchy schools and tough female characters. When I read the synopsis of this, it reminded me of an all-girl cast of Harry Potter and, to be honest, that's exactly what hooked me! What's better than a group of tough girls learning magic? Nothing. Which is why I had such high hopes for Miss Mabel's School for Girls. I wanted to get lost in a new world, full of magic and mischief. I can happily say that this was a great introduction!

Things take off at a lightning pace. Bianca was a wonderful character, and one that I instantly saw myself in. A little less than a lady, but full of the type of fire that makes for a one strong protagonist. Watching her set off on a quest that she absolutely knew would be dangerous excited me. See, Bianca was cursed by the very person whose clutches she was now willingly walking into. Such a great premise. To try to prove yourself to the one person who holds your life in their hands.

Which brings me to the fact that there were a lot of things that I did like about this story. Bianca, for one. The fact that Miss Mabel's School for Girls was shrouded in mystery and magic. Even the fact that all of the characters were so strong. It's refreshing to see a book that features a female cast, that doesn't focus heavily on romance. Maybe that's coming in the next books, but in this moment I felt amazed that it wasn't there. No love triangles. Thank you Katie Cross.

What I wished for more than anything though, was more world building and less "telling" rather than showing. There were portions of this story that moved very slowly. A lot of travel was necessary, and those parts tended to drag on a bit. When Bianca was being tested, it was fabulous. When she was lost in her own head, it was a little slow. It wasn't anything overly exhausting, but I would have loved to see a bit more forward movement. I have a very strong feeling that it's coming in the books down the pipe though, so I'm excited about that.

Long story short, this was a book that I enjoyed. It didn't immediately jump to the top of my favorites list, but I also know that this is a series that I plan on continuing on with. I can't wait! ( )