A sweet coming of age fantasy book for queer kids (or adults, for that matter). Bluebell Hall is a charming witch school novel containing familiar tropes that are deployed by the author with skill and a tongue-in-cheek revisionary streak.

The young women in the witch school have various personalities and magics that we get to know as the plot - driven by the school year, a crush, and an evil sorceress who practices blood magic - progresses. Hints of Garth Nix, J.K. Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones and many traditional British boarding school books make this pleasant fantasy even more enjoyable.

The subversion of cissexual and heterosexual tropes is joyously and cleverly accomplished. I had a smile on my face for most of the read and look forward to reading anything else set in this world. ( )